TEXT [Commentary]
C. Naomi’s Emptiness in Bethlehem (1:19b-22)
19b When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was excited by their arrival. “Is it really Naomi?” the women asked.
20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara,[*] for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. 21 I went away full, but the LORD has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the LORD has caused me to suffer[*] and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?”
22 So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth, the young Moabite woman. They arrived in Bethlehem in late spring, at the beginning of the barley harvest.
NOTES
1:19 was excited. The verb wattehom [TH1949, ZH2101] (stir, make a noise) may indicate either agitation (Isa 22:2) or excitement (1 Sam 4:5; cf. Bush 1996:91). Here excitement is the more appropriate understanding, although as Linafelt (1999:18-19) argues, perhaps we should understand both meanings in tension—it may be that the townswomen’s question indicates that they are both distressed at Naomi’s losses and yet joyful to see her. In my understanding, the concern or agitation is given voice as a desire to hear Naomi’s news, which is inherent in the question.
1:20 Naomi . . . Mara. Naomi reversed the meaning of her name in this dramatic statement. Instead of calling her “pleasant” (the meaning of na‘omi [TH5281, ZH5843]), the women should call her “bitter” (the meaning of mara’; cf. marar [TH4843, ZH5352]; morah [TH4786, ZH5289]; marah [TH4785, ZH5288]; cf. Exod 15:23; 2 Kgs 4:27; Lam 1:4). On the Aleph as a fem. ending, see GKC §80h.
the Almighty. Heb., shadday [TH7706, ZH8724]; e.g., Gen 17:1; 28:3; Exod 6:3; Job 11:7. The meaning of this name for God is unknown, and most English translations draw from the LXX’s frequent use of pantokratōr [TG3841, ZG4120] (all powerful) in translating this term. As Hubbard (1988:125) remarks, “the name is certainly an ancient one, perhaps one which the patriarchs brought from Mesopotamia or an epithet of the Canaanite God El adopted by the Israelites.” In my view associations with shad [TH7699, ZH8716] (breast) or shed [TH7700, ZH8717] (spirit, demon) are much less likely than a derivation from Akkadian shadday, meaning “mountain.” In the OT, however, this title for God is associated with his cosmic power, his authority to judge, to bless or to curse. It is thus appropriate in the context of Naomi’s comments about her fate at the hands of the Lord. (For further detail, see Bush 1996:92-93; Hubbard 1988:124-125; and HALOT 4.1420-1422.)
1:21 has caused me to suffer. Cf. NLT mg, “has testified against me.” The NLT mg represents the best reading of the MT, which has here a legal phrase (‘anah bi [TH6031, ZH6700]; cf. Exod 20:16; Num 35:30; 1 Sam 12:3). The text of the NLT (cf. RSV, NRSV) agrees with the interpretation present in the LXX reading (etapeinōsen [TG5013, ZG5427]), which takes the consonants of the MT’s ‘anah as representing the Piel verb ‘innah [TH6031, ZH6700] (afflict).
1:22 accompanied by . . . Ruth. Lit., “and Naomi returned with Ruth the Moabitess . . . who returned from the fields of Moab.” Some commentators suggest the words “who returned from the fields of Moab” may be a scribal error or addition, since the words are somewhat redundant with the first clause in the verse. Bush (1996:94), however, rightly notes that the unusual syntax here, along with the use of “Moabitess,” is intended to draw attention to Ruth’s “return.” In 1:15 the same verb is used of Orpah’s return to her mother and her gods.
barley harvest. Various seasonal harvests occur throughout the year in Israel. Grapes, figs, and olives, for example, are harvested in the late summer and fall. Pomegranates ripen at this time as well. But the grain crops are planted in the fall and reaped in the spring after the winter rains have ceased. The barley harvest preceded the wheat harvest and occurred from the time of the spring equinox in March until mid-April. The following month was the time for wheat harvest. “According to the Gezer Manual, [wheat] was harvested during the sixth agricultural season, yrh qsr wkl (end of April to end of May)” (Borowski 1987:88). “In the early stages of the Israelite settlement the most important cereal was barley . . . because of the necessity to settle fringe areas and barley’s tolerance of harsh conditions” (Borowski 1987:7). The “Gezer Manual” or Gezer Calendar mentioned above (cf. ANET 320) dates to the second half of the tenth century BC.
COMMENTARY [Text]
These verses are the climax of the first act of Ruth, which is devoted to stating the problem that drives the story. The problem of Naomi’s emptiness, which was raised in 1:5, is here driven home in a dramatic and poetic fashion.
The scene is a bittersweet homecoming. One can imagine Naomi seeing with satisfaction familiar landmarks and many things unchanged in the village, and the stir (of excitement as in 1 Sam 4:5) in the village upon her return is evident in the text. But Bethlehem was likely filled with warm memories that only highlighted Naomi’s bleak situation. The women of the town had likely wondered if they would ever see Naomi again. When they heard she had come, they immediately sought to hear her news. The question “Is this Naomi?” (lit., 1:19) should be understood not as asking for a verification of Naomi’s identification but as an exclamation (cf. Bush 1996:91)—a surprised greeting and request for news: “Naomi, it’s you!”
The core of this scene is Naomi’s dramatic statement about her losses and her assertion that her name should be changed (1:20-21). She, in effect, responded to the women’s request for news while poetically taking their expression in a literal fashion, saying in effect “No, this is not Naomi—Naomi had a full life, but I am empty.” Naomi’s response takes the form of a statement followed by a parallel rhetorical question. Each of these is marked by reference to the names Naomi (na‘omi; cf. the common noun no‘am [TH5278, ZH5840], “sweet, pleasant”), the Almighty (shadday [TH7706, ZH8724]), and the LORD (yhwh [TH3068, ZH3378]), with the two references to God being reversed in the second half of the statement:
A. Don’t call me Naomi [“sweet”] . . . call me Mara [“bitter”] (1:20)
B. for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me.
C. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. (1:21)
A’. Why call me Naomi
C’. when the Lord has spoken against me
B’. and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?
In the first line, Naomi plays on her own name, saying that “sweet” is no longer an appropriate descriptor for her—she should be called “bitter” (1:20; cf. 1:13). The summation of her bitter and tragic circumstance is that she went away full and the Lord brought her back empty. Naomi was evidently not ready to write a self-help book about overcoming tragedy. Her assertion of the Lord’s role perhaps makes modern readers uncomfortable, just as the reader’s knowledge about God’s role in Job’s losses does (Job 1–2). The narrator of Ruth, however, gives us no clue as to any decrees made in heaven. Implicit in Naomi’s complaint about God is her conviction of his sovereignty and power. Campbell (1975:83) rightly suggests that this is a natural stance in the Old Testament world (cf. e.g., Ps 13), and one may even compare Abraham’s forthright complaint in Genesis 15:2 about his lack of an heir. The complaint against the Lord is thus not surprising here; the narrator’s focus is not on characterizing Naomi’s individual relationship with God (if he even thought in such terms), but on characterizing her grief and emptiness and setting the stage so that we may also recognize the Lord’s hand behind the scenes in restoring her condition. This is important because the problem of Naomi’s emptiness is the driving force of the narrative (cf. Bush 1996:97).
Naomi was not entirely empty, however, and 1:22 hints subtly, and perhaps ironically, at the fact that Naomi had the allegiance of Ruth and the fertility of the harvest season in her favor. She herself might remind us, were she present, that two mouths are harder to feed than one, and that the support of her foreign daughter-in-law was no substitute for a husband and son in her ancient society (but see 4:15). Even though the harvest would probably make survival possible, what joy would she have? Life’s remainder would be short, difficult, and sorrowful. Thus, the hint is indeed subtle (cf. Linafelt 1999:21). As readers we do not know how much we can expect from Ruth in this situation. Still, as Bush (1996:96) says, “This commitment of a young woman to the life of an old woman in the darkest hours that women in a man’s world can face is already a signal step toward a dawn for Naomi’s dark night of despair.” And the reader is led to expect something unique from Ruth, for she is strangely and explicitly said to have returned to Judah from Moab (see note on 1:22). The use of “return” to describe Ruth’s arrival in Judah emphasizes her commitment to the people of Israel. She had declared a new home and was determined to make good on the vow of 1:16. Thus, the scene closes with the problem of Naomi’s emptiness startlingly clear and only a vague sense that her circumstance will improve.