Naomi continues to express her self-perception, and she continues to theologize about God. In this paragraph, the narrator evokes Moses (from Exod. 3-6) and Job, locating Naomi's bitterness, and her embitteredness within Israel's broader experience.
The narrator also evokes festival time, linking this story to Firstfruits and Pentecost traditions. I'll say this: There's a reason Jews read this story, in full, every Pentecost. And understanding this will help you understand what Ruth means.
Ruth 1:19
And the two-of-them walked
until-their-coming to Bethlehem.
And it was, as they came to Bethlehem
that all-the-city made-noise about them,
and the women said, 'Is this Naomi?'
The first three phrases use stock narrative vocabulary. Phrase five narrows the focus of phrase four, moving from 'all-the-city' to 'the women', and from a discussion of 'them' to a question about 'Naomi'. Naomi will be the speaker (v. 20-21) and the actor (v. 22) in this paragraph.
Ruth 1:20
But (Naomi) said to them,
“Do-not-call me Naomi.
Call me Mara (Bitter),
For Shaddai (Almighty) has embittered me exceedingly.”
Shaddai, conventionally translated 'Almighty', is a name for God. Many of us know El-Shaddai, translated 'Almighty God', but in this instance, Naomi drops the El-.
When Yahweh appears to Abram in Gen. 17, he says, "I am El-Shaddai; walk before me, and be blameless" (v. 1). To Jacob-Israel, he says, "I am El-Shaddai; be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you..." (35:11). Reporting this, Jacob tells his son, Joseph, "El-Shaddai appeared to me at Luz..." (48:3). Yahweh reflects on this usage in a chat with Moses, saying this: "I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as El-Shaddai, but by my name, Yahweh, I did not make myself known to them" (Exod. 6:3). The name—no, the designation?—Shaddai is not used again until it is used twice by Balaam in Num. 24.
After only nine instances in the Pentateuch, and only two more in the history (here, at Ruth 1:20, 21), Shaddai appears a staggering 31 times in Job. In one notable line, Job calls God, "The Shaddai, who has embittered (hiph. of marar) my soul..." (27:2). Hmm.
This causative form of the verb 'bitter' (hiph. of marar), which I render 'embittered', appears only once before Ruth, at a key moment: The Egyptians "embittered (hiph. of marar) their lives with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor..." (Exod. 1:14). That's a significant enough instance to suggest that Naomi is accusing God of treating her the way Egypt treated Israel.
This sets up the book, Ruth, to be Naomi's Exodus narrative. Like Israel in Egypt, her soul has been embittered by mighty powers, and she doesn't know Israel's God as Yahweh. We know how Yahweh intervened in Egypt; how will he intervene in Ruth?
Ruth 1:21
I went out as a full-one,
but emptily, Yahweh has brought me back.
Why would you call me Naomi?
Yahweh has testified against me,
and Shaddai has caused harm to me.
The irony in lines one and two is that Naomi left Bethlehem during a famine (1:1), full, and came back after Yahweh had brought bread (1:6), emptily. Naomi's personal experience of Yahweh's hard providence is out of sync with Israel's corporate experience of blessing. This is a common spiritual experience, is it not? Especially around the holidays?
This harm-causing is common in the Bible. One example stands out. At Exod. 5, Moses asks, using the new name he's been taught, "Yahweh, why have you caused-harm (hiph. of ra'a) to this people? Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has caused-harm (hiph. of ra'a) to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all" (vv. 22-23). These are the words of Moses to which Yahweh responds, "I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as El-Shaddai..."
This characterizes Naomi even more specifically. She evokes Moses, who has learned God's name, Yahweh (Exod. 3), and has begun to face Pharaoh (Exod. 4), has only seen Israel's situation grow more dire (Exod. 5), and finds God to be one who causes-harm (Exod. 5). Yahweh tells Moses that his people will know him as Yahweh (Exod. 6), and I wonder, as a reader of Ruth, what he has in store for Naomi.
But while Moses talks to God, Naomi talks to the women. This kind of complaint shouldn’t be confused with prayer, but God, who is gracious reckons our complaints as prayers anyway.
Ruth 1:22
So Naomi returned,
with Ruth, the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law with her,
the one who returned from the fields of Moab,
and THEY came to Bethlehem at the barley harvest.
Ruth 1:19 had begun, "the two-of-them walked," before focusing on Naomi (1:20-22a). Naomi gets the first action phrase of 1:22, before the narrator emphasizes Ruth ad nauseum. Ruth gets three appositions: the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, and "the one who returned" (hashavah). The narrator adds "with her" to phrase two (imah). And closes the narrative block that begins at 1:19 by repeating two stock words--'came' and 'Bethlehem'--after adding an emphatic 'they' (vehema) at the beginning of the fourth phrase.
Yahweh has yet to answer Naomi's bitterness, but the narrator has drawn attention to Ruth's presence.
The narrator has also closed the first chapter of the narrative by introducing a new temporal setting. This is no longer "the days of the judging of the judges" (1:1), but the "beginning of barley harvest" (1:22). You should know some things about this:
The beginning of the barley harvest is Firstfruits (Lev. 23:9-14). The narrator identifies the next scenes of this story with Israel's harvest festivals for a reason.
Israel knew this, and it became a tradition to read Ruth on the second day of Shavuot, or Pentecost. (Ruth is one of five books called the Megillot [lit., "scrolls"], short books of the Bible read liturgically in their entirety on certain festivals.)
I wrote a book about the theological significance of Firstfruits, and of reading narratives introduced by liturgically meaningful time markers. It's really a good book, and you should read it.
As I hunted for the link, I came across an encouraging review that began like this:
First, the author is not academically naive. He is clearly not stuck within a myopic tradition, offering an apologetic for a small tribe that already believes what he teaches. Instead, this book reads like it is actually for every Christian, from various denominational backgrounds to pastors, priests, and paupers. Franicevich’s “arguments” are accessible to all, yet they’re not the kinds of content the average pastor, priest, or pauper would gather together or have interest gathering, let alone into one brief booklet. You will be surprised.
Secondarily, instead of offering minimalistic pabulum, as is expected with many Christian books about well-known themes and topics, Franicevich offers fresh and nourishing insights into specific readings of Pauline and Lukan passages. Even if one is not thoroughly convinced by all his arguments, it remains unquestionable that there are intrinsic connections between Sunday, Sabbath, time-keeping, and kingdom-building. I, myself, learned a lot from his unique insights. Although I am not persuaded by every claim made by him, I began as a sceptic and finished a believer. Well done, Jack.
Thanks!
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For a takeaway, I think it's important to notice that Naomi is both bitter and embittered. She perceives that her enemy is God. And isn't he? She has resembled Jacob/Israel at so many steps along the way, and didn't God become Jacob's adversary in order to give him a new name (Gen. 32:22-32; 35:1-15)?
And Israel remembers under-resourced toil under oppression as embitterment (Exod. 1:14), and the kind of thing from which Yahweh would deliver them. What has embittered Naomi is death: the death of Elimelech, her husband; the deaths of her sons-in-law, Chilion and Mahlon; the desertion of Orpah (which Naomi brought upon herself); the death that is menopause, and the death of all the hopes associated with men and children.
Let's state the obvious. Naomi's enemy is Death, and she sees Yahweh as Death's colluder. But Naomi comes to Bethlehem (Christmas vibes) with Ruth, at the beginning of the barley harvest, which is also the exact time that Jesus, the Son of her Great-Grandson, David, would rise from the dead, triumphing over death once and for all.
Have a blessed Advent, Naomi, as you await the birth of your son.