Ruth 1:19: Two widows walk into Bethlehem, and the whole town asks: is this Naomi?
Read it →Commentary on Ruth 1:19
Two women finish a long walk from Moab and step into Bethlehem, and a whole town stops what it is doing. The stir turns into one question about a woman they once knew, and commentators hear that question in more than one way.
Two Arrived, Not One
Ruth's decision to stay with Naomi ended the argument, and the pair travelled on together. The townspeople did not see one returning widow. They saw a pair, and the woman from Moab drew as much notice as Naomi.
This settled the mother's mind, and they are next seen approaching Bethlehem. The whole town was stirred over Naomi. But be sure of this — they were stirred just as much by a strange sight. Here was a woman of Moab who had turned her back forever on her gods, her land, and every natural tie. She had come to take her place beside a desolate widow, under the shadow of the Lord.
"Is This Naomi?"
The question is not confusion over her identity. It is shock at what the years have done to her — the town remembered a different woman.
After being away more than ten years, Naomi returned to Bethlehem. Her arrival with Ruth, the stranger from Moab, stirred the interest and curiosity of the townspeople. Many of them had probably known her before the great famine. Back then her late husband was, it seems, a man of standing and influence in the city. Those who recognised Naomi were astonished at the change in her.
The Damage Departure Does
The town asks the question out loud, so Naomi has to answer it herself. Her own reply is the evidence that the ten years in Moab left a mark.
When they reach Bethlehem, the whole place is stirred: "Is this Naomi?" What damage her departure had done! She has to admit the sad truth herself. How much her few words tell.
A Stir That Echoes Heaven
Others hear something warmer in the commotion. The noise around a returning wanderer matches a far greater celebration elsewhere.
So they go on together to Bethlehem. And when they arrive, "the whole town was stirred because of them." There was a great stir in the place. In the same way, when a sinner repents, all heaven is stirred over the event. "There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents." It delights God's heart to see a sinner turn to Him. Heaven rings with music over every case of real conversion.
So commentators hear the same crowd in two ways. Some hear a sting of exposure in the question. Others hear an echo of heaven's joy.
A Welcome That Brings Wanderers Home
One writer turns the town's reaction into a question for the reader. If a welcome normally follows restoration, then a cold welcome may explain why so few wanderers come back.
The story of Naomi also shows us something wonderful. When someone is restored to the Lord, a welcome among the Lord's people rightly follows. So we read, "when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them." Why is there so little restoration today? May it not be that too often the people of God are so little moved about those who have wandered? May the Lord let us taste a little more of the compassion in His heart. That compassion led Him to go after a wandering sheep until He found it.
Belonging Versus Living There
Two small words carry the difference between belonging somewhere and living there.
Naomi, who truly was "of" Bethlehem, now comes "to" Bethlehem. She was "of" Bethlehem the whole time she was in Moab, but coming "to" that city changed her entire life. Here we see the difference between being a Christian and living the Christian life.
A Nation's Homecoming Rehearsed
Another writer finds no warm welcome in this homecoming. He reads the scene on a larger scale: a return that begins in shame and ends in harvest.
There is no light beyond. No Father's arms welcome her. No Father's house opens to let her in. She comes back, as Israel will come back. People point the finger at her and speak the question aloud: Is this Naomi? And yet the cry "I have sinned" is heard, and Bethlehem shall answer to its name. The fields are white and the reapers are ready: it is the beginning of barley harvest.
Summary
- Two came. Ruth's refusal to turn back put a woman of Moab on the road to Bethlehem, and the town was stirred as much by her as by Naomi.
- One question. "Is this Naomi?" is the sound of people who knew her before — astonished at the change ten years away had made.
- The cost shows. The question forces Naomi to speak, and her own few words admit the damage her departure had done.
- The stir welcomes. The commotion echoes heaven's joy over one sinner who repents. It also rebukes God's people when wanderers stir them so little.
- Arrival changes everything. She was always of Bethlehem. Coming to Bethlehem changed her life. She arrived just as barley harvest began.
