The Bible Plot

Worked Example: Ruth 1 With the Name Meanings Inserted

This lesson uses everything so far. Read the passage first, then read it again with the meanings put in.

The passage (BBE):

Now there came a time, in the days of the judges, when there was no food in the land. And a certain man went from Beth-lehem-judah, he and his wife and his two sons, to make a living-place in the country of Moab. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth-lehem-judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and were there for some time. ... for news had come to her in the country of Moab that the Lord, in mercy for his people, had given them food. — Ruth 1:1-2, 1:6 (BBE)

The same passage with the meanings put in:

Now there came a time, in the days of the judges, when there was no food in the land. And a certain man went from House of Bread, Praise, he and his wife and his two sons, to make a living-place in the country of Of His Father. And the name of the man was My Judges Are King, and the name of his wife Pleasant, and the name of his two sons Sick and Pining, Ephrathites of House of Bread, Praise. And they came into the country of Of His Father, and were there for some time. ... for news had come to her in the country of Of His Father that the Existing One, in mercy for his people, had given them food.

The meanings used: Beth-lehem is “house of bread” (H1035). Judah is “praised” (H3063). Moab is “of his father” (H4124). Naomi is “pleasant” (H5281). Mahlon is “sick” (H4248). Chilion is “pining” (H3630). The Lord (YHVH) is “the existing One” (H3068).

Two notes on the meanings. Strong’s builds Elimelech from El (H410) and melek (king), which it glosses as “God of (the) king”. “My Judges Are King” is this course’s reading, using the plural from Lesson 3. For Moab, one lexicon (BDB) says “of his father” and Strong’s says “from (her (the mother’s)) father”. The course uses the first because it reads more simply. Ephrathites is left as it is, because the lexicons give it a doubtful meaning.

How to read it, step by step:

  1. The ground. They leave a place called House of Bread and Praise, a place of food and praise, and go to a place called Of His Father. Genesis 2:24 says a man goes away from his father and is joined to his wife. Here they travel toward the father’s ground. That is the rule turned around.
  2. The wife. She is named Pleasant. In the Genesis 2:23-24 pattern, the wife is the identity the man is meant to be joined to. The family takes that identity with them, but sets it down on ground named for the father.
  3. The sons. They are named Sick and Pining. A name shows what the state is like, so the story runs after its kind. The men come to their end (Ruth 1:3 and 1:5, BBE), and the woman is left.
  4. The turn. News comes that the Existing One, you aware right now, has given food. She goes back toward the House of Bread.

See Ruth: the court gathers within the field.

Remember: the names set the outcome before the story starts. The direction of travel shows whether the Genesis 2:24 rule is being kept or turned around.