It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I have always wondered what Ruth’s motivation was in deciding to remain with Naomi. Was it only what appears to be a great love for her mother-in-law? was it fear of being alone? Was it love for her deceased husband? was it a recognition that Naomi had a relationship with the true God? I’m not sure; it may have been a combination of all those things. Regardless, Ruth was convinced that she was to go with her mother-in-law and live as a foreigner in a foreign land.

At the same time Naomi was trying to get her daughters-in-law to return to their native land. She knew that they had a better chance of assimilating into their old society and their old family then going to a new country and a new people. Naomi knew it would be hard enough for her as a somewhat old widow to survive. Out of love she asked them to return to their own people; Orpah kissed Naomi and left, “but Ruth clung to her” and when Naomi saw that Ruth “was determined to go with her, she said no more”.

Two gifts are exchanged. Ruth is giving the gift of companionship and Naomi is giving the gift of acceptance. Both are difficult gifts to give. Companionship is a commitment to loving another person. Most of us would rather spend our time and energy loving ourselves. Acceptance is allowing another person to love you. Most of us would rather pretend we can care for ourselves and meet all our needs on our own. To love another and to accept another’s love are two of the hardest things we need to do to live a successful life.

Skandalizw (to cause to stumble) is the root of our modern English word scandalize.  To subscribe to this podcast please go to iTunes and subscribe to “The Koine Greek Word of the Day Podcast”.