Let us start by reading the first few verses from the book of Ruth
Naomi Widowed
1 Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi; and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. Now they entered the land of Moab and remained there. 3 Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. 4 They took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. And they lived there about ten years. 5 Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband. Ruth 1:1-5 NASB
So, the story starts from this very old town in Bethlehem. It was at the time of the Judges. Joshua had defeated most that lived in that land in fair combat. After the main wars a time of peace and prosperity must have entered the area. Unfortunately, the text says that there was a famine in Bethlehem.
As we found out in the book of Genesis God made Joseph second in command over the whole of Egypt to protect life and the lives of those who belonged to Jacob.
This man made the decision to leave the area and go to Moab. Obviously, he took his wife and two sons. The American dream forced on him and his family because of necessity. If we were in the same situation of Elimelech, we would certainly be tempted to move away from the small town of Bethlehem.
The names of this family also have meanings.
“ The realistic nature of the story is established from the start through the names of the participants: the husband and father was Elimelech, meaning “My God is King”, and his wife was Naomi, “Pleasing”, but after the deaths of her sons Mahlon, “Sickness”, and Chilion, “Wasting”, she asked to be called Mara, “Bitter”.[4]”
Taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Ruth
Elimelech and Naomi were G-d fearing. ‘My God is king’ and ‘Pleasing’. The father died and their boys married foreigners. The father probably would not have liked these marriages to those outside of the faith. Anyhow the boys died. Naomi is left devastated. This is a very serious situation for Naomi and her tradition. Elimelech’s name seems to be getting blotted out. Elimelech whose name means G-d is my king is going to be forgotten in Moab. Naomi’s integrity seems to be thrown back in her face as the pleasing one has inherited a very displeasing situation. These Ephraphites (fruitful) through the two sons of Sickness and Wasting have become very unfruitful. This is a dire situation:
How will God start to change this dire situation?
There are two interpretations for the name that I know of.
- Bethlehem means house of Bread
- Bethlehem means the house of Lahmu.
- Beth-lahm in Arabic means house of meat.
In the ancient Middle East visiting various ‘houses’ was not uncommon as these houses were usually temples. So its original meaning for me would be the House of Lahmu but after the area passed into a monotheistic religion the name ended up as a place name that is easier to say for the local people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lahmu
Reflection so far
Everyone faces a crisis situation sometime. We have plans for the future, but something happens, and our future seems to be ruined. How do we deal with this situation?
Weaver1has's Blog 
February 12, 2021 at 3:32 pm |
You have done a lot of research here Hasan and discovered things I did not know. Thank you for all your efforts. xxxx