Ruth 1

¹ In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a certain man from Bethlehem in Judah, with his wife and two sons, went to reside in the land of Moab.

² The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah, and they entered the land of Moab and settled there.

³ Then Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, and she was left with her two sons,

⁴ who took Moabite women as their wives, one named Orpah and the other named Ruth. And after they had lived in Moab about ten years,

⁵ both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and without her husband.

Note · Ruth 1.1–5

Le récit des pertes ne fournit pas leur explication morale

L’époque des juges situe l’histoire, sans lui donner une date précise dans leur succession. La famille cherche du pain hors de son pays, puis les décès sont rapportés sobrement. Le narrateur n’accuse ni Élimélek d’avoir manqué de foi ni les femmes moabites d’avoir attiré le malheur. Ces explications ne doivent pas être ajoutées pour rendre la souffrance plus facile à classer.

⁶ When Naomi heard in Moab that the LORD had attended to His people by providing them with food, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to leave the land of Moab.

⁷ Accompanied by her two daughters-in-law, she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road leading back to the land of Judah.

⁸ Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you to your mother’s home. May the LORD show you loving devotion, as you have shown to your dead and to me.

⁹ May the LORD enable each of you to find rest in the home of your new husband.” And she kissed them as they wept aloud

¹⁰ and said, “Surely we will return with you to your people.”

¹¹ But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb to become your husbands?

¹² Return home, my daughters. Go on, for I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me to have a husband tonight and to bear sons,

¹³ would you wait for them to grow up? Would you refrain from having husbands? No, my daughters, it is much more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.”

¹⁴ Again they wept aloud, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.

Note · Ruth 1.6–14

Naomi reconnaît la bonté de ses deux belles-filles

Elle les bénit pour leur fidélité envers les morts et envers elle, puis les invite à retourner. Son argument sur d’éventuels fils montre l’impasse d’un avenir pensé dans les structures familiales de son temps. Orpa embrasse Naomi et suit le chemin proposé : le texte ne la condamne pas comme une femme sans amour ou sans fidélité.

¹⁵ “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; follow her back home.”

¹⁶ But Ruth replied: “Do not urge me to leave you or to turn from following you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.

¹⁷ Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”

¹⁸ When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to persuade her.

Note · Ruth 1.15–18

Ruth engage sa vie envers Naomi, son peuple et son Dieu

Sa réponse dépasse la promesse d’un trajet partagé. Demeure, appartenance, mort et sépulture disent un lien durable. Cette parole est adressée à une belle-mère, même si elle est souvent reprise lors de mariages. Son engagement libre dans le récit ne devient pas une règle obligeant toute personne à rester dans une relation dangereuse ni à renoncer à ses propres possibilités de vie.

¹⁹ So Naomi and Ruth traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women of the town exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”

²⁰ “Do not call me Naomi,” she replied. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has dealt quite bitterly with me.

²¹ I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? After all, the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me.”

²² So Naomi returned from the land of Moab with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess. And they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Note · Ruth 1.19–22

L’amertume est entendue avant toute résolution

Naomi demande un nom qui exprime son affliction et attribue son malheur à Dieu. C’est sa parole dans le deuil ; le narrateur ne révèle pas une faute cachée qui lui donnerait raison sur une condamnation personnelle. Ruth est pourtant à ses côtés, et la moisson commence. Ces ouvertures discrètes ne rendent ni ses pertes imaginaires ni son chagrin illégitime.