What’s In a Name?

The cast of characters in the Book of Ruth is interesting. “There was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two sons. 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” [Ruth 1:1-2].

Despite the famine the name Bethlehem means ‘HOUSE OF BREAD.” Why would someone named Elimelech, which means ‘MY GOD IS KING’ leave the ‘HOUSE OF BREAD just because there are tough times? That’s like leaving a church because the church is going through tough times. The grass is never greener on the other side, and wherever you go you will just bring the problems with you.

MY GOD IS KING’s wife is named Naomi, which means ‘PLEASANT.’  Now MY GOD IS KING and his wife PLEASANT name their two sons Mahlon, which means SICK, and Chilion, which means PINING.  If you are going through tough times, self-pity is a luxury that you can’t afford, and naming your children after your problems is no help. It would be like naming your sons UNEMPLOYED, and ON WELFARE.

The two young men, SICK and PINING, marry two Moabite women, one of them is named Orpah, or GAZELLE, and the other is named Ruth, which means, FRIENDSHIP.  After Elimelech and his sons Mahlon, and Chilion die, Ruth says “Do not call me PLEASANT, call me Mara, or BITTER. The other significant character is Boaz whose name means SPEEDY, and when he sees Ruth he wastes no time. When Boaz sets out to settle his potential relationship with Ruth, Naomi says, ‘the man will not rest but will settle the matter today’ [Ruth 3:18],

So here is the story MY GOD IS KING and PLEASANT flee the HOUSE OF BREAD with their two sons SICK and PINING. The boys marry GAZELLE and FRIENDSHIP. Then the man and his sons die leaving Naomi BITTER. Fortunately Ruth defines for ever the nature of FRIENDSHIP as Ruth says to Naomi, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you:” [Ruth 1:16-17]. (I am always amused when some young bride wants that passage read at her wedding, because it doesn’t refer to the husband, but to the mother-in-law.) In the end it turns out that SPEEDY is quick on the uptake and marries FRIENDSHIP, and Naomi is once more PLEASANT.

That's the story, and I'm sticking to it! By the way my name is Robin Penman Smith, which means NOBLE SCRIBE and BLACKSMITH. I suppose that is why I sometimes hammer away at things when I'm writing?