And 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.
Parallel translations
- WEB They took for themselves wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other was Ruth. They lived there about ten years.
- KJV And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.
- BSB 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,
- NKJV Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years.
- NLT The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman named Ruth. But about ten years later,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The sons marry Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth, and the family lives in Moab about ten years. Ruth's introduction here is pivotal, for she will become the story's heroine and an ancestor of Christ.
Overview
Marriage to Moabite women would have raised concern for faithful Israelites, given Moab's idolatry and history with Israel. Yet the narrative does not condemn it outright; instead it sets up God's surprising grace toward a Gentile woman. Ten childless years pass, deepening the family's plight, while Ruth—soon to be famed for her loyalty and faith—enters the line that will produce David and the Messiah.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Matt 1:5Salmon became the father of Boaz by Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse.
- Deut 7:3neither shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to his son, nor shall you take his daughter for your son.
- Deut 23:3An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly; even to the tenth generation shall no one belonging to them enter into Yahweh’s assembly forever;
- 1 Kgs 11:1–2Now king Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Boaz the kinsman-redeemer who buys back the destitute and takes a bride foreshadows Christ, our Redeemer who pays the price to make a people his own; and from Ruth's line comes David, and David's greater Son.
How Ruth 1:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.