Some people think that Ruth and Naomi had a lesbian relationship. In Ruth 1:14"And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her" Ruth 1:14 KJV., the ancient Hebrew word dâbaq, translated as "clave" in Ruth 1:14"And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her" Ruth 1:14 KJV., is used to describe Ruth's love for Naomi. According to Strong's Concordance, dâbaq meant, "A primitive root; properly to impinge, that is, cling or adhere; figuratively to catch by pursuit: - abide, fast, cleave (fast together), follow close (hard, after), be joined (together), keep (fast), overtake, pursue hard, stick, take."1
In Ruth 1:14"And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her" Ruth 1:14 KJV., Orpah kisses her mother-in-law, but Ruth "claves unto her." The same word, dâbaq, is used in in Gen. 2:24"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" Gen. 2:24 KJV. to describe a man having intercourse/loving/uniting with a woman and in Gen. 34:3"And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her. And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel" Gen. 34:2-3 KJV. to describe Shechem's soul uniting with Dinah after he has intercourse with her. Thus, it is possible that Ruth and Naomi had a homosexual relationship as well.
Some people think that Ruth and Naomi were in love with each other. They base their opinion on a single word in Ruth 1:14"And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her" Ruth 1:14 KJV., which is "clave" or dâbaq in ancient Hebrew. According to Strong's Concordance, this word meant, "A primitive root; properly to impinge, that is, cling or adhere; figuratively to catch by pursuit: - abide, fast, cleave (fast together), follow close (hard, after), be joined (together), keep (fast), overtake, pursue hard, stick, take."1 Dâbaq is also used in Gen. 2:24"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" Gen. 2:24 KJV. to describe a man having intercourse with a woman and in Gen. 34:3"And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her. And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel" Gen. 34:2-3 KJV. to describe Shechem's soul uniting with Dinah after he has intercourse with her. Thus, these people think that Ruth and Naomi were in love with each other.
Unfortunately, these people are misguided. Dâbaq is used many times in the Old Testment in a non-sexual manner, such as in Gen. 19:19". . . I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die . . ." Gen. 19:19 KJV. in which it means "take," Gen. 31:23"And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days' journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead" Gen. 31:23 KJV. in which it means "overtook," and Num. 36:7". . . for every one of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers" Num. 36:7 KJV., 9". . . but every one of the tribes of the children of Israel shall keep himself to his own inheritance" Num. 36:9 KJV. in which it means "keep." In fact, there are many verses in the Old Testament, in which dâbaq is translated as "clave" or "cleave", but it is used primarily as a non-sexual verb: Deut. 10:20"Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name" Deut. 10:20 KJV., 11:22". . . to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him . . ." Deut. 11:22 KJV., 13:4"Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him" Deut. 13:4 KJV., 13:17"And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger . . ." Deut. 13:17 KJV., 28:21"The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee . . ." Deut. 28:21 KJV., 28:60"Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee" Deut. 28:60 KJV., 30:20"That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him . . ." Deut. 30:20 KJV.; Jos. 22:5". . . to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul" Jos. 22:5 KJV., 23:8"But cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day" Jos. 23:8 KJV.; 2 Sam. 20:2"So every man of Israel went up from after David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave unto their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem" 2 Sam. 20:2 KJV., 23:10"He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword . . ." 2 Sam. 23:10 KJV.; 2 Kings 3:3"Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom" 2 Kings 3:3 KJV., 5:27"The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow" 2 Kings 5:27 KJV., 18:6"For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses" 2 Kings 18:6 KJV.; Job 19:20"My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth" Job 19:20 KJV., 29:10"The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth" Job 29:10 KJV., 31:7"If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands" Job 31:7 KJV., 38:38"When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?" Job 38:38 KJV.; Ps. 22:15"My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death" Ps. 22:15 KJV., 44:25"For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth" Ps. 44:25 KJV., 101:3"I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me" Ps. 101:3 KJV., 102.5"By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin" Ps. 102.5 KJV., 119:25"DALETH. My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word" Ps. 119:25 KJV., 137:6"If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy" Ps. 137:6 KJV.; Jer. 13:11"For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD . . ." Jer. 13:11 KJV.; Lam. 4:4"The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them" Lam. 4:4 KJV., and Ezek. 3:26"And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb . . ." Ezek. 3:26 KJV.. In fact, dâbaq is often used in the Bible to refer to a tongue that is "stuck" or "cleaved" to the roof of someone's mouth, as in the expression "to hold your tongue," and it is also used as a command for Israelites to "cleave" with the Lord or "unite" with the Lord. Thus, it is nonsensical to relate Ruth 1:14"And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her" Ruth 1:14 KJV. with Gen. 2:24"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" Gen. 2:24 KJV. and Gen. 34:3"And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her. And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel" Gen. 34:2-3 KJV. based on a single word, and there is absolutely no proof that Ruth and Naomi were in a homosexual relationship.
Ruth and Naomi had a strong relationship, but it was a mother-daughter relationship since Naomi lost her husband (Ruth 1:3"But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons" Ruth 1:3 ESV.) and later her two sons (Ruth 1:3-5"But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband" Ruth 1:3-5 ESV.), and Ruth lost her husband, which had been one of Naomi's sons (Ruth 1:3-5"But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband" Ruth 1:3-5 ESV.). Ruth and Orpah were actually Naomi's daughters-in-law and they all had lost their husbands, who had been Naomi's sons. They were all unable to easily earn money, since women in biblical times were not skilled or educated and it was very difficult for them to find work.
So, Ruth and Naomi travelled to Bethlehem to find work, and Ruth was able to find work as a reaper in a field to support Naomi (Ruth 1:22"So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest" Ruth 1:22 ESV., 2:2"And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, 'Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.' And she said to her, 'Go, my daughter'" Ruth 2:2 ESV.). Ruth met Boaz, a relative of her deceased husband, in the field (Ruth 2:1"Now Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz" Ruth 2:1 ESV.). Eventually, Ruth and Boaz married, and Ruth gave birth to a son (Ruth 3-4"So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech. And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, 'The LORD be with you!' And they answered, 'The LORD bless you'" Ruth 3-4 ESV., 4:13"So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son" Ruth 4:13 ESV.). Obviously, Ruth and Naomi's relationship was purely family-oriented.
1"dâbaq." Strong, 1995/1996, Hebrew section p. 30, entry 1692 Return
1"dâbaq." Strong, 1995/1996, Hebrew section p. 30, entry 1692 Return
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