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In the Hebrew version of Ruth, Orpah turns back to her people and ‘her god,’ an ambiguous word. The Greek Septuagint translates this as ‘her gods,’ marking Orpah a worshipper of many gods and emphasizing her contrast with Ruth.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Ruth 1:15
Hebrew Bible
14 Again they wept loudly. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung tightly to her. 15 So Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law is returning to her people and to her god. Follow your sister-in-law back home!” 16 But Ruth replied, “Stop urging me to abandon you! For wherever you go, I will go.Wherever you live, I will live. Your people will become my people, and your God will become my God.
LXX Ruth 1:15
Septuagint
14 Then they lifted their voice and wept even more. After that Orpah kissed her mother-in-law and returned to her people, but Ruth followed her. 15 So Naomi said to Ruth, “Look, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and to her gods. You should also return now behind your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not plead with me to leave you or to turn back from following you. For wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you dwell, I will dwell; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.
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Notes and References
... The reading in Ruth 1:15 of the ambiguous Hebrew (singular or plural 'gods') is given specification in identifying the gods, to whom Orpah returns, clearly in the plural (πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς αὐτῆς 'to her gods'). Unlike her polytheistic sister-in-law Ruth endorses the God of her mother in the singular ('your God my God'; Ruth 1:16; compare Ruth 2:12). The God of Israel is nowhere explicitly referred to in the singular, but is referenced in the rare translation of the Hebrew divine title 'Shaddai' as 'the sufficient one' (ὁ ἱκανός, Ruth 1:20, 21), arises from the derivation of the Hebrew word on the basis of Aramaic ד + ש 'which [is] sufficient'. ...
Bons, Eberhard
"Ruth" in Aitken, James K. (ed.) The T&T Clark Companion to the Septuagint
(p. 124) Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2015
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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