“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.”
The marriages of Mahlon and Chilion to Moabite women represent another apparent compromise with the surrounding culture, yet these unions become theologically significant when viewed as instruments of providence. Ruth and Orpah's names and their eventual roles suggest that fidelity and abandonment are both responses available to those in covenant relationship. The decade of their dwelling together shows that foreign women can be integrated into Israel's story, challenging later exclusivistic notions about ethnic purity.
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