Naomi’s urging must have been with some mixed feelings. To urge Orpah and Ruth to return to Moab necessitates that she will travel home completely alone. But to have them return to Judah with her requires them to renounce all hope and effectively consign them to the life of a poor old widow. Thus she sees no other choice but to encourage them to return. To the calamity of losing home, husband, and sons, she must now add another, this one self-inflicted: She must return home alone.51
