4 And they took (Qal pret, 3mp xwn) for themselves wives from among the Moabites, the name of the first was Orpah and the name of the second was Ruth. And they dwelled (Qal pret, 3mp bwy) there about ten years.

5 And Mahlon and Chilion both died (Qal pret, 3mp tUm) and left (Niphal pret, 3fs rxw) Naomi bereaved of her husband and two sons.

6 So she arose (Qal pret, 3fs mUq) with her daughters-in-law so as to return (Qal pret, 3fs bUw) from the fields of Moab for she had heard (Qal perf, 3fs fmw) in Moab that the LORD had visited (Qal perf, 3fs dqp) his people and given (Qal inf. Construct Ntn) them a harvest.

#1 The noun repeated three times in 1:2 and twice in 1:4 is µve (name). The literary structure created by the heavy usage of this word at the beginning and end of Ruth is the Chiastic Structure. This Chiasm shows a family at the beginning and contrasts it to the new family at the end of the story. The middle part is the story of how it all happened.

#2 The irony of the statement in 1:1 that a "famine" struck the land around "Bethlehem" is that a time of no food struck the house of food; there was a famine in the "house of bread."

#3 Two verbs/phrases that are repeated in 1:3 and 1:5 are the verb "died," referring to her husband in verse 3 and her sons in verse 5, and the allusion to Naomi being "left alone" in both verses. The significance of this repetition is an emphasis on the fact that all the men, who carry on the blessing, in this family have died leaving the women, namely, Naomi, all alone. From this it appears that the narrator is focusing the attention on Naomi. The use of her name over and over by the narrator along with terms like "alone" and her "two sons" are used repeatedly to bring more attention to her as the main character. It seems to set the stage for her life as the rest of the story pans out.

#4 The phrase ymi[Õn: vyai (husband of Naomi) is used in apposition to Elimelech. The rhetorical significance of this appositional statement is that it is giving further clarification and information regarding Naomi in order to single her out as the main character. She is the one with the problem as indicated by the deaths of her husband and sons, so the problem of her life is expected to be expounded upon by the narrator. The 3fs personal pronoun is used for emphasis here even though the verb is a 3fs verb. By repeating the pronoun Naomi is emphasized. The term used to describe Naomi in 1:5, however, is "the woman." Most likely the narrator uses this term in reference to the fact that Naomi is now without anyone; she is not the wife of someone nor is she the mother of anyone. This may very well have been how she thought of herself as just "a woman" when she instructs the people of Bethlehem to call her Mara which means "bitter."

#5 The rhetorical/literary device used in 1:6 to highlight the reversal of situation (famine to plenty) and to focus the reader’s attention o his important turn of events is the repeated refrain. The narrator says, "then she arose… she turned around…" Originally Naomi had no food along with her husband and sons, so they moved to Moab. In Moab she lost everything, and the narrator has put all the emphasis on her losses. Now the narrator makes a dramatic shift after he has pictured Naomi at rock bottom. She hears that the famine is over, she gets up and turns around. The reader is now watching Naomi do the only thing she can do with her life – go up! This event in 1:6 creates an expectation for the reader that things just might be getting better for Naomi.