Orpah: Standing at Crossroads, Making Evil Choices

Any discussion about Orpah must include the story of Elimelech, his wife, and his sons, for Orpah’s destiny was deeply intertwined with the destiny of this distinguished family.

There was a man named Elimelech from the royal tribe of Yehudah. He lived in the Land of Israel during the period of the judges, and he was a man of great substance and means. Not only was he exceedingly wealthy, he was also a great talmid chacham and leader of the Jewish People¹. His wife, Naomi, was an extraordinary woman. She combined kindness and valor², and true to her name, she had a very pleasing temperament. 

Elimelech and Naomi had two sons, Machlon and Kilyon. They were righteous young men, rising stars on the firmament of Jewish leadership. 

Due to the sins and corruption of the Jewish People, Hashem sent a famine³ to arouse them to teshuva. Since Elimelech was a man of great wealth, the poor and hungry came knocking on his door constantly, asking for alms. With his power and prestige, Elimelech had the ability to inspire the nation to repentance. But due to arrogance and self-centredness⁴, he chose not to. Instead, he abandoned his people at their time of need and sought greener pastures in the land of Moav. 

Elimelech, Naomi, Machlon, and Kilyon left the land of Israel laden with wealth and servants. Hashem looked askance at his decision to save himself and abandon his nation, and before long, Elimelech was stricken with a plague, and died⁵. Naomi was left a young, impoverished widow with two orphaned sons.

Naomi wanted to return to her homeland, Israel, but her sons were not interested. King Eglon had taken a fancy to Kilyon, and his daughter Orpah was interested in marrying him. This would be a perfect marriage since the Moabites were as stingy as Kilyon was⁶.

Two sisters. Two choices. Two destinies. The one merited being the matriarch of King David, and ultimately the Moshiach. The other sank to unfathomable levels of depravity, consorting with a hundred men and a dog all in one night. 

Orpah and Kilyon were married soon after. Orpah was a mean-spirited woman and a sorceress too⁷. Not only that, Orpah consorted with Moabite men, earning her a reputation as an immoral woman. 

A name says a lot about a person. The name ערפה can be rearranged to spell פה רע – an evil mouth, since Orpah used her mouth for sinful purposes. In time, Orpah would give birth to the giant Goliat, who, like his mother, would use his mouth to curse Hashem.   

The name Orpah hints to oref – the back of the neck, because Orpah turned away from Naomi, preferring to stay in the depraved land of Moav instead⁸.

Once Orpah was married to Kilyon, Eglon sought out Machlon for his younger daughter Rus. Time would tell how very different these two sisters would turn out and what divergent roles they would play in the history of the Jewish People.

There are differing views as to whether the sisters converted to Judaism before marrying Machlon and Kilyon. Naomi did not consider her daughters-in-law Jewish, and she went as far as disowning her sons after their marriages⁹.

Hashem waited ten years for Machlon and Kilyon to do teshuva. When they didn’t, He sent a plague, and they both died on the very same day. Naomi was inconsolable after her sons died and decided to return to her homeland, Eretz Yisroel. Ruth and Orpah decided to return with her. As they trudged the dusty roads back home, Naomi knew that a great king was destined to descend from one of the sisters, but she wasn’t sure which one. She hoped it would be Ruth, who seemed more righteous than her mean-spirited sister.

Naomi tried three times to dissuade Ruth and Orpah from coming to Israel with her. They both burst into tears at their mother-in-law’s insistence¹⁰. They loved her dearly and couldn’t bear the thought of parting with her. But when Orpah considered her prospects if she remained with Naomi, she decided against it and returned home to Moav.

Two sisters. Two choices. Two destinies. The one merited being the matriarch of King David, and ultimately the Moshiach. The other sank to unfathomable levels of depravity, consorting with a hundred men and a dog all in one night. 

We too have times where we are standing at the crossroads, needing to make a choice that will shape our future. What will you choose, good or bad? Virtue or sin? Light or dark. Make sure you choose well. 

1. Bava Basra 91 A ↩︎
2. Bava Basra 91 A ↩︎
3. Ruth Rabba, 1 :4 ↩︎
4. Igeres Shmuel on Ruth 1:2 ↩︎
5. Ruth Rabba 2:10 ↩︎
6. Meishiv Nefesh on Ruth 1:4 ↩︎
7. Zohar, Ruth 81B ↩︎
8. Ruth Rabba, 2:9 ↩︎
9. Chessed Lemishicho on Ruth 1:4 ↩︎
10. Ruth Zut on Ruth 1:12 ↩︎