כִּי אֶל-אֲשֶׁר תֵּלְכִי אֵלֵךְ, וּבַאֲשֶׁר תָּלִינִי אָלִין--עַמֵּךְ עַמִּי, וֵאלֹהַיִךְ אֱלֹהָי. בַּאֲשֶׁר תָּמוּתִי אָמוּת, וְשָׁם אֶקָּבֵר; כֹּה יַעֲשֶׂה יְהוָה לִי, וְכֹה יוֹסִיף--כִּי הַמָּוֶת, יַפְרִיד בֵּינִי וּבֵינֵךְ.
Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus and more may the Lord do to me if anything but death parts me from you. [Translation by Rabbi Steven Greenberg]
Suggested Discussion Questions:
1. Some people use the relationship between Ruth and Naomi as a way to speak about romantic love between women. How might this text be read to support or contend with this view?
2. In Song of Songs 8:6 it says that love is as fierce as death. What is the relationship between love and death that leads Naomi to end her statement with death?
Time Period: Biblical (early ancestors to 165 BCE)