When Naomi and Ruth return to Bethlehem, the whole city is in an “uproar” because of them (1:19). The word for “uproar” is used to describe armies in panicked confusion (Dt. 7:23), the shouts that accompany the ark of the covenant (1 Sam. 4:5), the acclamation of a king (1 Kg. 1:45), and the noise of a multitude (Mic. 2:12).
Why does the writer tell us this? What is it about the return of Naomi that produces this response? Or is this a word that is meant to tip off readers to a particularly important typological meaning? If the latter, what?
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