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Orpah

Orpah (daughter-in-law of Naomi)

Orpah was the daughter-in-law of Naomi and the wife of Kilion, one of Naomi's two sons. After the death of her husband, Orpah chose to return to her people in Moab rather than accompany Naomi back to Bethlehem. Her decision contrasts with that of her sister-in-law Ruth, who remained loyal to Naomi and became an ancestor of King David.

Associations

Family

graph TD; style person/orpah fill:#2fa4e7,stroke:#333,stroke-width:4px; person/elimelech(["Elimelech"]) person/naomi(["Naomi"]) person/orpah(["Orpah"]) person/mahlon(["Mahlon"]) click person/elimelech "../../person/elimelech/" click person/naomi "../../person/naomi/" click person/orpah "../../person/orpah/" click person/mahlon "../../person/mahlon/" person/orpah <-->|married to| person/mahlon person/elimelech -->|parent of| person/mahlon person/naomi -->|parent of| person/mahlon

Social / political

graph TD; style person/orpah fill:#2fa4e7,stroke:#333,stroke-width:4px; person/orpah(["Orpah"]) person/ruth(["Ruth"]) group/moabite(["Moabite"]) click person/orpah "../../person/orpah/" click person/ruth "../../person/ruth/" click group/moabite "../../group/moabite/" person/ruth -->|member of| group/moabite person/orpah -->|member of| group/moabite

Textual / symbolic

graph TD; style person/orpah fill:#2fa4e7,stroke:#333,stroke-width:4px; person/orpah(["Orpah"]) person/ruth(["Ruth"]) group/moabite(["Moabite"]) place/moab(["Moab"]) click person/orpah "../../person/orpah/" click person/ruth "../../person/ruth/" click group/moabite "../../group/moabite/" click place/moab "../../place/moab/" group/moabite <.->|associated with| person/ruth group/moabite <-->|name matches| place/moab group/moabite .->|associated with| person/orpah

  1. 10 years of marriage without children may indicate infertility for both Orpah and Ruth (Robert Whiting, 2025).