Person Old Testament
Orpah
Orpah was Naomi's daughter-in-law who stayed in Moab after the death of her husband, while Ruth accompanied Naomi to Bethlehem. Mentioned in 2 verses across 1 book, first at Ruth 1:4.
Why it matters. Naomi's daughter-in-law, stayed in Moab
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Orpah
Orpah was the daughter-in-law of Naomi and the wife of Chilion, one of Naomi's sons (Rut.1.4). She was a Moabite woman who married into a Hebrew family that had settled in Moab due to a famine in Judah (Rut.1.1-2). After the deaths of Naomi's husband and sons, Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem (Rut.1.6-7). Initially, both Orpah and Ruth, Naomi's other daughter-in-law, insisted on accompanying her (Rut.1.10). However, Naomi urged them to return to their own families in Moab (Rut.1.11-13). Orpah eventually agreed to stay in Moab, but Ruth remained steadfast in her commitment to Naomi (Rut.1.14). Orpah's decision to stay in Moab is contrasted with Ruth's loyalty and devotion to Naomi and her God (Rut.1.16-17). While Orpah is not mentioned again in the Bible, her brief appearance in the story of Ruth highlights the significant choice that Ruth made in following Naomi and embracing the God of Israel.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
No reviewed connections yet.
Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
- Spouse
- Chilion
Appears in Scripture
Named in 2 verses across 1 book. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.