Orpah

Orpah is an obscure Biblical female name from the ancient Hebrew script עָרְפָּה meaning “nape” or “back of the neck”. She appears in the Old Testament’s Book of Ruth as one of Naomi’s two daughters-in-law (the other being Ruth). During a period of great famine, Naomi and her husband Elimelech and their two sons left Israel for Moab in search of food. As the Israeli family settled in Moab, Naomi’s two sons (Mahlon and Chilion) eventually marry two Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah, respectively. As time passes, Elimelech, Mahlon and Chilion die and the three women are widowed. Now without her husband and sons, Naomi decides to return to her original home in Judah (where apparently there is now the promise of food). Both Ruth and Orpah obediently follow their mother-in-law until Naomi says: “’Go, return each of you to your own mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me’…Then she kissed them and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, ‘No, we will return with you to your people.’” (Ruth 1:8-10). Yet Naomi kept insisting they turn back. And guess what? That’s exactly what Orpah did. Hence her name’s etymology (because she turned back). And Ruth (whose name means “companion”) gets all the credit for refusing to leave her mother-in-law (and for converting to Judaism), whilst Orpah did as her mother-in-law asked. She stayed behind with her own people. There’s actually another Orpah who’s even more well-known than this old Biblical lass, and her name is Orpah Gail Winfrey. You know her as Oprah Winfrey, the result of childhood mispronunciations that stuck. Here’s another Orpah who went on her way and never looked back!