instead turns the story on its head. This is not a story about sin and judgment, but about divine compassion and deliverance. 1:6. The tension in the plot eases momentarily when we read that Naomi decided to return to Judah because she had received the news that the Lord had brought relief from the famine. The verb פּקד has the primary meaning “pay attention to, observe with care, interest.” Here it refers by metonymy to the consequence of the Lord’s attention and has the connotation “visit graciously” (see