Job’s losses does (Job 1–2). The narrator of Ruth, however, gives us no clue as to any decrees made in heaven. Implicit in Naomi’s complaint about God is her conviction of his sovereignty and power. Campbell (1975:83) rightly suggests that this is a natural stance in the Old Testament world (cf. e.g., Ps 13), and one may even compare Abraham’s forthright complaint in Genesis 15:2 about his lack of an heir. The complaint against the Lord is thus not surprising here; the narrator’s focus is not on