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Ruth 1:19

in Ruth 1

So Naomi and Ruth traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole city was stirred because of them, and the women of the city exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

So they two went until they came to Beth-lehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Beth-lehem, that all the city was moved about them, and the women said, Is this Naomi?

KJV

So they two went until they came to Beth–lehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Beth–lehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?

This verse in Ruth 1

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

All the city was moved about them - It appears that Naomi was not only well known, but highly respected also at Bethlehem; a proof that Elimelech was of high consideration in that place.

This site's exposition

So Naomi and Ruth traveled until they came to Bethlehem

on Ruth 1:19-21

The town asks "Can this be Naomi?", which shows how much ten years and three graves had changed her. She renames herself Mara, bitter, against Naomi, pleasant, and twice calls God the Almighty, which is Shaddai, the name God used of himself to Abram at Genesis 17:1. Her summary, "I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty", is overturned at 4:14-17 by the same women.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

3 And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. 4 And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. 5 And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Is this - Is this she that formerly lived in so much plenty and honour? How marvelously is her condition changed?
So they two went until they came to Bethlehem,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

So unlike is the rose when it is withered to what it was when it was blooming. What a poor figure does Naomi make now, compared with what she made in her prosperity!

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

all the city was moved about them--The present condition of Naomi, a forlorn and desolate widow, presented so painful a contrast to the flourishing state of prosperity and domestic bliss in which she had been at her departure.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

And they said - i. e. the women of Bethlehem said. “They” in the Hebrew is feminine.

The words behind it

17 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַתֵּלַ֣כְנָהand they went

    vatelakhnahH1980 →1546 times

  • שְׁתֵּיהֶ֔ם[the] two of them

    sheteihemH8147 →768 times

  • עַד־until

    ʾad-H5704 →1261 times

  • בֹּאָ֖נָהcame they

    boanahH935 →2568 times

  • בֵּ֣יתBeth-

    beitH1035 →82 times

  • לָ֑חֶם-lehem

    lachemH1035 →82 times

  • וַיְהִ֗יand it was

    vayhiH1961 →3559 times

  • כְּבֹאָ֙נָה֙when came they

    kevoanahH935 →2568 times

  • בֵּ֣יתBeth-

    beitH1035 →82 times

  • לֶ֔חֶם-lehem

    lechemH1035 →82 times

  • וַתֵּהֹ֤םand it was excited

    vatehomH1949 →

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • הָעִיר֙the city

    hairH5892 →1090 times

  • עֲלֵיהֶ֔ןon them

    ʾaleihenH5921 →5755 times

  • וַתֹּאמַ֖רְנָהand they [fem] said

    vatomarnahH559 →5305 times

  • הֲזֹ֥את¿ [is] this

    hazotH2063 →603 times

  • נָעֳמִֽי׃Naomi

    noomiH5281 →21 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Matthew 21:10

    When Jesus had entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

    it leads to

    • Acts 9:5

      “Who are You, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied.

    • Isaiah 63:1

      Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah with crimson-stained garments? Who is this robed in splendor, marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I, proclaiming vindication, mighty to save.”

  • Through

    Lamentations 2:15

    All who pass by clap their hands at you in scorn. They hiss and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the…

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 18:16

      They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.

    • Psalms 48:2

      Beautiful in loftiness, the joy of all the earth, like the peaks of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the great King.

    • Psalms 50:2

      From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.

    • Ezekiel 25:6

      For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you clapped your hands and stomped your feet and rejoiced over the land of Israel with a heart full of contempt,

    • Jeremiah 19:8

      I will make this city a desolation and an object of scorn. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.

  • Through

    Isaiah 23:7

    Is this your jubilant city, whose origin is from antiquity, whose feet have taken her to settle far away?

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 22:2

      O city of commotion, O town of revelry? Your slain did not die by the sword, nor were they killed in battle.

Where this verse is studied

About Ruth

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.