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Ruth 1:2

in Ruth 1

The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah, and they entered the land of Moab and settled there.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth-lehem-judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.

KJV

And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth–lehem–judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.

This verse in Ruth 1

Commentary

9 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Elimelech--signifies "My God is king." Naomi--"fair or pleasant"; and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, are supposed to be the same as Joash and Saraph (1Ch 4:22).

This site's exposition

in the days when the judges ruled

on Ruth 1:1-2

The book fixes its own date inside the period Judges describes, so what follows runs alongside chapters where every man did that which was right in his own eyes. A famine drives a man out of Bethlehem, which means house of bread, and he goes to Moab, which Deuteronomy 23:3 bars from the congregation to the tenth generation. The names carry the story: Elimelech means my God is king, in a book set when there was no king in Israel, and Naomi means pleasant, which verse 20 undoes.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers3 voices

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

Commentary on Luke · Written before 397.

proposed

Therefore, if we acknowledge that Thamar is described in the genealogies on account of a mystery in the Lord's generations, we must also certainly not consider Ruth to be overlooked for the same reason: about whom the holy Apostle seems to have had an understanding, when he foresaw through the Spirit that the calling of the Gentiles was to be celebrated by the Gospel, saying that the Law is not made for the just, but for the unjust (1 Timothy 1:9). For how did Ruth, being a foreigner, marry a Jew? And by what reasoning did the evangelist think that the mention of a union should be made in the birth of Christ, which was forbidden by the series of laws? Therefore, did the Savior not originate from a legitimate generation (Deut. XXIII, 3)? It seems to be contrary unless we adhere to the apostolic belief, for the law was not established for the righteous, but for the unrighteous. And since she is a foreigner and a Moabite (especially since the law of Moses prohibited these marriages, and the Moabites were excluded from the Church; for it is written: Moabites shall not enter the Church of the Lord even to the third and fourth generation, and forever), how then did she enter into the Church if not because she was holy and blameless in her conduct, above the law? For if the Law was given to the impious and sinners, certainly Ruth, who surpassed the definition of the Law, and entered into the Church, and became an Israelite, and deserved to be counted among the greater ones of the Lord's family, because of the choice of her mind and not her body, is a great example for us, because in her the figure of our entrance into the Church of the Lord, who are gathered from the nations, preceded. […]

A commentator

Jerome

HEBREW QUESTIONS ON CHRONICLES · Written before 420.

proposed

The Hebrews' tradition is that this is he in whose time the sun stood still, on account of those who did not keep the law, so that, when they had seen such a miracle, they should turn to the Lord God. And because they scorned to do such a thing, therefore the famine grew worse, and he who seemed foremost in the tribe of Judah not only was expelled from his native land with his wife and sons, made helpless by famine, but even continued in that same exile with his sons.

A commentator

Jerome

LETTER 39.5 · Written before 420.

proposed

You call to mind Blaesilla's companionship, her conversation and her endearing ways; and you cannot endure the thought that you have lost them all. I pardon you the tears of a mother, but I ask you to restrain your grief. When I think of the parent, I cannot blame you for weeping, but when I think of the Christian and the recluse, the mother disappears from my view. Your wound is still fresh, and any touch of mine, however gentle, is more likely to inflame than to heal it.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Ephrathites - Bethlehem was otherwise called Ephratha. Naomi signifies my amiable or pleasant one: Mahlon and Chilon signify sickness and consumption.
And the name of the man was Elimelech,.... Which signifies "my God is King", as he was King over Israel.
2 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

It seems there was plenty in the country of Moab when there was scarcity of bread in the land of Israel. Common gifts of providence are often bestowed in greater plenty upon those that are strangers to God than upon those that know and worship him.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Elimelech - That is, God is my king. Naomi - Beautiful or amiable. Mahlon - Infirmity. Chilion - Finished, completed.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

And it happened in the days when judges judged. [During the period] before King Shaul reigned, when the generations were administered by judges; 1 There was no individual judge who could exercise control over all of Yisroel, rather there were many judges.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Ruth 1:1:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

20 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.

  • וְשֵׁ֣םand [the] name of

    veshemH8034864 times

  • הָאִ֣ישׁthe man

    haishH3761663 times

  • אֱֽלִימֶ֡לֶךְ[was] Elimelech

    ʾelimelekhH4586 times

  • וְשֵׁם֩and [the] name of

    veshemH8034864 times

  • אִשְׁתּ֨וֹwife his

    ʾishtoH802781 times

  • נָעֳמִ֜י[was] Naomi

    noomiH528121 times

  • וְשֵׁ֥םand [the] name of

    veshemH8034864 times

  • שְׁנֵֽי־[the] two

    shenei-H8147768 times

  • בָנָ֣יו׀sons his

    vanavH11214930 times

  • מַחְל֤וֹן[was] Mahlon

    machlonH42484 times

  • וְכִלְיוֹן֙and Kilion

    vekhilyonH36303 times

  • אֶפְרָתִ֔יםEphrathites

    ʾefratimH673

  • מִבֵּ֥יתfrom Beth-

    mibeitH103582 times

  • לֶ֖חֶם-lehem

    lechemH103582 times

  • יְהוּדָ֑הJudah

    yehudahH3063819 times

  • וַיָּבֹ֥אוּand they came

    vaiyavouH9352568 times

  • שְׂדֵי־[the] region<s> of

    sedei-H7704334 times

  • מוֹאָ֖בMoab

    moavH4124181 times

  • וַיִּֽהְיוּ־and they were

    vaiyihyu-H19613559 times

  • שָֽׁם׃there

    shamH8033834 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

    Micah 5:2

    But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days…

    it leads to

    • Matthew 2:6

      ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of My people…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • John 7:42

      Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Christ will come from the line of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”

    • Luke 1:31–33

      Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus.

    • Isaiah 9:6–7

      For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of…

    • Psalms 90:2

      Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.

  • Through

    1 Samuel 1:1

    Now there was a man named Elkanah who was from Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of…

    it leads to

  • Through

    Genesis 35:19

    So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).

    it leads to

    • Micah 5:2

      But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days…

Where this verse is studied

About Ruth

This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, Commentary on Luke; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, HEBREW QUESTIONS ON CHRONICLES; Jerome, LETTER 39.5; 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.