Ruth 1:2

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 Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.

Ver. 2. And the name of the man was Elimelech,] i.e., My God is King: an excellent name, and such as might yield great comfort in those calamitous times. Christ liveth and reigneth, alioqui totus desperassem, saith one, else I had been down on all fours ere this day.

And the name of his wife Naomi,] i.e., My sweet or pleasant one: a fit name for a wife, who should be to her husband "as the loving hind and pleasant roe." Pro 5:19 Loving appellations serve to increase love betwixt married couples, as well as to express it.

And the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion.] Mahlon signifieth infirmity; Chilion, finished. Why so called, is not showed, saith an interpreter, a but they answer the event of things: the first, his father's infirmity in going from among God's people, to live with idolaters for preservation of his outward estate; and the other, his father's death, he being taken away in Moab. Rth 1:3 He was Mahlon in his leaving of Bethlehem, and Chilion in abiding in Moab.

Ephrathites of Bethlehem-judah.] Not Ephrathites of the tribe of Ephraim, as 1 Kings 11:26 .

And continued there.] Heb., Were there as sojourners: and were kindly used; though the Moabites had been formerly hard-hearted enough, Deu 23:3 and afterwards also, Isa 16:6 and are therefore threatened.

a Bernard.