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._ Elimalech - 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 (1 Chronicles 4:22). EPHRATHITES. The ancient name of Beth-lehem was Ephrath (Genesis 35:19; Genesis 47:7), which was continued after the occupation of the land by the Hebrews, even down to the time of the prophet Micah (Micah 5:2)

1-5 Elimelech's care to provide for his family, was not to be blamed; but his removal into the country of Moab could not be justified. And the removal ended in the wasting of his family. It is folly to think of escaping that cross, which, being laid in our way, we ought to take up. Changing our place seldom is mending it. Those who bring young people into bad acquaintance, and take them out of the way of public ordinances, thought they may think them well-principled, and armed against temptation, know not what will be the end. It does not appear that the women the sons of Elimelech married, were proselyted to the Jewish religion. Earthly trials or enjoyments are of short continuance. Death continually removes those of every age and situation, and mars all our outward comforts: we cannot too strongly prefer those advantages which shall last for ever....

Verse Ruth 1:2. _ELIMELECH_] That is, _God is my king_. _NAOMI_] _Beautiful_ or _amiable_. _MAHLON_] _Infirmity_. _CHILION_] _Finished, completed_....

EXPOSITION RUTH 1:1 NOW IT CAME TO PASS. Or, more literally, "And it came to pass." The "And" is somewhat remarkable, standing at the commencement of the Book. But as it is also found at the commencement of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, Ezekiel, Esther, and Ezra, its use, though inartistic, must be amenable to some literary law. The Books specified, even including Ezekiel, are historical They are parcels of history, each narrating events that had their genesis in more or less significant antecedent occurrences. This historical genesis, so very different from an "absolute commencement" of things, is indicated, though probably in unreflective spontaneity, by the copulative "And." IN THE DAYS WHEN THE JUDGES RULED. Or, more literally, "when the judges judged." In primitive ti

AND THE NAME OF THE MAN WAS ELIMELECH,.... Which signifies "my God is King", as he was King over Israel. In the times of the judges, the government was a theocracy; the judges were raised up immediately by the Lord, and ruled under him; the Targum calls him a great man, and so Jarchi; and it is very likely he was, especially if it be true what is said the Jewish chronology u, that he was the brother of Salmon, prince of the tribe of Judah; and it is certain that Boaz the son of Salmon was a kinsman of his, Ruth 2:1, AND THE NAME OF HIS WIFE NAOMI; which signifies "sweet, pleasant", very likely a comely person, and of a sweet disposition; a name of the same signification with Naamah, the sister of Tubalcain, Genesis 4:22 and according to the Talmudists she was Elimelech's brother's daughter; for they

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS CHAPTER 1 The Story of Naomi: Orpah and Ruth _ 1. Naomi and her sorrows (Ruth 1:1)_ 2. The return (Ruth 1:6) 3. Orpah turning back, Ruth cleaving (Ruth 1:14) 4. Naomi and Ruth in Bethlehem (Ruth 1:19) The story begins with a famine. Elimelech, “my God is king,” and Naomi, “pleasant,” leave Bethlehem, “the house of bread,” to go to the land of Moab, the heathen country. The story ends in Bethlehem with a marriage. Naomi far from the land, in unbelief and bitterness, bereft of Elimelech, her two sons also dead, Mahlon, which means “sick,” and Chilion “pining,” pictures Israel's condition, away from

RUTH AND NAOMI. Bethlehem ceased for a time to be what its name signified a house of bread. Under stress of famine Elimelech, with his wife Naomi, left his Judæ an home, and went to sojourn in the land of Moab, where he died. His two sons married women of Moab, Orpah and Ruth, but died childless, so that Naomi and her daughters-in-law were left together in lonely widowhood. Ruth 1:1. Seen from the uplands of Judea, the mountains of Moab are like an immense wall rising beyond the mysterious gulf of the Dead Sea. Ruth 1:2. Elimelech, meaning my God is king, is an ancient Palestinian name, which occurs in the Amarna tablets. Naomi means my sweet one, a mother's fond name for her child. Ephrath was a district round about Bethlehem (_cf._...

ELIMELECH. My God is king. NAOMI. My pleasant one. Mahlon. Sick. CHILION. Pining. EPHRATHITES. Ephrath was the ancient name of Beth-lehem, where Rachel was buried (Genesis 35:19; Genesis 48:7)....

_Elimelech_ i. e. _God_, or _my God, is king_; an ancient name in S. Palestine, occurring in the Amarna tablets, Ilu-milki 179, 36; 151, 45, though the form _Milk-ilu_is commoner; in Phoenician we find the corresponding _Baal-milk_=-Baal is king," _NSI._, p. 347. _Naomi_on the surface appears to mean _my sweetness_, a name like Hephzi-bah (2 Kings 21:1) expressive of the mother's joy in the new-born child; more likely it is an Aram. fem. form of _Naamân_, i.e. _sweet, pleasant one_, which gives a clear parallel to Marah = _bitter one_in Ruth 1:20; Wellhausen compares the Aram, names Oḥorân and Oḥarî, and the Arab. Nu-mân and Nu-mâ, _Composition d. Hex._2, p. 358 _n_. The meaning of _Mahlon_and _Chilion_is not quite certain; if it is weakening and

THE NAME OF THE MAN WAS ELIMELECH— That is, _God is my king._ According to the Jews, he was a man of great wealth and dignity: his wife's name was _Naomi; 1:_e. _amiable, agreeable;_ see Ruth 1:20. If we are to believe the Jews, she was the daughter of Salmon, and niece of Nahshon prince of the tribe of Judah....