Ruth 1:21

21 I went away full and Hashem hath brought me back empty; why then call me Naomi, seeing Hashem hath testified against me, and Shaddai hath made me very bitter?

Ruth 1:21 Meaning and Commentary

Ruth 1:21

I went out full
Of my husband and children, as the Targum; of children and riches, as Aben Ezra and Jarchi; wherefore some Jewish writers blame her and her husband for going abroad at such a time, and ascribe it to a covetous disposition, and an unwillingness to relieve the poor that came to them in their distress, and therefore got out of the way of them, on account of which they were punished, so Jarchi on ( Ruth 1:1 ) , see ( Judges 2:15 ) but this is said without any just cause or reason that appears:

and the Lord hath brought me home again empty:
deprived of her husband, children, and substance; she acknowledges the hand of God in it, and seems not to murmur at it, but to submit to it quietly, and bear it patiently:

why then call ye me Naomi;
when there is nothing pleasant and agreeable in me, nor in my circumstances:

seeing the Almighty hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath
afflicted me?
had bore witness that that was not a name suitable for her; or that she had sinned, and had not done what was well pleasing in his sight, as appeared by his afflicting her; she seemed therefore to be humbled under a sense of sin, and to consider afflictions as coming from the Lord on account of it, and submitted to his sovereign will; the affliction she means was the loss of her husband, children, and substance; see ( Job 10:17 ) ( 16:8 ) .

Ruth 1:21 In-Context

19 So they two went until they came to Beit-Lechem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Beit-Lechem, that kol ha’ir (all the town) was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?
20 And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi [Pleasant], call me Mara [Bitter]; for Shaddai hath dealt very bitterly with me.
21 I went away full and Hashem hath brought me back empty; why then call me Naomi, seeing Hashem hath testified against me, and Shaddai hath made me very bitter?
22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her kallah, with her, which returned out of the sadei Moav; and they came to Beit-Lechem in the beginning of katzir seorim (barley harvest).
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.