Ruth 1:21

21 I went out full, and the Lord led me again void; why therefore call ye me Naomi, whom the Lord hath made low, and (whom) Almighty God hath tormented?

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 And (so) they went forth together, and came into Bethlehem; and when they entered into the city, swift fame (a)rose with all men, and women said, This is that Naomi.
20 To whom she said, Call ye not me Naomi, that is, fair, but call ye me Mara, that is, bitter; for Almighty God hath filled me greatly with bitterness. (To whom she said, Do not ye call me Naomi, or Delightful, or Pleasant, but call ye me Mara, or Bitter; for Almighty God hath filled me with great bitterness.)
21 I went out full, and the Lord led me again void; why therefore call ye me Naomi, whom the Lord hath made low, and (whom) Almighty God hath tormented?
22 Therefore Naomi came with Ruth of Moab, the wife of her son, from the land of her pilgrimage, and turned again into Bethlehem, when barley was reaped first. (And so Naomi came with Ruth the Moabite, her son's wife, from the land where she had lived, and returned to Bethlehem with her, when the barley was first harvested.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.