Ruth 1:3

3 Elimelekh, Na'omi's husband, died; and she was left, she and her two sons.

Ruth 1:3 Meaning and Commentary

Ruth 1:3

And Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died
According to Josephus ^F24, after he had dwelt in the land ten years, and had married his two sons to Moabitish women; but, as Alshech observes, the text shows that while he was living they were not married to them, but after his death; and it is said of them only that they dwelt there about ten years; so that it is most probable that their father died quickly after he came into the land of Moab: and she was left, and her two sons; in a strange land, she without a husband, and they without a father.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 9. sect. 1.)

Ruth 1:3 In-Context

1 Back in the days when the judges were judging, at a time when there was a famine in the land, a certain man from Beit-Lechem went to live in the territory of Mo'av - he, his wife and his two sons.

2 The man's name was Elimelekh, his wife's name was Na'omi, and his two sons were named Machlon and Kilyon; they were Efratim from Beit-Lechem in Y'hudah. They arrived in the plain of Mo'av and settled there.

3 Elimelekh, Na'omi's husband, died; and she was left, she and her two sons.

4 They took wives for themselves from the women of Mo'av; the name of the one was 'Orpah; and the name of the other was Rut. They lived there for about ten years.

5 Then Machlon and Kilyon died, both of them; and the woman was left with neither her two sons nor her husband.