Ruth 1:5

5 Then ^[a]both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband.

Ruth 1:5 Meaning and Commentary

Ruth 1:5

And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them
As well as their father, in the land of Moab, after they had lived with their wives in it about ten years; the Targum is,

``because they transgressed the decree of the Word of the Lord, and joined in affinity with strange people, their days were cut off;''

or shortened:

and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband;
deprived both of her husband and her sons, which was a great affliction, aggravated by her being in a strange country; many are the afflictions of the righteous.

Ruth 1:5 In-Context

3 Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died; and she was left with her two sons.

4 They took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. And they lived there about ten years.

5 Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband.

6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab, for she had heard in the land of Moab that the LORD had visited His people in giving them food.

7 So she departed from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "both of them"