Ruth 1:21

21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty; why call me Naomi when the Lord has dealt harshly with [a] me, and the Almighty [b] has brought calamity upon me?"

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 the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them; and the women said, "Is this Naomi?"
20 She said to them, "Call me no longer Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.
21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty; why call me Naomi when the Lord has dealt harshly with me, and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?"
22 So Naomi returned together with Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, who came back with her from the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Or [has testified against]
  • [b]. Traditional rendering of Heb [Shaddai]
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.