Ruth 1:20

20 quibus ait ne vocetis me Noemi id est pulchram sed vocate me Mara hoc est amaram quia valde me amaritudine replevit Omnipotens

Ruth 1:20 Meaning and Commentary

Ruth 1:20

And she said, call me not Naomi, call me Mara
The one signifying "prosperity", according to Josephus ^F13, and the other "grief"; but he is not always correct in his interpretation of Hebrew words, or to be depended on; by this indeed her different states are well enough expressed, and he rightly observes, that she might more justly be called the one than the other; but the words signify, the one "sweet" and pleasant, and the other "bitter", see ( Exodus 15:23 ) , and the reason she gives confirms it:

for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me;
had wrote bitter things against her, brought bitter afflictions on her, which were very disagreeable to the flesh, as the loss of her husband, her children, and her substance; see ( lam 3:15 lam 3:19 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 9. sect. 2.

Ruth 1:20 In-Context

18 videns ergo Noemi quod obstinato Ruth animo decrevisset secum pergere adversari noluit nec ultra ad suos reditum persuadere

19 profectaeque sunt simul et venerunt in Bethleem quibus urbem ingressis velox apud cunctos fama percrebuit dicebantque mulieres haec est illa Noemi

20 quibus ait ne vocetis me Noemi id est pulchram sed vocate me Mara hoc est amaram quia valde me amaritudine replevit Omnipotens

21 egressa sum plena et vacuam reduxit me Dominus cur igitur vocatis me Noemi quam humiliavit Dominus et adflixit Omnipotens

22 venit ergo Noemi cum Ruth Moabitide nuru sua de terra peregrinationis suae ac reversa est in Bethleem quando primum hordea metebantur