Ruth 1:1

Ruth 1:1

Elimelech’s Family Goes to Moab

1 Now it came to pass, in the days when ^athe judges ruled, that there was ^ba famine in the land. And a certain man of ^cBethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of ^dMoab, he and his wife and his two sons.

2 The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion—^aEphrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went ^bto the country of Moab and remained there.

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

4 Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they¹ dwelt there about ten years.

5 Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.

Naomi Returns with Ruth

6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had ^avisited His people by ^bgiving them bread.

7 Therefore she went out 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.

8 And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, ^a“Go, return each to her mother’s house. ^bThe Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt ^cwith the dead and with me.

9 The Lord grant that you may find ^arest, each in the house of her husband.” So she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.

Commentaries:

Barnes' Notes

<< Judges 21:25

Ruth 1:2 >>

In the days when the Judges ruled - " Judged." This note of time, like that in Ruth 4:7; Judges 18:1; Judges 17:6, indicates that this Book was written after the rule of the judges had ceased. The genealogy Ruth 4:17-22 points to the time of David as the earliest when the Book of Ruth could have been written.

A famine - Caused probably by one of the hostile invasions recorded in the Book of Judges. Most of the Jewish commentators, from the mention of Bethlehem, and the resemblance of the names Boaz and Ibzan, refer this history to the judge Ibzan Judges 12:8, but without probability.

The country of Moab - Here, and in Ruth 1:2, Ruth 1:22; Ruth 4:3, literally, "the field" or "fields." As the same word is elsewhere used of the territory of Moab, of the Amalekites, of Edom, and of the Philistines, it would seem to be a term pointedly used with reference to a foreign country, not the country of the speaker, or writer; and to have been specially applied to Moab.

**Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Ruth 1:1:**

Daniel 2:44
Zephaniah 2:8

<< Judges 21:25

Ruth 1:2 >>

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