Worthy.Bible » DARBY » Ruth » Chapter 1 » Verse 20

Ruth 1:20 Darby English Bible (DARBY)

20 And she said to them, Call me not Naomi -- call me Mara; for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

Cross Reference

Job 6:4 DARBY

For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, their poison drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of +God are arrayed against me.

Lamentations 3:1-20 DARBY

I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. Me hath he led, and brought into darkness, and not into light. Surely against me hath he turned again and again his hand all the day. My flesh and my skin hath he wasted away, he hath broken my bones. He hath built against me, and encompassed [me] with gall and toil. He hath made me to dwell in dark places as those that have been long dead. He hath hedged me about that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy. Even when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer. He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked. He is unto me [as] a bear lying in wait, a lion in secret places. He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces; he hath made me desolate. He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins. I am become a derision to all my people; their song all the day. He hath sated me with bitterness, he hath made me drunk with wormwood. He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes. And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I have forgotten prosperity. And I said, My strength is perished, and my hope in Jehovah. Remember thou mine affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath [them] constantly in remembrance, and is humbled in me.

Genesis 17:1 DARBY

And Abram was ninety-nine years old, when Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said to him, I [am] the Almighty ùGod: walk before my face, and be perfect.

Genesis 43:14 DARBY

And the Almighty ùGod give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother and Benjamin! And I, if I be bereaved of children, am bereaved.

Exodus 6:3 DARBY

And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as the Almighty ùGod; but by my name Jehovah I was not made known to them.

Job 5:17 DARBY

Behold, happy is the man whom +God correcteth; therefore despise not the chastening of the Almighty.

Job 11:7 DARBY

Canst thou by searching find out +God? canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection?

Job 19:6 DARBY

Know now that +God hath overthrown me, and hath surrounded me with his net.

Psalms 73:14 DARBY

For all the day have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.

Psalms 88:15 DARBY

I am afflicted and expiring from my youth up; I suffer thy terrors, [and] I am distracted.

Isaiah 38:13 DARBY

I kept still until the morning; ... as a lion, so doth he break all my bones. From day to night thou wilt make an end of me.

Hebrews 12:11 DARBY

But no chastening at the time seems to be [matter] of joy, but of grief; but afterwards yields [the] peaceful fruit of righteousness to those exercised by it.

Revelation 1:8 DARBY

I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith [the] Lord God, he who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.

Revelation 21:22 DARBY

And I saw no temple in it; for the Lord God Almighty is its temple, and the Lamb.

Commentary on Ruth 1 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 1

Ru 1:1-5. Elimelech, Driven by Famine into Moab, Dies There.

1. in the days when the judges ruled—The beautiful and interesting story which this book relates belongs to the early times of the judges. The precise date cannot be ascertained.

2. Elimelech—signifies "My God is king."

Naomi—"fair or pleasant"; and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, are supposed to be the same as Joash and Saraph (1Ch 4:22).

Ephrathites—The ancient name of Beth-lehem was Ephrath (Ge 35:19; 48:7), which was continued after the occupation of the land by the Hebrews, even down to the time of the prophet Micah (Mic 5:2).

Beth-lehem-judah—so called to distinguish it from a town of the same name in Zebulun. The family, compelled to emigrate to Moab through pressure of a famine, settled for several years in that country. After the death of their father, the two sons married Moabite women. This was a violation of the Mosaic law (De 7:3; 23:3; Ezr 9:2; Ne 13:23); and Jewish writers say that the early deaths of both the young men were divine judgments inflicted on them for those unlawful connections.

Ru 1:6-18. Naomi Returning Home, Ruth Accompanies Her.

6, 7. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab—The aged widow, longing to enjoy the privileges of Israel, resolved to return to her native land as soon as she was assured that the famine had ceased, and made the necessary arrangements with her daughters-in-law.

8. Naomi said unto her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each to her mother's house—In Eastern countries women occupy apartments separate from those of men, and daughters are most frequently in those of their mother.

the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead—that is, with my sons, your husbands, while they lived.

9. The Lord grant you that ye may find rest—enjoy a life of tranquillity, undisturbed by the cares, incumbrances, and vexatious troubles to which a state of widowhood is peculiarly exposed.

Then she kissed them—the Oriental manner when friends are parting.

11. are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?—This alludes to the ancient custom (Ge 38:26) afterwards expressly sanctioned by the law of Moses (De 25:5), which required a younger son to marry the widow of his deceased brother.

12, 13. Turn again, my daughters, go your way—That Naomi should dissuade her daughters-in-law so strongly from accompanying her to the land of Israel may appear strange. But it was the wisest and most prudent course for her to adopt: first, because they might be influenced by hopes which could not be realized; second, because they might be led, under temporary excitement, to take a step they might afterwards regret; and, third, because the sincerity and strength of their conversion to the true religion, which she had taught them, would be thoroughly tested.

13. the hand of the Lord is gone out against me—that is, I am not only not in a condition to provide you with other husbands, but so reduced in circumstances that I cannot think of your being subjected to privations with me. The arguments of Naomi prevailed with Orpah, who returned to her people and her gods. But Ruth clave unto her; and even in the pages of Sterne, that great master of pathos, there is nothing which so calls forth the sensibilities of the reader as the simple effusion he has borrowed from Scripture—of Ruth to her mother-in-law [Chalmers].

Ru 1:19-22. They Come to Beth-lehem.

19-22. all the city was moved about them—The present condition of Naomi, a forlorn and desolate widow, presented so painful a contrast to the flourishing state of prosperity and domestic bliss in which she had been at her departure.

22. in the beginning of barley harvest—corresponding to the end of our March.