Mahlon
A son of Elimelech and Naomi, who went with the family from Bethlehem to Moab during the famine and married Ruth there. He died in Moab after about ten years, childless, leaving her a widow. When Boaz redeemed the family land he stated the purpose plainly: to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, taking Ruth the widow of Mahlon as his wife.
What we know — and how we know it
Where in scripture
RuthThe name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi. The names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah. They came into the country of Moab, and lived there.
Ruth 1:2
Mahlon and Chilion both died, and the woman was bereaved of her two children and of her husband.
Ruth 1:5 — Dies in Moab
Boaz said to the elders, and to all the people, “You are witnesses today, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi.
Ruth 4:9
Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, I have purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers, and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses today.”
Ruth 4:10
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.
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Photo: Neil Ward — CC BY 2.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)