Naomi
A widow of Bethlehem whose faithfulness drew her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth to Israel and its God.
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
Ruth said, “Don’t urge me to leave you, and to return from following you, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God.
Ruth 1:16 — 'Your people shall be my people'
She said to them, “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara; for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
Ruth 1:20
Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz.
Ruth 2:1
Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Let me now go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I find favor.” She said to her, “Go, my daughter.”
Ruth 2:2
The servant who was set over the reapers answered, “It is the Moabite lady who came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab.
Ruth 2:6
Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by Yahweh, who has not abandoned his kindness to the living and to the dead.” Naomi said to her, “The man is a close relative to us, one of our near kinsmen.”
Ruth 2:20
Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maidens, and that they not meet you in any other field.”
Ruth 2:22
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.
Family
In their own words — 11 recorded sayings
“And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go back to your mothers' houses: may the Lord be good to you as you have been good to the dead and to me: May the Lord give you rest in the houses of your husbands. Then she gave them a kiss; and they were weeping bitterly.” — Ruth 1:8-9
“But Naomi said, Go back, my daughters; why will you come with me? Have I more sons in my body, to become your husbands? Go back, my daughters, and go on your way; I am so old now that I may not have another husband. If I said, I have hopes, if I had a husband tonight, and might have sons, Would you keep yourselves till they were old enough? would you keep from having husbands for them? No, my daughters; but I am very sad for you that the hand of the Lord is against me.” — Ruth 1:11-13
“And Naomi said, See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods: go back after your sister-in-law.” — Ruth 1:15
“And she said to them, Do not let my name be Naomi, but Mara, for the Ruler of all has given me a bitter fate. I went out full, and the Lord has sent me back again with nothing; why do you give me the name Naomi, seeing that the Lord has given witness against me, and the Ruler of all has sent sorrow on me?” — Ruth 1:20-21
“And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, Now let me go into the field and take up the heads of grain after him in whose eyes I may have grace. And she said to her, Go, my daughter.” — Ruth 2:2
“And her mother-in-law said to her, Where did you take up the grain today, and where were you working? May a blessing be on him who gave such attention to you. And she gave her mother-in-law an account of where she had been working, and said, The name of the man with whom I was working today is Boaz.” — Ruth 2:19
“And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, May the blessing of the Lord, who has at all times been kind to the living and to the dead, be on him. And Naomi said to her, The man is of our family, one of our near relations.” — Ruth 2:20
“And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, It is better, my daughter, for you to go out with his servant-girls, so that no danger may come to you in another field.” — Ruth 2:22
…and 3 more recorded sayings.
Speaker attribution: Clear Bible MACULA (CC BY 4.0). Wording: Bible in Basic English (public domain).
Events
Places in their life
Photo: Neil Ward — CC BY 2.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
In art
