Ruth 1:20

And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
said	וַתֹּ֣אמֶר va.To.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
Call	תִּקְרֶ֥אנָה tik.Re.nah	H7121	to call out to (i.e. properly · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person feminine plural
Naomi	נָעֳמִ֑י no.'o.Mi	H5281	Noomi · proper noun, a woman's name
call	קְרֶ֤אןָ ke.Re.na	H7121	to call out to (i.e. properly · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person feminine plural
Mara	מָרָ֔א ma.Ra'	H4755	Mara · adjective, feminine singular absolute
Almighty	שַׁדַּ֛י sha.Dai	H7706	the Almighty · proper noun, a title
very	מְאֹֽד me.'Od	H3966	properly · cardinal number, masculine singular absolute
bitterly	הֵמַ֥ר he.Mar	H4843	to be (causatively · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Job 6:4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array agains…
Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousnes…
Psalms 88:15 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.
Job 19:6 Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.
Psalms 73:14 For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.
Isaiah 38:13 I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
Lamentations 3:1-20 I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
Job 5:17 Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ruth 1:19–end

Naomi and Ruth, after many a weary step (the fatigue of the journey, we may suppose, being somewhat relieved by the good instructions Naomi gave to her proselyte and the good discourse they had together), came at last to Bethlehem. And they came very seasonably, in the beginning of the barley-harvest, which was the first of their harvests, that of wheat following after. Now Naomi's own eyes might convince her of the truth of what she had heard in the country of Moab, that the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread, and Ruth might see this good land in its best state; and now they had opportunity to provide for winter. Our times are in God's hand, both the events and the time of the…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ruth 1:19

THEY COME TO BETH-LEHEM. (Rut 1:19-22) 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.

Adam Clarke on Ruth 1:20

Call me not Naomi - That is, beautiful or pleasant. Call me Mara - That is, bitter; one whose life is grievous to her. The Almighty - שדי Shaddai, He who is self-sufficient, has taken away the props and supports of my life.

John Gill on Ruth 1:20

And she said, call me not Naomi, call me Mara,.... The one signifying "prosperity", according to Josephus (m), 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,…

The Church Fathers

In describing loftily the sweetness of contemplation, you have renewed the groans of my fallen state, since I hear what I have lost inwardly while mounting outwardly, though undeserving, to the topmost height of rule. Know then that I am stricken with so great sorrow that I can scarcely speak; for the dark shades of grief block up the eyes of my soul. Whatever is beheld is sad, whatever is thought delightful appears to my heart lamentable. For I reflect to what a dejected height of external advancement I have mounted in falling from the lofty height of my rest. And, being sent for my faults into the exile of employment from the face of my Lord, I say with the prophet, in the words, as it were of destroyed Jerusalem, "He who should comfort me hath departed far from me." … For I, my good man, have, as it were, lost my children, since through earthly cares I have lost works of righteousness. Therefore "call me not Noemi, that is fair; but call me Mara, for I am full of bitterness."
— Gregory the Dialogist, Register of Epistles, Book 1, Epistle VI

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Bitter — Bitterness is symbolical of affliction, misery, and servitude (Ex. 1:14; Ruth 1:20; Jer. 9:15). The Chaldeans are called the “bitter and hasty nation” (Hab. 1:6). The “gall of bitterness” expresses a…
Mara — Bitter; sad, a symbolical name which Naomi gave to herself because of her misfortunes (Ruth 1:20).
Bereavement · .Naomi, of her husband — .Naomi, of her husband
Readings, Select · LIGHTS AND SHADOWS — LIGHTS AND SHADOWS

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Ruth 1:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ruth 1:19–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ruth 1:19

Adam Clarke on Ruth 1:20

John Gill on Ruth 1:20

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Ruth 1:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ruth 1:19–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ruth 1:19

Adam Clarke on Ruth 1:20

John Gill on Ruth 1:20

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Ruth 1:19–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Ruth 1:20

Rashi on Ruth 1:19