37 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Ruth 1 This chapter treats of a family that removed from the land of Canaan to the land of Moab on account of a famine, where the father of it and his two sons died, and each of them left a widow, Ruth 1:1 the mother-in-law proposed to return to her own country, and set forward with her two daughters-in-law, whom, when they had...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled,.... So that it appears that this history is of time and things after the affair of Micah, and of the concubine of the Levite, and of the war between Israel and Benjamin; for in those times there was no king nor judge in Israel; but to what time of the judges, and which government of theirs it...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
Elimelech and Naomi; Death of Elimelech and His Sons. (b. c. 1312.) 1 Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Beth-lehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. 2 And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi,...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. That was a bad move on their part; Better poverty with the people of God, than plenty outside of the covenanted land.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the name of the man was Elimelech,.... Which signifies "my God is King", as he was King over Israel. In the times of the judges, the government was a theocracy; the judges were raised up immediately by the Lord, and ruled under him; the Targum calls him a great man, and so Jarchi; and it is very likely he was, especially if it be true what is...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And the name of the man was Elimelech,— “Elimelech? means, “my God is King.” A man with such a name as that ought not to have left the kingdom where his God was King; but some people are not worthy of the names they bear. Rth_1:2. And the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth-lehem-judah. And...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died,.... According to Josephus (x), after he had dwelt in the land ten years, and had married his two sons to Moabitish women; but, as Alshech observes, the text shows that while he was living they were not married to them, but after his death; and it is said of them only that they dwelt there about ten years; so...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. Which was about ten years too long. Probably they did not intend to remain so long when they went there, they only meant to be...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they took them wives of the women of Moab,.... Not before they were proselyted to the Jewish religion, as Aben Ezra thinks, and which seems plainly to be the case of Ruth; at least she was so afterwards, if not before; and also of Orpah, as the same writer concludes from Ruth 1:15 though others are of a different opinion, and some excuse their...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them,.... As well as their father, in the land of Moab, after they had lived with their wives in it about ten years; the Targum is, "because they transgressed the decree of the Word of the Lord, and joined in affinity with strange people, their days were cut off;'' or shortened: and the woman was left of...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. That seemed to be her great grief—that she was left. She would have been content to go with them, but she was left to mourn their loss.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab,.... After the death of her two sons, and having heard of the ceasing of the famine in Israel, she had a desire to go into her own country, where she would have better opportunities of serving the Lord; and having no heart to stay in Moab, an idolatrous...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: It is often the case that, when our idols are broken, we turn back to our God. It is frequently the case that the loss of earthly good leads us to return to our first Husband, for we feel that then it was better with us than it is now. Naomi had also another...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was,.... What part of Moab she had dwelt in, and now removed from, is not said; it is called the country or field of Moab, she returned from; hence some have thought, that she and her husband, and her sons, did not live in any of the cities of Moab, but in a field; either because the Moabites...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. And Naomi said unto her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each to her mother’s house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me. The LORD grant you that ye may...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Naomi said to her two daughters in law,.... When they were come, as it is very probable, to the utmost limits of the land of Moab, and to the borders of the land of Israel: go, return each unto her mother's house: the mother's house is mentioned, and not the father's, not because they had no father living; for it is certain Ruth had a father...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The Lord grant you,.... Some make a supplement here, the Targum a perfect reward, Aben Ezra an husband; and so Josephus says (c), she wished them happier marriages than they had with her sons, who were so soon taken from them; but a supplement seems needless, for what follows is connected with the wish, and contains the sum of it: that you may...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they said unto her,.... When they had eased themselves in cries and tears, and had recovered their speech: surely we will return with thee unto thy people; to be proselyted, as the Targum; not only to dwell with them, but to worship with them.
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people. And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Naomi said, turn again, my daughters,.... Supposing this resolution of theirs only arose from a natural affection, and not from any love to the God or people of Israel; at least doubting whether it was so or not, and willing to try whether anyone, or both of them, were really from a principle of religion inclined to go with her; and desirous...