Woman living before Israel's Monarchy
Naomi
Elimelech’s wife, from Bethlehem. In a famine she went with him and her two sons to Moab, where Elimelech and then both sons died (Ruth 1:1–5). She decided to go home when she heard that Yahweh had visited his people with food, and urged her daughters-in-law to stay in Moab; but Ruth said she would not leave her (Ruth 1:6–18). At Bethlehem she told the women, “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me” (Ruth 1:20). She guided Ruth to Boaz, and when Ruth’s son Obed was born, the women said that a son was born to Naomi, and she took the child and nursed him (Ruth 3; 4:13–17).
Family
- Husband
- Elimelech
- Children
- Mahlon, Chilion