Ruth 1:3-6

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ruth 1:1-5

The first words give all the date we have of this story. It was in the days when the judges ruled (Ruth 1:1), not in those disorderly times when there was no king in Israel; but under which of the judges these things happened we are not told, and the conjectures of the learned are very uncertain. It must have been towards the beginning of the judges? time, for Boaz, who married Ruth, was born of Rahab, who received the spies in Joshua's time. Some think it was in the days of Ehud, others of... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ruth 1:6-18

See here, I. The good affection Naomi bore to the land of Israel, Ruth 1:6. Though she could not stay in it while the famine lasted, she would not stay out of it when the famine ceased. Though the country of Moab had afforded her shelter and supply in a time of need, yet she did not intend it should be her rest for ever; no land should be that but the holy land, in which the sanctuary of God was, of which he had said, This is my rest for ever. Observe, 1. God, at last, returned in mercy to his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ruth 1:3

And Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died ,.... According to Josephus F24 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 9. sect. 1.) , 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 that it is most probable that their father died quickly after he came into the land of Moab: and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ruth 1:4

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 1:15 though others are of a different opinion, and some excuse their marriage, and others condemn it as unlawful, among whom is the Targumist, who paraphrases the words,"and they transgressed the decree of the Word of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ruth 1:5

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 her two sons and her husband ; deprived both of her husband and her sons, which was a great affliction, aggravated by her being in a strange... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ruth 1:6

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 country, where she had lost her husband, and her two sons; and therefore prepared for her journey, and set forward, and her two daughters-in-law with... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ruth 1:3

Elimelech - died - Probably a short time after his arrival in Moab. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ruth 1:4

And they took them wives - The Targum very properly observes, that they transgressed the decree of the word of the Lord, and took to themselves strange women. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ruth 1:5

And Mahlon and Chilion died - The Targum adds, And because they transgressed the decree of the word of the Lord, and joined affinity with strange people, therefore their days were cut off. It is very likely that there is more here than conjecture. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ruth 1:6

She had heard - By the mouth of an angel, says the Targum. The Lord had visited his people - "Because of the righteousness of Ibzan the judge, and because of the supplications of pious Boaz." - Targum. It is imagined, and not without probability, that Mahlon and Chilion are the same with Joash and Saraph, mentioned 1 Chronicles 4:22 , where the Hebrew should be thus translated, and Joash and Saraph, who married in Moab, and dwelt in Lehem. See the Hebrew. read more

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