Ver. 1. Now it came to pass.] Not without the special hand and providence of God, which we are diligently to observe this whole story throughout; as likewise in reading the Book of Esther. In the days when the judges ruled.] But what judges ruled when Ruth was thus preferred to be grandmother to Messiah the Prince, is hard to say. Josephus and Zonaras are for Eli. The Rabbins say that these things began under Ehud, and that Ruth was the daughter of Eglon king of Moab. But neither of these is likely. Gallianus will have Abimelech and Tola to have been judges when these things were done. Lyra and some Jewish doctors hold Boaz to be the same with that judge Ibzan of Bethlehem. (Judges 12:8) Tostatus, and after him Tremellius, think the history of Ruth fell out in the days of Deborah; others, in the beginning of Gideon: and these speak most probably, as may be gathered by comparing Matthew 1:5 with the end of this history. That there was a famine in the land.] In the promised land, that sumen totius terroe: and at Bethlehem also, that “house of bread,” famous for its fertility. See Judges 6:4-6, with Psalms 107:34. There is food in Moab when famine in Israel. “Wicked men have their portion in this life”; (Psalms 17:14) but David neither coveteth their cates, nor envieth their happiness. (Psalms 17:15) And a certain man of Beth-lehem-judah went.] So did Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in like case, and for like cause. So the prophet Elisha counselled the Shunamite to do, &c. Some Jews tell us, -but who told them?—that Elimelech was a great rich man, and that, through contempt of the law, and base covetousness, lest he should part with his wealth to his poor kindred, he left his country and went into the land of Moab, where he died a beggar, &c. Let this pass for a Jewish fable. He, and his wife, and his two sons.] Whom he had in his heart, ad commoriendum et convivendum. This condemneth those miscreants which run away from wife and children, and are worse than infidels, (1 Timothy 5:8) yea, than brute beasts.
Ver. 2. And the name of the man was Elimelech,] i.e., My God is King: an excellent name, and such as might yield great comfort in those calamitous times. Christ liveth and reigneth, alioqui totus desperassem, saith one, else I had been down on all fours ere this day. And the name of his wife Naomi,] i.e., My sweet or pleasant one: a fit name for a wife, who should be to her husband “as the loving hind and pleasant roe.” (Proverbs 5:19) Loving appellations serve to increase love betwixt married couples, as well as to express it. And the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion.] Mahlon signifieth infirmity; Chilion, finished. Why so called, is not showed, saith an interpreter, but they answer the event of things: the first, his father’s infirmity in going from among God’s people, to live with idolaters for preservation of his outward estate; and the other, his father’s death, he being taken away in Moab. (Ruth 1:3) He was Mahlon in his leaving of Bethlehem, and Chilion in abiding in Moab. E phrathites of Bethlehem-judah.] Not Ephrathites of the tribe of Ephraim, as 1 Kings 11:26. And continued there.] Heb., Were there as sojourners: and were kindly used; though the Moabites had been formerly hard-hearted enough, (Deuteronomy 23:3) and afterwards also, (Isaiah 16:6) and are therefore threatened. Bernard.
Ver. 3. And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died.] Her head was cut off, her root uncovered. Mulier vel hoc solo nomine misera est quod vidua est; To be a widow is misery enough of itself, and haleth at the heels of it many miseries. “I am indeed a widow woman, and my husband is dead.” (2 Samuel 14:5) But Naomi as a “widow indeed,” though desolate and a relict, as here, “yet trusted in God, and continued in prayers and supplications day and night.” (1 Timothy 5:5) Her motto was that of a certain French lady, Sola facta solum Deum sequor; Now that I am alone, I follow hard after God alone.
Ver. 4. And they took them wives of the women of Moab.] Which haply they had not been suffered to do if their father had lived: their mother, it may be, could as little hinder it, as Rebekah Esau’s marrying those daughters of Heth. But God had a holy hand in it: he ordereth the disorders of men to his own glory. The name of the one was Orpah.] She was Chilion’s wife, as Ruth was Mahlon’s; (Ruth 4:10) whether they were sisters is uncertain, but sure enough they were not King Eglon’s daughters, as the Chaldee Paraphrast thinketh. And they dwelt there about ten years.] A sore affliction to Naomi no doubt. See Psalms 120:5. Lord—said a certain good woman on her deathbed, and in trouble of mind, -send me not to hell among the wicked; for thou knowest I could never in all my life like their company.
Ver. 5. And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them.] For a further trial and exercise of Naomi’s faith and patience. And the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.] Catenata piorum crux. Crosses seldom come single. This excellent woman was left desolate and disconsolate, only she “comforted herself in the Lord her God,” as David in like distress did. (1 Samuel 30:6)