Christian Standard Bible
Ruth 1:20
20“Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara,” she answered, “for the Almighty has made me very bitter.
Ruth 1:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
- New International Version (NIV)“Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.
- English Standard Version (ESV)She said to them, "Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
- New King James Version (NKJV)But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
Context of Ruth 1:20
18When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped talking to her. 19The two of them traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was excited about their arrival and the local women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?” “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara,” she answered, “for the Almighty has made me very bitter. 21I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has opposed me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?” 22So Naomi came back from the territory of Moab with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
Read all of Ruth 1Ruth 1:20 word by word
וַתֹּ֣אמֶר אֲלֵיהֶ֔ן אַל־תִּקְרֶ֥אנָה לִ֖י נָעֳמִ֑י קְרֶ֤אןָ לִי֙ מָרָ֔א כִּי־הֵמַ֥ר שַׁדַּ֛י לִ֖י מְאֹֽד׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ruth 1:20
- Genesis 17:1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty. Live in my presence and be blameless.
- Genesis 43:14May God Almighty cause the man to be merciful to you so that he will release your other brother and Benjamin to you. As for me, if I am deprived of my sons, then I am deprived.”
- Job 5:17See how happy is the person whom God corrects; so do not reject the discipline of the Almighty.
- Job 11:7Can you fathom the depths of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?
- Revelation 1:8“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
- Revelation 21:22I did not see a temple in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
- Job 6:4Surely the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks their poison. God’s terrors are arrayed against me.
- Job 19:6then understand that it is God who has wronged me and caught me in his net.
- Psalms 73:14For I am afflicted all day long and punished every morning.
- Psalms 88:15From my youth, I have been suffering and near death. I suffer your horrors; I am desperate.
- Isaiah 38:13I thought until the morning: He will break all my bones like a lion. By nightfall you make an end of me.
- Lamentations 3:1I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath.
- Hebrews 12:11No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Commentaries on Ruth 1:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Call 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.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20See the margin. Similar allusions to the meaning of names are seen in Genesis 27:36; Jeremiah 20:3. The Almighty - שׁדי shadday (see the Genesis 17:1 note). The name “Almighty” is almost unique to the Pentateuch and to the Book of Job. It occurs twice in the Psalms, and four times in the Prophets.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 19-22Verses 19-22 Naomi and Ruth came to Bethlehem. Afflictions will make great and surprising changes in a little time. May God, by his grace, fit us for all such changes, especially the great change!, Naomi signifies "pleasant," or "amiable;" Mara, "bitter," or "bitterness." She was now a woman of a sorrowful spirit. She had come home empty, poor, a widow and childless. But there is a fulness for believers of which they never can be emptied; a good part…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20Almighty translates the Hebrew word shadday, which shows God's strength and provision. Naomi's complaint was genuine, but God gave her exactly what she needed (see Ruth 4:14–17).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 19-2219-22. 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.Read the comment
Topics related to Ruth 1:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ruth 1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
Christian Standard Bible — © 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Commentaries