New English Translation
Ruth 1:20
20But she replied to them, “Don’t call me ‘Naomi’! Call me ‘Mara’ because the Sovereign One has treated me very harshly.
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 realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to dissuade her. 19So the two of them journeyed together until they arrived in Bethlehem. When they enteredBethlehem, the whole village was excited about their arrival. The women of the village said, “Can this be Naomi?” But she replied to them, “Don’t call me ‘Naomi’! Call me ‘Mara’ because the Sovereign One has treated me very harshly. 21I left here full, but the Lord has caused me to return empty-handed. Why do you call me ‘Naomi,’ seeing that the Lord has opposed me, and the Sovereign One has caused me to suffer?” 22So Naomi returned, accompanied by her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth, who came back with her from the region of Moab. (Now 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 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the sovereign God. Walk before me and be blameless.
- Genesis 43:14May the sovereign God grant you mercy before the man so that he may release your other brother and Benjamin! As for me, if I lose my children I lose them.”
- Job 5:17“Therefore, blessed is the man whom God corrects, so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
- Job 11:7“Can you discover the essence of God? Can you find out the perfection of the Almighty?
- Revelation 1:8“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God – the one who is, and who was, and who is still to come – the All-Powerful!
- Revelation 21:22Now I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God – the All-Powerful – and the Lamb are its temple.
- Job 6:4For the arrows of the Almighty are within me; my spirit drinks their poison; God’s sudden terrors are arrayed against me.
- Job 19:6know then that God has wronged me and encircled me with his net.
- Psalms 73:14I suffer all day long, and am punished every morning.”
- Psalms 88:15I am oppressed and have been on the verge of death since my youth. I have been subjected to your horrors and am numb with pain.
- Isaiah 38:13I cry out until morning; like a lion he shatters all my bones; you turn day into night and end my life.
- Lamentations 3:1I am the man who has experienced affliction from the rod of his wrath.
- Hebrews 12:11Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness for those 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
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