New King James Version
Ruth 1:20
20But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
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 Living Translation (NLT)“Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me.
Context of Ruth 1:20
18When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her. 19Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was excited because of them; and the women said, “Is this Naomi?” But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?” 22So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of 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 Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.
- Genesis 43:14And may God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved, I am bereaved!”
- Job 5:17“Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.
- Job 11:7“Can you search out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limits of the Almighty?
- Revelation 1:8“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
- Revelation 21:22But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
- Job 6:4For the arrows of the Almighty are within me; My spirit drinks in their poison; The terrors of God are arrayed against me.
- Job 19:6Know then that God has wronged me, And has surrounded me with His net.
- Psalms 73:14For all day long I have been plagued, And chastened every morning.
- Psalms 88:15I have been afflicted and ready to die from my youth; I suffer Your terrors; I am distraught.
- Isaiah 38:13I have considered until morning— Like a lion, So He breaks all my bones; From day until night You make an end of me.
- Lamentations 3:1I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.
- Hebrews 12:11Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries