Who was Naomi in the Bible?

Wife of Elimelech, mother of Mahlon and Chilion, and mother-in-law of Ruth. After dwelling ten years in the country of Moab, when her husband and sons were dead, she returned to the land of Judah, with the widowed Ruth. She asked to be called no more Naomi, 'pleasant,' but Mara, 'bitter,' saying "for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me." She sought the welfare of Ruth, whose marriage with Boaz comforted her, and she became nurse to their son Obed. Ruth 1 — Ruth 4. Typically she represents desolate Israel, as Ruth does the despised but pious remnant brought into full blessing at the end on the ground of sovereign mercy, even as Gentiles, yet casting themselves on the goodness of the Kinsman-Redeemer: see Isa. 63:16.

Naomi. Elimelech's wife's name, like his own, does not occur elsewhere in scripture. Her name appears to mean "pleasantness" or "sweetness," especially that graciousness of manner which is associated with spiritual beauty. The word is used by the psalmist when he writes of beholding the "beauty (pleasantness, graciousness) of Jehovah" (Ps. 27:4), and again, of his desire that this "beauty" may be upon His people (Ps. 90:17). See also Zech. 11:7, 10, where the word is again found. Naomi (pleasantness) is also connected with wisdom, for Solomon says, "Her ways are ways of pleasantness" (Prov. 3:17). By name therefore, the gracious, good, and wise Naomi must have been a fitting consort for Elimelech; united they would be a noble and goodly pair, powerful and pleasant in their joint lives.

Mahlon and Chilion. Here again are names occurring nowhere else in scripture. For this reason the exact meaning of both names is obscure; but it is sufficiently clear that a deterioration from the sterling qualities implied in the parental names is indicated. Mahlon has been variously translated; e.g., "great infirmity," "painful," "mild." Chilion may mean "consuming," or "consumption," or "pining." Evidently, the general sense of both names is that weakness and wasting characterised the two sons of Elimelech. There was a recognised declension in the family status.

There are several features to note in connection with the return. When they reach Bethlehem, the whole place is moved, "Is this Naomi?" What havoc her departure had wrought, and she is forced to confess the sad truth herself. How her few words tell the story, her heart not yet fully restored. "Call me not Naomi (pleasant), call me Mara (bitter): for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me." She calls Him by that dread name which emphasizes His power rather than His love and care. As she thinks of her once happy home, forgetting her own responsibility for the change, she seems to charge the Almighty with it all. But the next words confess the truth, "I went out full." It was voluntary; she had not been compelled to go, and she was full when she went. "The Lord (Jehovah) hath brought me home again empty." Self-will took her away: grace brought her home (ah, it was home still). Is this not the confession of every restored soul? We may have made many excuses for our departure from God; circumstances were against us, friends became cold, we were misunderstood — ah multiply them as we will, the one reason for departure from God is expressed in that one brief sentence, "I went out full."

During these days of ruin and under God's disciplinary ways Elimelech, (whose characteristic name means “God the king”) leaves his country together with Naomi (whose name signifies “my pleasantness”) and his children. Under divine government they seek refuge among the Gentiles. In the midst of this desolation Naomi is still, in spite of all, united with her husband and her children. Her name has not changed and she still bears it in spite of the ruin. But Elimelech, “God the king,” dies, and Naomi is left a widow. Through their connection with the idolatrous nation of Moab her sons profane themselves and likewise die. To all appearances the stock of Elimelech is extinguished without hope of posterity and “My pleasantness,” in mourning and henceforth barren, is plunged into bitterness.

After an absence of more than ten years, Naomi returned to Bethlehem, and her appearance there accompanied by Ruth, the Moabite stranger, stirred the interest and curiosity of the townspeople, many of whom probably knew her before the great famine, when her late husband was, as it seems, a person of eminence and influence in the city. Those who recognised Naomi were astonished at the change in her. "And it came to pass, when they came to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and the women said, 'Is this Naomi?'" (Ruth 1:19).

In her reply to the women, Naomi spoke as an unhappy woman, no longer to be known in Bethlehem as Naomi the pleasant but as Mara the bitter. She magnified her own sorrows and trials, and had not one word to say of the goodness of Jehovah in bringing her back safely to His own land and to her own kindred and city. Whatever her testimony for God may have been in the land of Moab, it was very weak when she stood once more on her own doorstep. Thinking still, no doubt, of her triple bereavement, as well as other grievances, she "foolishly" charged the Almighty with dealing bitterly with her, and Jehovah with bringing her home empty-handed and afflicted. She said to the women, "Call me not Naomi — call me Mara; for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and Jehovah has brought me home again empty. Why do ye call me Naomi, seeing Jehovah has brought me low, and the Almighty has afflicted me?" (Ruth 1:20-21). Such were the strange words of complaint against God uttered by a woman of faith!

Naomi and Ruth therefore journeyed together to Bethlehem. All the city was aroused at their arrival, people asking, "Is this Naomi?" So long a time had elapsed since her departure that her return was a surprise to them. But she told them not to call her Naomi ("pleasant"), but Mara ("bitter"), for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me (vv.19-20). She went out full, but the Lord brought her back again empty (v.21). Notice, the Lord did not take her out, but He brought her home again. At least, though empty, she was brought back home -- a wonderful mercy, though she did not realize this at the time.

How precious and touching is the journey of these two afflicted women returning to Bethlehem! Naomi had gone out rich and full and she was returning poor and empty. Was there any desolation to be compared with hers? Deprived of her husband and her two sons, too old again to belong to a husband, with no human hope of an heir, Naomi was a true picture of Israel: for her everything on the side of nature and the law was ended. Moreover, the hand of the Lord was stretched out against her and the Almighty Himself, who it seemed ought to have been the support of her faith, filled her with bitterness under the weight of His chastening. She had exchanged her name “My pleasantness” for that of “Mara” (meaning Bitterness), because Jehovah's hand had gone out against her and the Almighty had dealt very bitterly with her. Her companion Ruth, likewise a widow and without children, (but who had never yet borne children), and who was moreover a foreigner, the daughter of a cursed people, had not known Israel's past blessings and had no right to their promises. So these two went together, the one fully recognizing her condition and the hand that was weighing down upon her, and the other having no connection with God other than her faith and Naomi. Their path is strewn with difficulties but they see a shining star guiding them. Grace has dawned: God had visited His people to give them bread. The two women return to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest, thus coming to the place of blessing at the very moment it is being dispensed. There they will find Boaz!

She went into a far away land and there tasted the bitterness of death, insomuch that she had to cry: "Call me not Naomi [which means pleasant! but Mara [which means bitterness!]" But, in the midst of the sorrow through which she passed, she must have displayed something of the sweetness of which her name spoke, for only in this way can we account for Ruth's devotion to her.

Naomi, who in her destitution is a type of the nation, acknowledges her condition: she calls herself Mara (bitterness).

The elder woman was evidently affected by these unexpected but undeniable marks of God's providential care. Only yesterday she had said, "The Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me" (1:20); but today Naomi saw that He was dealing very graciously with Mara, as she had called herself. The love of God was lifting the veil of unbelieving complaint from Mara's heart. And soon Mara the bitter would once again be Naomi the pleasant. "And her mother-in-law said to her, Where hast thou gleaned today? and where hast thou wrought? Blessed be he that did regard thee! And she told her mother-in-law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man's name with whom I wrought today is Boaz" (Ruth 2:19).