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NAOMI
Wife of Elimelech and the mother of Mahlon and Chilion. A member of Judah’s tribe, she lived in Bethlehem during the period of the judges. Her story is told in the book of Ruth. Because of a severe famine in Canaan, Naomi temporarily resettled with her family in the land of Moab, east of the Dead Sea (Ru 1:1-2). Following the death of her husband and two sons in Moab (vv 3-5), Naomi returned to Bethlehem with Ruth, her Moabitess daughter-in-law (vv 8-22). Upon meeting her friends, she told them not to call her Naomi, meaning “pleasant,” but Mara, meaning “bitter,” for she said, “I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty” (vv 20-21, NLT). Naomi’s domestic problems were eventually resolved when Ruth married Boaz, Elimelech’s near kin (chs 2–4).