Bible Strands
Ruth 1:5
both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and without her husband.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator reports the death of Elimelech’s two sons in Moab after roughly ten years of residence, leaving Naomi bereaved of her husband and children.
The words — The text uses וַ/יָּמ֥וּתוּ (va/i.ya.Mu.tu) to state “and they died” and וַ/תִּשָּאֵר֙ (va./ti.sha.'Er) to record that Naomi “was left” without her family.
The thread — This account of sudden bereavement aligns with the historical reality of mortality under divine sovereignty (Deuteronomy 32:39), the consequences of covenant failure (Psalms 89:30), and the profound grief of displacement (Isaiah 49:21).
Why it lands — The verse establishes Naomi’s total loss as the concrete catalyst for her journey back to Bethlehem, requiring the reader to acknowledge the historical circumstances that drive the subsequent narrative.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 32:39 See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
- Psalms 89:30 If his sons forsake My law and do not walk in My judgments,
- Isaiah 49:21 Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has begotten these for me? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. So who has reared them? Look, I was left all alone, so where did they come from?’”
- Jeremiah 2:19 Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear of Me,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.
- Matthew 22:25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died without having children. So he left his wife to his brother.
- Luke 7:12 As He approached the town gate, He saw a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.