Other Translations of Ruth 1:20
King James Version
20 And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, Naomi: that is, Pleasant call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
English Standard Version
20 She said to them, "Do not call me Naomi;Naomi means pleasant call me Mara,Mara means bitter for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
The Message
20 But she said, "Don't call me Naomi; call me Bitter. The Strong One has dealt me a bitter blow.
New King James Version
20 But she said to them, "Do not call me Naomi; Literally Pleasant call me Mara, Literally Bitter for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
New Living Translation
20 "Don't call me Naomi," she responded. "Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ruth 1:20
Commentary on Ruth 1:19-22
(Read Ruth 1:19-22)
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 which shall not be taken from those who have it. The cup of affliction is a "bitter" cup, but she owns that the affliction came from God. It well becomes us to have our hearts humbled under humbling providences. It is not affliction itself, but affliction rightly borne, that does us good.