Ruth 1:20
New International Version
“Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.

New Living Translation
“Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me.

English Standard Version
She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

Berean Standard Bible
“Do not call me Naomi,” she replied. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has dealt quite bitterly with me.

King James Bible
And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.

New King James Version
But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

New American Standard Bible
But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

NASB 1995
She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

NASB 1977
And she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

Legacy Standard Bible
She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

Amplified Bible
She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi (sweetness); call me Mara (bitter), for the Almighty has caused me great grief and bitterness.

Christian Standard Bible
“Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara,” she answered, “for the Almighty has made me very bitter.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara,” she answered, “for the Almighty has made me very bitter.

American Standard Version
And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara; for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And she said to them: “You should not call me Namei, but call me ‘Marirath Naphsha’ Bitter of Soul, because The Almighty has made me very bitter!”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And she said to them, Nay, do not call me Noemin; call me ?Bitter,' for the Mighty One has dealt very bitterly with me.

Contemporary English Version
Then she told them, "Don't call me Naomi any longer! Call me Mara, because God has made my life bitter.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But she said to them: Call me not Noemi, (that is, beautiful,) but call me Mara, (that is, bitter,) for the Almighty hath quite filled me with bitterness.

English Revised Version
And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
She answered them, "Don't call me Naomi [Sweet]. Call me Mara [Bitter] because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.

Good News Translation
"Don't call me Naomi," she answered; "call me Marah, because Almighty God has made my life bitter.

International Standard Version
But Naomi replied, "Don't call me 'Naomi'! Call me 'Mara'! That's because the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And she said unto them: 'Call me not Naomi, call me Marah; for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.

Literal Standard Version
And she says to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly to me,

Majority Standard Bible
“Do not call me Naomi,” she replied. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has dealt quite bitterly with me.

New American Bible
But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi [‘Sweet’]. Call me Mara [‘Bitter’], for the Almighty has made my life very bitter.

NET Bible
But she replied to them, "Don't call me 'Naomi'! Call me 'Mara' because the Sovereign One has treated me very harshly.

New Revised Standard Version
She said to them, “Call me no longer Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.

New Heart English Bible
She said to them, "Do not call me Naomi. Call me Marah; for Shaddai has dealt very bitterly with me.

Webster's Bible Translation
And she said to them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.

World English Bible
She said to them, “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

Young's Literal Translation
And she saith unto them, 'Call me not Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly to me,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Return to Bethlehem
19So Naomi and Ruth traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole city was stirred because of them, and the women of the city exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?” 20“Do not call me Naomi,” she replied. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has dealt quite bitterly with me. 21I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? After all, the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me.”…

Cross References
Exodus 6:3
I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name the LORD I did not make Myself known to them.

Exodus 15:23
And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the water there because it was bitter. (That is why it was named Marah.)

Job 6:4
For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.


Treasury of Scripture

And she said to them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

Naomi.

Genesis 17:1
And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

Genesis 43:14
And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.

Job 5:17
Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:

dealt

Job 6:4
For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.

Job 19:6
Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.

Psalm 73:14
For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.

Jump to Previous
Almighty Bitter Bitterly Dealt Life Marah Naomi Na'omi Ruler
Jump to Next
Almighty Bitter Bitterly Dealt Life Marah Naomi Na'omi Ruler
Ruth 1
1. Elimelech, driven by famine into Moab, dies there
4. Mahlon and Chilion, having married wives of Moab, die also
6. Naomi, returning homeward
8. dissuades her two daughters-in-law from going with her
14. Orpah leaves her, but Ruth with great constancy accompanies her
19. The two come to Bethlehem, where they are gladly received














(20) Call me not Naomi, call me Mara.--Here we have one of the constant plays on words and names found in the Hebrew Bible. Naomi, we have already said, means pleasant, or, perhaps, strictly, my pleasantness. Mara is bitter, as in Exodus 15:23. The latter word has no connection with Miriam or Mary, which is from a different root.

The Almighty.--Heb., Shaddai. According to one derivation of the word, "He who is All Sufficient," all sufficing; the God who gives all things in abundance is He who takes back (see Note on Genesis 17:1).

Hath dealt very bitterly.--Heb., hemar, referring to the preceding Mara. The pleasantness and joys of life are at an end for me, my dear ones passed away, bitterness and sadness are now my lot.

Verse 20. - And she said to them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. Salutations were respectfully addressed to her as she walked along in quest of some humble abode. And when thus spoken to by the sympathetic townspeople, she was called, of course, by her old sweet name. But as it fell in its own rich music on her ears, its original import flashed vividly upon her mind. Her heart "filled" at the contrast which her circumstances represented, and she said, "Address me not as Naomi, call not to me (לֵי) Naomi: address me as Mara," - that is, bitter, - "for the Almighty has caused bitterness to me exceedingly" (see on ver. 2). The Almighty, or שַׁדַּי, an ancient polytheistic name that had at length - like ךליהִים and אֲדֹנָי ? been reclaimed in all its fullness for the one living and true God. It had become a thorough proper name, and hence it is used without the article. In the Septuagint it is sometimes rendered, as here, ὁ ἱκανός, the Sufficient; in Job, where it frequently occurs, ὁ παντοκράτωρ, the Omnipotent. But it is one of those peculiar nouns that never can be fully reproduced in any Aryan language, Naomi's theology as indicated in the expression, "the Almighty hath caused bitterness to me exceedingly," need not be to its minutest jot endorsed. God was not the only agent with whom she had had to do. Much of the bitterness of her lot may have been attributable to her husband or to herself, and perhaps to forefathers and foremothers. It is not fair to ascribe all the embittering element of things to God. Much rather might the sweetness, which had so often relieved the bitterness, be traced to the band of him who is "the Lord God, merciful and gracious, abundant in goodness."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
“Do not
אַל־ (’al-)
Adverb
Strong's 408: Not

call
תִּקְרֶ֥אנָה (tiq·re·nāh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person feminine plural
Strong's 7121: To call, proclaim, read

me Naomi,”
נָעֳמִ֑י (nā·‘o·mî)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 5281: Naomi -- mother-in-law of Ruth

she replied.
וַתֹּ֣אמֶר (wat·tō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“Call
קְרֶ֤אןָ (qə·re·nā)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - feminine plural
Strong's 7121: To call, proclaim, read

me Mara,
מָרָ֔א (mā·rā)
Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 4755: Mara -- 'bitter', symbolic name of Naomi

because
כִּי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

the Almighty
שַׁדַּ֛י (šad·day)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 7706: The Almighty

has dealt quite bitterly
הֵמַ֥ר (hê·mar)
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 4843: To be, bitter

with me.
לִ֖י (lî)
Preposition | first person common singular
Strong's Hebrew


Links
Ruth 1:20 NIV
Ruth 1:20 NLT
Ruth 1:20 ESV
Ruth 1:20 NASB
Ruth 1:20 KJV

Ruth 1:20 BibleApps.com
Ruth 1:20 Biblia Paralela
Ruth 1:20 Chinese Bible
Ruth 1:20 French Bible
Ruth 1:20 Catholic Bible

OT History: Ruth 1:20 She said to them Don't call me (Ru Rut.)
Ruth 1:19
Top of Page
Top of Page