Elimelech
“My God is king”
Summary
A man of Bethlehem who emigrated to Moab during a famine with his wife Naomi and sons Mahlon and Chilion, dying there and setting in motion the events of the book of Ruth.
☩Flight to Moab
Elimelech was a man of the tribe of Judah, of the family of Hezron and a kinsman of Boaz, who lived in Bethlehem-Ephratah during the period of the judges. His name appropriately means 'my God is king.' When a severe famine struck the land, he emigrated to Moab with his wife Naomi and his two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. This decision to seek sustenance in a foreign land, while understandable, took the family away from the covenant community and set in motion a series of sorrows.
☩Death and Legacy
Not long after arriving in Moab, Elimelech died, leaving Naomi a widow in a foreign land. His sons married Moabite women—Ruth and Orpah—but within ten years both sons also died without children. Naomi was left bereft of husband and sons. Yet through the faithfulness of Ruth, who returned with Naomi to Bethlehem and married Boaz (Elimelech's kinsman), the family line continued. Ruth bore Obed, who became the grandfather of King David, placing Elimelech in the ancestry of Israel's greatest king and ultimately of the Messiah.
References
- 1.James Orr (ed.), "Elimelech," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. II (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 2.John McClintock and James Strong, "Elimelech," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. III (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).