Wife of Elimelech, mother of Mahlon and Chilion, and mother-in-law of Ruth. After dwelling ten years in the country of Moab, when her husband and sons were dead, she returned to the land of Judah, with the widowed Ruth. She asked to be called no more Naomi, “pleasant,” but Mara, “bitter,” saying “for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.” She sought the welfare of Ruth, whose marriage with Boaz comforted her, and she became nurse to their son Obed (Ruth 1-4). Typically she represents desolate Israel, as Ruth does the despised but pious remnant brought into full blessing at the end on the ground of sovereign mercy, even as Gentiles, yet casting themselves on the goodness of the Kinsman-Redeemer (see Isaiah 63:16).