Naomi
Naomi, also known as Mara, was an Israelite woman who, after losing her husband and sons, returned from Moab to Bethlehem with her daughter-in-law Ruth.
Naomi was an Israelite woman from Bethlehem whose story provides the framing narrative of the book of Ruth. She emigrated with her husband Elimelech and their two sons to Moab during a famine; there her husband died, her sons married Moabite women (Ruth and Orpah), and then both sons also died. Embittered by her losses, she urged her daughters-in-law to return to their own families and even asked to be called Mara ('bitter') rather than Naomi ('pleasant') upon her return to Bethlehem (Ruth 1:20). Yet through Ruth's loyal companionship and the providential meeting with Boaz, she was restored—holding the newborn Obed in her arms as her neighbors declared 'a son has been born to Naomi' (Ruth 4:17). Her story is a biblical meditation on suffering, providence, and the restoration that comes through faithful love.