Naomi (nay-OH-mee) — Naomi was Elimelek’s widow, the mother-in-law of Ruth and Orpah, and a Bethlehem woman whose family sought food in Moab during a famine.
Birth year: Unknown.
Death year: Unknown.
Active during: The period of Israel’s judges; no secure calendar years are supplied.
Home region: Bethlehem in Judah and the country of Moab.
Main passages: Ruth 1–4.
Story and role
Naomi was Elimelek’s widow, the mother-in-law of Ruth and Orpah, and a Bethlehem woman whose family sought food in Moab during a famine.
How the dates were determined
The biblical text places Naomi in the period of Israel’s judges; no secure calendar years are supplied. It does not provide enough evidence for a responsible birth or death year. BC means “before Christ”; AD marks years in the traditional Christian calendar.
Limits of the evidence
Ruth does not provide Naomi’s birth year, death year, age, or the precise place in Moab where the family lived. The judges period spans competing chronologies, so no invented lifespan is supplied. The artwork is an imagined historical illustration, not a known likeness.
Explore the places connected with Naomi on a modern reference map.