Hebrew word · H4755

מָרָא

mara'

Mara

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A woman living before Israel's Monarchy, first mentioned at Rut.1.2; married to Elimelech (H0458);

mother of: Mahlon (H4248) and Chilion (H3630); also called Mara at Rut.1.20;

Another name of no.o.mi (נׇעֳמִי "Naomi" H5281)

§ Mara = "bitterness"

a name that Naomi called herself due to her calamities

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Where it appears

Ruth · 1

  1. Ruth 1:20 מָרָ֔א Mara

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

    Here: The feminine form of the adjective 'bitter', used as a name. It sets up a sharp sound-and-sense contrast with Naomi: 'Sweet' becomes 'Bitter'. It is spelled the Aramaic way, with a final aleph (see textual notes).

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.