Illustration created for this project.
Elimelech
A man of Bethlehem who took his family to Moab in a famine, and died there; husband of Naomi.
What we know — and how we know it
Bible — stated in scripture (with verse) · 3
Scholarly — supported scholarly belief · 2
Origin & birthplace
Family & lineage
Tribe & people
BibleOf the tribe of Judah.
Ruth 1:2
Name & titles
ScholarlyElimelech means 'My God is King' ('Eli- + melek), a West-Semitic theophoric formation asserting divine kingship. The construction is well paralleled across the Bible and the wider Northwest-Semitic onomasticon.
Hebrew onomastics; BDB/HALOT on אֱלִימֶלֶךְ.
ScholarlyThe identical name-type is attested outside the Bible at Late Bronze Age Ugarit, where the scribe Ilimilku ('El/God is king') signed the Baal Cycle tablets. This attests the antiquity and authenticity of the name — not the biblical Elimelech himself, who has no direct external evidence.
Ugaritic scribal colophons naming Ilimilku (KTU 1.4 etc.), 13th c. BCE — cited for onomastic parallel only.
Where in scripture
RuthFamily
Places in their life
Photo: Neil Ward — CC BY 2.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)