Рут 1:3 Комментарий: Tze'enah Ure'enah, Rashi & Ibn Ezra

“And Elimelech died” [1:3]. Elimelech the husband of Naomi died and left her and two sons. One may ask: why does it have to tell us that Elimelech was the husband of Naomi? It is written above that he was the husband of Naomi. However, it shows that when the husband is taken, to the sorrow of the wife. Therefore, it says that Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died to the sorrow of his wife. It is the same when the wife dies, to the sorrow of her husband. We learn this from the Patriarch Jacob who said, “Rachel died, to my sorrow” [Genesis, 48:7]. This means that Rachel died, that is to say that she was taken and died.¹⁷Yalkut Shimoni, Ruth, Remez 600.

Naomi’s husband. Why is this stated again? From here they derived, “A man does not die except for his wife [i.e., she feels the loss more than anyone].⁹Maseches Sanhedrin 22b. ([Another interpretation:] And it states, “Naomi’s husband,” i.e., that because he was Naomi’s husband and ruled over her¹⁰See Rashi in Bereishis 9:20. and she was subordinate to him, therefore the Divine Attribute of Justice struck him and not her.)¹¹Because once he decided to leave, his wife and two sons were compelled to follow.

"And the woman was left": Alone with her two children and without her husband. The scripture mentions it in this way because when mentioning two things, it refers to the latter. Or it mentions them because of the great pain she felt for her sons, who were young men, while her elderly husband had died.