Elimelech

I-lim´uh-lek

An Ephrathite clan member who immigrated to Moab when a great famine broke out in Bethlehem of Judah during the period of the judges (Ruth 1:2-3; Ruth 2:1; Ruth 2:3; Ruth 4:3; Ruth 4:9). After his death, his two sons married local women. The story of how his land remained in the family’s hands is narrated in the book named after Ruth, one of Elimelech’s daughters-in-law.