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Elizabeth A.Sackler Center for Feminist Art

Naomi

Biblical, exact dates uncertain, Judah and Moab (modern-day Israel)

As told in the Old Testament Book of Ruth, Naomi was a woman from Judah who, during a time of famine, moved her family to Moab, a city just east of the Dead Sea. When her husband and two sons died, she returned to Judah, bringing her daughter-in-law Ruth to Bethlehem, where she arranged a marriage between her and the wealthy landowner Boaz, one of Naomi’s relatives. Ruth and Boaz became ancestors of King David and Jesus Christ.

William Blake. Naomi Entreating Orpah and Ruth to Return to the Land of Moab, 1795. Victoria and Albert Museum, London

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