Chilion

Chilion is one of the two sons of Elimelech and Naomi who travel with their parents from Bethlehem-judah into Moab during a famine. The few verses that name him sketch a small arc — a son in an Ephrathite household, a husband to a Moabite wife, a man who dies in the foreign country, and finally a name read out by Boaz at the gate when Naomi's family inheritance is redeemed.

A Son of Elimelech and Naomi

Chilion enters the narrative as part of a family migration. The household is identified by its Bethlehem origin and its move into Moab: "And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem-judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there" (Ru 1:2). His standing in the story at this point is simply that of a younger son inside an Ephrathite family that has left Judah for Moab.

Marriage in Moab

During the years in Moab the two brothers marry local women. The text records the marriages together without separating the pairings: "And they took themselves wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelt there about ten years" (Ru 1:4). Chilion's life in Moab spans roughly that decade.

Death in Moab

Chilion's death is reported in the same breath as his brother's. The verse moves quickly from marriage to bereavement, leaving Naomi as the surviving member of the household: "And Mahlon and Chilion died both of them; and the woman was left of her two children and of her husband" (Ru 1:5). Within Ruth, the verses that name Chilion cluster inside this compact sequence — birth into the family, migration, marriage, death — and the book carries no further direct narrative about him outside it.

Named in Boaz's Redemption

Chilion's name returns at the gate of Bethlehem, long after his death, when Boaz formalizes the redemption of the family's holdings. He is listed alongside Elimelech and Mahlon as one whose property is being acquired through Naomi: "And Boaz said to the elders, and to all the people, You⁺ are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi" (Ru 4:9). The naming functions as a public legal record — Chilion's portion of the family estate is folded into the transaction by which the line is preserved.