Ephrathites; so called, because this Beth-lehem is otherwise called Ephrath or Ephratah, Genesis 35:19 Micah 5:2; either from Caleb's wife of that name, 1 Chronicles 2:19, 1 Chronicles 4:4, or from the fertility of the soil about it; which title may therefore be used here, to show the greatness of the famine, which affected even fertile parts. Of Bethlehem-Judah: See Poole on "Judges 17:7". Continued there, to wit, during the famine.
Related Commentaries of Ruth 1:2
Ruth 1:2
2 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 Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.