אֶפְרָתִים. חֲשׁוּבִים. וְכֵן "בֶּן תֹּחוּ בֶן צוּף אֶפְרָתִי" אֶבְגִּינוֹס. רְאֵה חֲשִׁיבוּתָם, שֶׁהֲרֵי הִשִּׂיא עֶגְלוֹן מֶלֶךְ מוֹאָב אֶת בִּתּוֹ לְמַחְלוֹן, דְּאָמַר מַר, רוּת בִּתּוֹ שֶׁל עֶגְלוֹן הָיְתָה. דָּבָר אַחֵר, "אֶפְרָתִים", בֵּית לֶחֶם קְרוּיָה אֶפְרָת: Ephrathites. Important people, and similarly, “the son of Tochu, the son of Tzuph, an Ephrathite,”6I Shmuel 1:1. [meaning] an aristocrat. Look how important they were, for Eglon the King of Mo’av married off his daughter to Machlon, as the Master said, “Rus was the daughter of Eglon.”7Maseches Sanhedrin 105b. Another explanation of “Ephratites,” [they were from Beis Lechem,] because Beis Lechem is called Ephros.8See Bereishis 48:7, “and I buried her [Rachel] on the way to Ephros which is Beis Lechem.”