Ruth

About Ruth

Ruth is a short, tender story about a Moabite widow whose loyalty to her mother-in-law Naomi leads her to Israel's God and into Israel's story. Through the kindness of Boaz, a family-redeemer, emptiness turns to fullness and grief to joy. The book ends with a surprise: Ruth becomes the great-grandmother of King David, quietly showing that God's plan welcomes outsiders and works through ordinary faithfulness.

Written by

The book is anonymous; Jewish tradition credits Samuel, but the text itself never names its author.

When

The story is set in the days of the judges (roughly 1100s BC); since it ends with David's family line, it was written no earlier than his time, and scholars differ on whether it was composed during the monarchy or after the exile.

Themes

• Loyal love
• God's quiet providence
• Redemption
• Welcoming the outsider
• From emptiness to fullness

Key verses

• Ruth 1:16And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
• Ruth 2:12The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.
• Ruth 4:14And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.