The book of Ruth gets its name from one of its principle characters, a Moabite woman named Ruth who was the ancestor of David and Jesus. After reading the book of Judges, which paints a dark and depressing picture of Israel, the reader is relieved to encounter Ruth. Although the book is relatively short, it is rich in examples of kindness, faith, and patience. It is one of the five scrolls that was to be read during the Jewish festivals, in particular the Feast of Weeks.
Field of Boaz near Beth-lehem (2:1-3)
Circumstances of Writing
Author: The Talmud attributes the authorship of Ruth to Samuel, but the book itself offers no hint of the identity of its author. We can only speculate about who might have written the book of Ruth. Where and when it was written must be deduced from the internal evidence—language and style, historical allusions, and themes. The genealogy at the end and the explanation of archaic customs requires a date during or later than the reign of King David (1011–971 b.c.).
Background: The book of Ruth is set "in the days when the judges ruled" (1:1), a period of social and religious disorder when "every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Judg. 17:6). Historically, this era bridged the time between the conquest of the land under Joshua and the rise of King David, whose genealogy forms the conclusion of the book. It is not clear exactly when during the time of the judges the book belongs, but it opens with a famine in the land, which may have been the result of Israel's idolatry.
Message and Purpose
Grace: Naomi thought that the Lord's hand of judgment was upon her after she and her husband left the promised land in search of food and married their sons to Moabite women in search of offspring (1:21). She underestimated God's grace. Her daughter-in-law, Ruth the Moabitess, turned out to be the means by which the Lord would meet her needs for food and offspring to carry on the family name. Ruth's choice of a place to glean, which seemed to be a matter of chance, turned out to be a divine appointment with Boaz, the man who would fulfill the role of family redeemer for Naomi and Ruth.
The book of Ruth resembles the parable of the lost son (Luke 15:11-32) in two ways. The family of Elimelech wandered away from the land where the Lord had promised to bless His people in search of fullness. As a result, however, Naomi ended up empty and alone. Yet the Lord's judgment on her was designed to bring her back home and to replace her emptiness with a new fullness. Similarly, the book of Ruth opens with the Lord's people experiencing the trials of the days of the judges, when general disobedience led to famine. Yet the Lord graciously provided food for His hungry people and a king to meet their need for leadership. These are lessons that speak to us as well. We too have gone astray from the Lord and need to receive His grace and mercy.
God's providence: The genealogy of David at the end of the book shows that the Lord worked through this story to provide for His people's need of a king. Even though the Lord's actions are mainly concealed, there are two specific events attributed directly to Him—providing food for His people (1:6) and conception for Ruth (4:13). In these ways, the Lord provided for all of His people's needs.
Faithful love: The book of Ruth demonstrates how the Lord shows His covenant faithfulness to His undeserving people, often in surprising ways. In the course of the narrative, each of the main characters proved to be a person of extraordinary courage and covenant love (Hb chesed; "kindness, faithfulness, loyalty," is the key word in the book: 1:8; 2:20; 3:10). These are people whose spiritual commitment is demonstrated clearly in godly living.
The family redeemer: The book of Ruth provides a great example of a family member who used his power under Jewish law to redeem. Boaz demonstrated one of the duties of the family member—that of marrying the widow of a deceased family member. A correlation is sometimes made between the redemption of Ruth by Boaz and the redemption of sinners by Christ. Because of God's covenant faithfulness, He has provided the Redeemer that we all need in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the true King toward whom the genealogy of David will ultimately extend (Matt. 1:5-6), and He is the Redeemer in whom His wandering people find rest. In Him, the Gentiles too are incorporated into the people of God by faith and granted a place in the family of promise.
Contribution to the Bible
Ruth's covenantal faithfulness to Naomi and her God provided a model showing that those who were not ethnic Israelites could be incorporated into the people of God through faith. If Moabites who joined themselves to the Lord could be accepted, there was hope for other Gentiles as well (Isa. 56:3-7). The book also effectively answered questions that may have been raised over the legitimacy of the Davidic line, given his Moabite roots.
Timeline of Ruth
- 1400 b.c.
- Promised land allotted 1385?
- Joshua dies 1380?
- 1300 b.c.
- 1200 b.c.
- Gideon defeats Midianites and Amalekites 1200?
- Ruth born 1175?
- Jephthah defeats Ammonites and Philistines 1170?
- Events in Ruth 1140?
- Samuel born 1105?
- 1100 b.c.
- Samson dies in Philistine temple 1060?
- 1000 b.c.
Structure
The book of Ruth is a delightful narrative with a classical plot that moves from crisis to complication to resolution. The narrator draws the reader into the minds of the characters (successively Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz), inviting us to identify with their personal anxieties and joys and in the end to celebrate the movement from emptiness and frustration to fulfillment and joy.
Ruth Study Notes
1:1 In the days when the judges ruled identifies the events of this story as taking place during a time when "every man did that which was right in his own eyes" and "there was no king in Israel" (Judg. 21:25). During the time of the judges, a famine in the land probably would have been part of God's judgment on His people for their apostasy from Him, pursuing Baal and Ashtaroth (Judg. 2:11-15). This famine even affected Beth-lehem in Judah, whose Hebrew name means "house of bread." As a result, one family from that city did what was right in their own eyes and left the promised land, going to sojourn in the pagan country of Moab, where economic prospects seemed brighter. Somewhere along the way, that temporary move turned into a permanent stay.
1:2 Elimelech means "My God is king," which heightens the irony of his behavior in doing whatever he wanted because in those days "there was no king in Israel" (Judg. 21:25). His wife's name, Naomi, means "Pleasant," which evokes Ps. 16:6, "The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places." In contrast, she and her husband were dissatisfied with the boundary lines assigned them by God. The names of their sons, Mahlon and Chilion, seem related to words for sickness and mortality.
1:3-5 The Hebrew verb left is related to the word "remnant" and often describes those who survive an outpouring of God's wrath. Her sons then married women of Moab, contrary to the law that forbade marrying women from nations that served other gods (Deut. 7:3-4). Moabite women in particular had a reputation for leading Israelites astray (Num. 25). It must have seemed evident that the hand of the Lord was against Naomi in judgment.
1:6-9 Naomi had little choice but to leave Moab and return home, a move encouraged by the news that the Lord was providing bread there. This points to repentance on the part of the Hebrews and their restoration. Naomi asked the Lord's blessing upon her daughters-in-law in the form of His lovingkindness ("deal kindly," Hb chesed). This is a covenantal term that combines love and faithfulness, mercy and grace—all the positive aspects of committed relationship. It is a remarkable request that the Lord's kindness should be shown in this way to covenant outsiders like these foreign women. The women were sad to part: they wept loudly as they embraced.
1:10-14 Naomi pressed Orpah and Ruth to stay in Moab, on the grounds that the best prospect of remarriage lay among their own people. Naomi assumed that no other family in Beth-lehem would be interested in marrying Moabite women. Besides, Naomi argued, the hand of the Lord was against her. There is no hint of Naomi taking any personal responsibility or expressing repentance for her own actions in leaving the promised land. Orpah took her leave of Naomi, but Ruth clave unto her—the same word used in Gen. 2:24 to describe the marriage bond.
1:15-18 The intensity of Naomi's attempts to dissuade her Moabite daughters-in-law from accompanying her back to Beth-lehem suggests that she was not completely motivated by concern for their well-being. Their presence would have been a constant and embarrassing reminder of her tragic sojourn in Moab. Yet Ruth was not so easily dissuaded. In a crescendo of commitment, she bound herself to go with Naomi and to lodge with her. In fact, she would even die and be buried where Naomi was—the greatest possible commitment in the ancient world. She sealed her commitment with a self-imprecatory oath, taken in the personal name of Naomi's God, Jehovah. Naomi's response to this moving speech was remarkably curt: she stopped talking to her.
1:19-22 Naomi urged the townspeople to rename her Mara since the Lord had made her bitter rather than "pleasant," which is the meaning of "Naomi." It was at Marah that the Israelites found only bitter water to drink on their way out of Egypt, and so they grumbled against the Lord (Exod. 15:23-24). Naomi's heart was similarly turned against the Lord, yet the connection also raised hope that the Lord would heal her bitterness and bring her to a place of rest, just as he did for Israel. Naomi had returned physically to Beth-lehem from Moab, but would she similarly return to the Lord in repentance?
2:1-3 The practice of gleaning allowed the poor to go through the fields after the harvesters, picking up the grain that was left behind, along with the grain that landowners were required to leave at the edges of their fields (Lev. 19:9-10). Boaz had wealth, but it becomes clear as the story unfolds that he is also a man of integrity. The family connection was unknown to Ruth. Humanly speaking, she just happened (her hap was) to end up gleaning in his field, but there are no coincidences in God's program, and this divine appointment proved that the Lord was not against Naomi, as she had thought (1:20-21).
2:4-7 Boaz's noble character was displayed in his care for his workers. Even his greeting to them was in the name of the Lord, and he knew them well enough to recognize a stranger in their midst. His question did not seek Ruth's name but her relationships: Whose damsel is this? The servant's answer twice highlighted her foreignness.
2:8-10 Boaz's noble character is again on display in his kind words to Ruth. Gleaning could be dangerous, especially for a young foreign woman, and Boaz issued instructions to ensure her safety. He also allowed her to drink the water his young men had brought, saving her the lengthy trip to the well. Ruth's response was to prostrate herself as a mark of respect for a social superior. As a Moabitess, she could easily have been ignored by Boaz, but he had noticed her and shown kindness to her.
2:11-13 The death of a husband exhausted a daughter-in-law's obligations, as Naomi herself had made clear (1:11). Yet Ruth had remained with Naomi, leaving her own land and people, which meant entrusting her future to the favor of the deity of the new land. Boaz asked the Lord God of Israel to reward Ruth's faithfulness to Naomi and to shelter her under His protecting wings, as a mother bird shelters her young.
2:14-16 As an impoverished gleaner, Ruth would normally have had little or nothing to eat while out in the fields. Boaz, however, invited her to eat with him and his harvesters. In contrast to Naomi's declaration in 1:21 that she went out full and came back empty, Ruth went out empty and came back full (left means "she had some left over"). There is no hint of romantic interest in Boaz's actions. He was simply demonstrating his compassion and generosity to Ruth who, even though a foreigner, was linked to him through Naomi. He went so far as to instruct his harvesters deliberately to leave some grain for her to pick up, an action that went far beyond the demands of the law of Moses.
2:17-20 The measure of Boaz's generosity and Ruth's hard work is demonstrated in the remarkable quantity of grain that she gathered—an ephah (about 26 quarts) of barley. This was enough grain to feed a working man for several weeks. Boaz's generosity was evidence for Naomi that the Lord has not left off his kindness. The judgment that the family had experienced was not His final word for them. This represents a change in Naomi's attitude toward the Lord from 1:21.
The next kinsmen (Hb go'el; v. 20) were relatives who were obliged to buy back family members from debt-slavery or to redeem their field if they had to sell it (Lev. 25:25-30). The kinsman redeemer would also receive restitution on behalf of a deceased family member or pursue his killer to ensure that justice was served (Num. 5:8; 35:12). He might also raise up a child for the dead relative in order to maintain the connection between the clan and its hereditary property (Deut. 25:5-10), though Boaz had no legal obligation to act in this way.
2:21-23 Naomi's approval of Boaz's invitation for Ruth to remain until the end of the harvest demonstrates a concern for Ruth's safety not evident in verse 2. However, the concern may also reflect Naomi's growing awareness of her culpability in the fate of her own family. Her earlier journey to the fields of Moab was an attempt to glean food "in any other field" instead of seeking refuge under the wings of the Lord as she should have done. Boaz's generosity may have provided food, but Ruth's need of a home with a husband of her own is still real.
3:1-3 In view of Boaz's relationship to the family and his kindness and generosity thus far to Ruth, perhaps he could be persuaded to take the further step of marriage. At the end of the barley harvest, in late May or June, the barley had to be winnowed, tossed into the air with a fork allowing the wind to carry away the lighter chaff while the heavier grain fell to the ground. At night, someone would guard the grain against being stolen or eaten by animals. Apparently, this was Boaz's night to be on duty. Dressing as Naomi instructed would not only enhance Ruth's attractiveness to Boaz but would symbolize an end to her period of mourning for her husband (2 Sam. 12:20), signaling her willingness to remarry.
3:4-7 Naomi instructed Ruth to go to Boaz when he was asleep and uncover his feet. By this act Ruth was inquiring about Boaz's willingness to fulfill the role of family redeemer—to take her as wife and provide for her (see note at 4:5-8).
3:8-9 Whereas her mother-in-law had anticipated Boaz taking the initiative in the conversation, Ruth responded to Boaz's question about her identity with a clarification of her purpose. She asked him to spread the corner of his robe over her as a symbolic statement of a marriage commitment (Ezek. 16:8). The request also involved a wordplay, since skirt is literally "wing"; she is inviting Boaz to become the answer to his own prayer in 2:12 that she might find refuge under the wings of the Lord.
3:10-11 Boaz's words, my daughter, showed he had not been misled by the potential ambiguity of the situation. He declared himself willing to pay the social and financial costs of welcoming this despised outsider into his family. Boaz rightly saw Ruth's proposal as another act of covenant faithfulness (Hb chesed) on Ruth's part. Just as she had left her own household and her own family to be with Naomi, so now she was subordinating her own interests to those of Naomi. In the Hebrew ordering of the OT, the book of Ruth comes immediately after the book of Proverbs, which closes with a description of a virtuous woman (Prov. 31:10).
3:12-13 Even though Boaz was a near relative of Naomi, there was another who had a prior claim to act as redeemer. Yet Boaz reassured Ruth that, one way or another, she (and Naomi) would be redeemed.
3:14-15 If it became widely known that Ruth had visited Boaz that night, people would wrongly assume that Boaz had taken Ruth as wife or that they were guilty of sexual impropriety. Boaz was unwilling to preempt his close relative who had first right of refusal to Ruth, so getting Ruth home before daylight kept wrong impressions from being formed. To seal his commitment (and perhaps also to provide Ruth with an excuse for being out so early), Boaz gave her six measures of barley. If the unspecified measures are seahs, then that would be around 80 pounds, an enormous load. Yet the lack of a measure may be intended to focus attention on the number six, which often represents incompleteness in the OT. Even this generous gift is incomplete. Ruth still awaited the final installment of "seed" that would accomplish her rest.
3:16-17 On Ruth's return, Naomi asked her, Who art thou, my daughter? This is the same question that Boaz asked in v. 8. Was Ruth merely an awkward and embarrassing duty to Naomi, or was she the one who would provide Naomi with an enduring place in the genealogies of Israel through the provision of a son? The answer depended on what transpired overnight. This was the real nature of Naomi's question, as evidenced by Ruth's answer.
4:1-2 Boaz immediately went . . . to the gate of the town, the place where important legal and social matters were transacted in the presence of the town elders. When Boaz summoned the other redeemer, he called him (Hb) poloni 'almoni, a rhyming phrase equivalent to our "Mr. So-and-So." Boaz gathered a quorum of 10 elders as official witnesses.
4:3-4 As a widow Naomi could not sell Elimelech's land; however, she could assign someone else the right to use that land until the next Jubile Year. Rather than have control over the land go (or remain) outside the family, Boaz requested an intervention in the spirit of the family redeemer laws to buy back the use of the land. Since "Mr. So-and-So" was the primary relative entitled to redeem that property, Boaz was bringing the matter to his attention (advertise).
4:5-8 Along with the financial cost of redeeming the land, there was a social cost. The transaction also included a commitment to marry Ruth the Moabitess and thereby to seek to raise up the dead man's name on his property. This is a reference back to the practice of levirate marriage in Deut. 25:5-10, by which the brother of a man who died without male offspring was required to marry his widow and raise up a family in the name of the dead man. In this case, there was no legal obligation on either "Mr. So-and-So" or on Boaz, yet Boaz asserted a moral obligation to do so. At this, "Mr. So-and-So" backed away from his earlier enthusiasm. Ironically, his concern to protect his own name rather than committing to raise up heirs to the name of Elimelech led to him being left nameless. In seeking to serve self first, he inadvertently undermined his best interests. It is instead Boaz whose name would become famous (Ruth 4:11) in Beth-lehem. His decision was confirmed by a legal gesture that was archaic even at the time of the writing of the book—the removal of a shoe, which was given to the other party.
4:9-12 By receiving the shoe, Boaz committed himself to redeem Naomi's property, to marry Ruth, and to perpetuate the names of Elimelech and Mahlon on their patrimony. The blessing of the elders (v v. 11-12) may simply have been conventional for married couples in Beth-lehem, but it had a greater significance for Boaz and Ruth. Through Ruth, Boaz would indeed become famous and have his name remembered in Beth-lehem. The link with Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, invites a comparison and contrast between Ruth and Tamar, two foreign women who became part of Judah's genealogy through very different means.
4:13-17 Although for 10 years in Moab, Ruth had been unable to bear a son for Mahlon, through the Lord's direct intervention she immediately conceived and bore a son for Boaz. The child would be a comfort for Naomi in her old age (lit "would sustain her grey hair"); he would be her family redeemer who would provide for her needs in her declining years. He was named Obed, a short form of Obadiah, which means "servant of Jehovah." Though no one could bring back Naomi's husband or sons, now she had a daughter-in-law whom all recognized as better to thee than seven sons—an astonishing accolade in the ancient world.
4:18-22 The story concludes with a linear genealogy linking the child, Obed, backwards and forwards. It traces his roots back to Pharez, the child born in Genesis 38 out of the dubious relationship between Judah and a foreign woman, Tamar. It also traces his progeny on to King David, who is highlighted not simply because he was a great king but also because he was the Lord's answer for the anarchy of the days of the judges, in which this story took place (1:1). The genealogy thus shows us that the Lord had been pursuing bigger plans than just bringing together two worthy individuals or restoring the emptiness of a Judaean widow. Their story formed part of the bigger plan to provide the Redeemer, Christ Jesus, whom Israel needed.
Ruth Cross-References
a 1:1 Judg. 2:16
bSee Gen. 12:10; 26:1; 2 Kings 8:1
cJudg. 17:8
d 1:2 See Gen. 35:19
eJudg. 3:30
f 1:6 Exod. 4:31; Luke 1:68
gPs. 132:15; Matt. 6:11
h 1:8 See Josh. 24:15
i2 Tim. 1:16-18
jver. 5; ch. 2:20
k 1:9 ch. 3:1
l 1:11 Gen. 38:11; Deut. 25:5
m 1:13 Judg. 2:15; Job 19:21; Ps. 32:4; 38:2; 39:9-10
n 1:14 Prov. 17:17; 18:24
o 1:15 Judg. 11:24
pSee Josh. 24:15,19; 2 Kings 2:2; Luke 24:28
a 1:16 2 Kings 2:2,4,6
bch. 2:11-12
c 1:17 1 Sam. 3:17; 25:22; 2 Sam. 19:13; 2 Kings 6:31
d 1:18 Acts 21:14
e 1:19 Matt. 21:10
fSee Isa. 23:7; Lam. 2:15
g 1:21 Job 1:21
h 1:22 ch. 2:23; Exod. 9:31-32; 2 Sam. 21:9
i 2:1 ch. 3:2,12
jch. 4:21
k 2:2 Lev. 19:9; Deut. 24:19
l 2:4 Ps. 129:7-8; Luke 1:28; 2 Thess. 3:16
m 2:6 ch. 1:22
a 2:10 1 Sam. 25:23
b 2:11 ch. 1:14,16-17
c 2:12 1 Sam. 24:19
dch. 1:16; Ps. 17:8; 36:7; 57:1; 63:7
e 2:13 Gen. 33:15; 1 Sam. 1:18
f1 Sam. 25:41
g 2:14 ver. 18
h 2:18 ver. 14
i 2:19 ver. 10; Ps. 41:1
j 2:20 ch. 3:10; 2 Sam. 2:5; Job 29:13
kProv. 17:17
lch. 3:9; 4:6
a 3:1 1 Cor. 7:36; 1 Tim. 5:8
bch. 1:9
c 3:2 ch. 2:8
d 3:3 2 Sam. 14:2
e 3:7 Judg. 19:6,9,22; 2 Sam. 13:28; Esther 1:10
f 3:9 Ezek. 16:8
gver. 12; ch. 2:20
h 3:10 ch. 2:20
ich. 1:8
j 3:11 Prov. 12:4
k 3:12 ver. 10
lch. 4:1
m 3:13 ch. 4:5; Deut. 25:5; Matt. 22:24
nJudg. 8:19; Jer. 4:2
a 3:14 Rom. 12:17; 14:16; 1 Cor. 10:32; 2 Cor. 8:21; 1 Thess. 5:22
b 3:18 Ps. 37:3,5
c 4:1 ch. 3:12
d 4:2 1 Kings 21:8; Prov. 31:23
e 4:4 Jer. 32:7-8
fGen. 23:18
gLev. 25:25
h 4:5 ch. 3:13; Gen. 38:8; Deut. 25:5-6; Matt. 22:24
i 4:6 ch. 3:12-13
j 4:7 Deut. 25:7,9
k 4:10 Deut. 25:6
a 4:11 Ps. 127:3; 128:3
bDeut. 25:9
cGen. 35:16,19
d 4:12 Gen. 38:29; 1 Chron. 2:4; Matt. 1:3
e1 Sam. 2:20
f 4:13 ch. 3:11
gGen. 29:31; 33:5
h 4:14 Luke 1:58; Rom. 12:15
i 4:15 1 Sam. 1:8
j 4:17 Luke 1:58,59
k 4:18 1 Chron. 2:4, etc.; Matt. 1:3
l 4:20 Num. 1:7
mMatt. 1:4, etc.
n 4:22 1 Chron. 2:15; Matt. 1:6