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, and its provenance and date must be deduced from the internal evidence—language and style, historical allusions, and themes. The family records at the end and the explanation of archaic customs requires a date during or later than the reign of King David (1011–971 BC), though it could have been written as late as after the exile, when the issue of the inclusion of Gentiles once again became pressing.
The book of Ruth is set “during the time of the judges” (1:1), a period of social and religious disorder when “everyone did whatever seemed right to him” (Jdg 17:6). Historically, this era bridged the time between the conquest of the land under Joshua and the rise of King David, whose family records form 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.
Ruth’s covenantal faithfulness to her mother-in-law 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 (Is 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.
The book of Ruth is a delightful short story 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.
Where spiritual life is weak, it should be nurtured with affectionate care. We desire to cherish, not to censure. If the lambs are to grow, they must be shepherded. If Ruth is to be happy in the land of Israel, a Boaz must look after her and be her true friend.
1During the time A of the judges, there was a famine in the land. A man left Bethlehem B in Judah with his wife and two sons to stay in the territory of Moab for a while. 2 The man’s name was Elimelech, C and his wife’s name was Naomi. D The names of his two sons were Mahlon E and Chilion. F They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They entered the fields of Moab and settled there. 3 Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 Her sons took Moabite women as their wives: one was named Orpah and the second was named Ruth. After they lived in Moab about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two children and without her husband.
QUOTE 1:4
They only meant to be in Moab for a little while, just as Christian people, when they fall into worldly conformity, only purpose to do it perhaps “for the sake of the girls, to bring them out a little.” But it happens to them as it is written here.
6 She and her daughters-in-law set out to return from the territory of Moab, because she had heard in Moab that the LORD had paid attention to his people’s need by providing them food. 7 She left the place where she had been living, accompanied by her two daughters-in-law, and traveled along the road leading back to the land of Judah.
QUOTE 1:6
We need not go to Moab and to her false gods to find pleasure and satisfaction.
8 Naomi said to them, “Each of you go back to your mother’s home. May the LORD show kindness to you as you have shown to the dead and to me. 9 May the LORD grant each of you rest in the house of a new husband.” She kissed them, and they wept loudly.
10 They said to her, “We insist on returning with you to your people.”
11 But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why do you want to go with me? Am I able to have any more sons who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters. Go on, for I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me to have a husband tonight and to bear sons, 13 would you be willing to wait for them to grow up? Would you restrain yourselves from remarrying? G No, my daughters, my life is much too bitter for you to share, H because the LORD’s hand has turned against me.” 14 Again they wept loudly, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 15 Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Follow your sister-in-law.”
16 But Ruth replied:
Don’t plead with me to abandon you
or to return and not follow you.
For wherever you go, I will go,
and wherever you live, I will live;
your people will be my people,
and your God will be my God.
QUOTE 1:16
What is there for any of us to be ashamed of in acknowledging that we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ?
17Where you die, I will die,
and there I will be buried.
May the LORD punish me, A
and do so severely,
if anything but death separates you and me.
18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped talking to her.
19 The two of them traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was excited about their arrival B and the local women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi? ”
20 “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara,” C she answered, “for the Almighty has made me very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has opposed D me, and the Almighty has afflicted me? ”
22 So Naomi came back from the territory of Moab with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
1:1 “A man left Bethlehem in Judah with his wife and two sons to stay in the territory of Moab for a while.” That was a bad move on their part—better poverty with the people of God than plenty outside the covenanted land.
1:2 “The man’s name was Elimelech.” “Elimelech” means “my God is king.” A man with such a name as that ought not to have left the kingdom where his God was king. But some people are not worthy of the names they bear.
1:2 “They entered the fields of Moab and settled there.” [ED: “Settled there” implies that they planned to be there a long while. The KJV says, “They continued there.”] That is generally what happens. Those who go into the country of Moab continue there. If Christians go away from their separated life, they are apt to continue in that condition. It may be easy to say, “I will step aside from the Christian path for just a little while,” but it is not so easy to return to it. Usually something or other hampers; the snare catches the birds of paradise and holds them fast.
1:4 “They lived in Moab about ten years.” That was about ten years too long. Probably they did not intend to remain so long when they went there. They only meant to be in Moab for a little while, just as Christian people, when they fall into worldly conformity, only purpose to do it once, perhaps “for the sake of the girls, to bring them out a little.” But it happens to them as it is written here.
1:6 “She had heard in Moab that the LORD had paid attention to his people’s need by providing them food.” Some who profess Christ have gone a long way off from God. I wish they knew what abundance there is in the great Father’s house and what a blessed feast there is for those who live with him. There is no famine in that land. There is plenty of gladness, plenty of comfort, plenty of everything that is joyful to be found there. We need not go to Moab and to her false gods to find pleasure and satisfaction.
1:16 “Wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.” I am glad to see candidates for membership in a church make a profession of faith before the congregation. It does the man, woman, boy, or girl—whoever it is—so much good for once, at least, to say right straight out, “I am a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and I am not ashamed of it.” When people have once confessed Christ before men, they are apt to do it again somewhere else. And they thus acquire a kind of boldness and outspokenness in religious matters—and a holy courage as followers of Christ—which more than make up for any self-denial and trembling that the effort may have cost them. I think Naomi was right to drive Ruth, as it were, to take this brave stand in which it became an absolute necessity for her to express her commitment. What is there for any of us to be ashamed of in acknowledging that we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ?
1:21 “The Almighty has afflicted me.” It is a sweet thing to be able to trace the hand of God in our affliction, for nothing can come to one of his children from that hand except what is good and right. Those are the hands of which the Lord says, “I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands” (Is 49:16). So we may rest assured that nothing can come from those hands but what infinite wisdom directs and infinite love has ordained.
A 1:1 Lit In the days of the judging
H 1:13 Lit daughters, for more bitter to me than you
A 1:17 A solemn oath formula; 1Sm 3:17; 2Sm 3:9,35; 1Kg 2:23; 2Kg 6:31
2Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side. He was a prominent man of noble character from Elimelech’s family. His name was Boaz.
2 Ruth the Moabitess asked Naomi, “Will you let me go into the fields and gather fallen grain behind someone with whom I find favor? ”
Naomi answered her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” 3 So Ruth left and entered the field to gather grain behind the harvesters. She happened to be in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from Elimelech’s family.
4 Later, when Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, he said to the harvesters, “The LORD be with you.”
“The LORD bless you,” they replied.
5 Boaz asked his servant who was in charge of the harvesters, “Whose young woman is this? ”
6 The servant answered, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the territory of Moab. 7 She asked, ‘Will you let me gather fallen grain among the bundles behind the harvesters? ’ She came and has been on her feet since early morning, except that she rested a little in the shelter.” A
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. B Don’t go and gather grain in another field, and don’t leave this one, but stay here close to my female servants. 9 See which field they are harvesting, and follow them. Haven’t I ordered the young men not to touch you? C When you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the young men have filled.”
10 She fell facedown, bowed to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor with you, so that you notice me, although I am a foreigner? ”
11 Boaz answered her, “Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me: how you left your father and mother and your native land, and how you came to a people you didn’t previously know. 12 May the LORD reward you for what you have done, and may you receive a full reward from the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”
13 “My lord,” she said, “I have found favor with you, for you have comforted and encouraged D your servant, although I am not like one of your female servants.”
14 At mealtime Boaz told her, “Come over here and have some bread and dip it in the vinegar sauce.” So she sat beside the harvesters, and he offered her roasted grain. She ate and was satisfied and had some left over.
15 When she got up to gather grain, Boaz ordered his young men, “Let her even gather grain among the bundles, and don’t humiliate her. 16 Pull out some stalks from the bundles for her and leave them for her to gather. Don’t rebuke her.” 17 So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. She beat out what she had gathered, and it was about twenty-six quarts E of barley. 18 She picked up the grain and went into the town, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She brought out what she had left over from her meal and gave it to her.
QUOTE 2:17
The gleaner gathers her portion ear by ear; her gains are little by little. So I must be content to search for single truths, if they come just one at a time.
19 Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you gather barley today, and where did you work? May the LORD bless the man who noticed you.”
Ruth told her mother-in-law whom she had worked with and said, “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz.”
20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May the LORD bless him because he has not abandoned his kindness to the living or the dead.” Naomi continued, “The man is a close relative. He is one of our family redeemers.”
21 Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also told me, ‘Stay with my young men until they have finished all of my harvest.’ ”
22 So Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “My daughter, it is good for you to work A with his female servants, so that nothing will happen to you in another field.” 23 Ruth stayed close to Boaz’s female servants and gathered grain until the barley and the wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with B her mother-in-law.
2:12 “May the LORD reward you for what you have done, and may you receive a full reward from the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.” This was the language of Boaz, a man of substance in Bethlehem, to a poor stranger who had left her people and the idols of her nation to become a worshiper of the living and true God. He acted nobly when he cheered her and instructed her to have courage now that she was casting in her lot with Naomi and the chosen nation. Such a greeting of tender encouragement is precisely what all elder Christians should do to those who are Ruth’s counterparts. We should make a point of looking out for the young converts and speaking kind and comforting words to them. As God commanded Moses to encourage Joshua (Dt 1:38), we should encourage those newly aspiring to holiness. Where spiritual life is weak, it should be nurtured with affectionate care. We desire to cherish, not to censure. If the lambs are to grow, they must be shepherded. If Ruth is to be happy in the land of Israel, a Boaz must look after her and be her true friend.
2:17 “So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening.” [ED: Spurgeon compares the labor of gleaning to the spiritual work of prayer, meditation, the ordinances, and Bible study.] The gleaner gathers her portion ear by ear; her gains are little by little. So I must be content to search for single truths, if they come just one at a time. Every ear helps to make a bundle, and every gospel lesson assists in making us wise for salvation. The gleaner stoops for all she finds, and I must do the same. Proud minds criticize and object, but humble minds glean and receive benefit. A humble heart is the key to profitably hearing the gospel. The soul-saving Word is not received except with meekness. A stiff back makes for a bad gleaner. What the gleaner gathers, she keeps. If she dropped one ear to find another, the result of her day’s work would be but meager; she is as careful to retain as to obtain. How often do I forget all that I hear; the second truth pushes the first out of my head, and so my reading and hearing end in much ado about nothing. Do I understand the importance of storing up the truth? Hunger helps make the gleaner wise; if she has no corn in her hand, there will be no bread on her table. My need is even greater, Lord; help me feel it, that it may urge me onward to glean in fields that yield to diligence a plenteous reward.
A 2:7 LXX reads morning, and until evening she has not rested in the field a little ; Vg reads morning until now and she did not return to the house ; Hb uncertain
B 2:8 Lit “Haven’t you heard, my daughter?
C 2:9 Either sexual or physical harassment
3Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, shouldn’t I find rest for you, so that you will be taken care of? 2 Now isn’t Boaz our relative? Haven’t you been working with his female servants? This evening he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. 3 Wash, put on perfumed oil, and wear your best clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 When he lies down, notice the place where he’s lying, go in and uncover his feet, and lie down. Then he will explain to you what you should do.”
5 So Ruth said to her, “I will do everything you say.” C 6 She went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had charged her to do. 7 After Boaz ate, drank, and was in good spirits, D he went to lie down at the end of the pile of barley, and she came secretly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.
8 At midnight, Boaz was startled, turned over, and there lying at his feet was a woman! 9 So he asked, “Who are you? ”
“I am Ruth, your servant,” she replied. “Take me under your wing, E for you are a family redeemer.”
10 Then he said, “May the LORD bless you, my daughter. You have shown more kindness now than before, F because you have not pursued younger men, whether rich or poor. 11 Now don’t be afraid, my daughter. I will do for you whatever you say, G since all the people in my town H know that you are a woman of noble character. 12 Yes, it is true that I am a family redeemer, but there is a redeemer closer than I am. 13 Stay here tonight, and in the morning, if he wants to redeem you, that’s good. Let him redeem you. But if he doesn’t want to redeem you, as the LORD lives, I will. Now lie down until morning.”
14 So she lay down at his feet until morning but got up while it was still dark. I Then Boaz said, “Don’t let it be known that a J woman came to the threshing floor.” 15 And he told Ruth, “Bring the shawl you’re wearing and hold it out.” When she held it out, he shoveled six measures of barley into her shawl, and she K went into the town.
16 She went to her mother-in-law, Naomi, who asked her, “What happened, A my daughter? ”
Then Ruth told her everything the man had done for her. 17 She said, “He gave me these six measures of barley, because he said, B ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’ ”
18 Naomi said, “My daughter, wait until you find out how things go, for he won’t rest unless he resolves this today.”
C 3:5 Alt Hb tradition reads say to me
D 3:7 Lit and his heart was glad
E 3:9 Or “Spread the edge of your garment ; lit “Spread the wing of your garment ; Ru 2:12
F 3:10 Lit kindness at the last than at the first
G 3:11 Some Hb mss, Orig, Syr, Tg, Vg read say to me
H 3:11 Lit all the gate of my people
I 3:14 Lit up before a man could recognize his companion
4Boaz went to the gate of the town and sat down there. Soon the family redeemer Boaz had spoken about came by. Boaz said, “Come over here C and sit down.” So he went over and sat down. 2 Then Boaz took ten men of the town’s elders and said, “Sit here.” And they sat down. 3 He said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has returned from the territory of Moab, is selling the portion of the field that belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4 I thought I should inform you: D Buy it back in the presence of those seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you want to redeem it, do it. But if you do E not want to redeem it, tell me so that I will know, because there isn’t anyone other than you to redeem it, and I am next after you.”
“I want to redeem it,” he answered.
5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from Naomi, you will acquire F Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the deceased man, to perpetuate the man’s name on his property.” G
6 The redeemer replied, “I can’t redeem it myself, or I will ruin my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I can’t redeem it.”
7 At an earlier period in Israel, a man removed his sandal and gave it to the other party in order to make any matter legally binding concerning the right of redemption or the exchange of property. This was the method of legally binding a transaction in Israel.
8 So the redeemer removed his sandal and said to Boaz, “Buy back the property yourself.”
9 Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon. 10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to perpetuate the deceased man’s name on his property, so that his name will not disappear among his relatives or from the gate of his hometown. You are witnesses today.”
11 All the people who were at the city gate, including the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is entering your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built the house of Israel. May you be powerful in Ephrathah and your name well known in Bethlehem. 12 May your house become like the house of Perez, the son Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring the LORD will give you by this young woman.”
13 Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. He slept with her, and the LORD granted conception to her, and she gave birth to a son. 14 The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you without a family redeemer today. May his name become well known in Israel. 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. Indeed, your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 16 Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and became his nanny. 17 The neighbor women said, “A son has been born to Naomi,” and they named him Obed. H He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
18 Now these are the family records of Perez:
Perez fathered Hezron,
19Hezron fathered Ram, A
Ram fathered Amminadab,
20Amminadab fathered Nahshon,
Nahshon fathered Salmon,
21Salmon fathered Boaz,
Boaz fathered Obed,
22Obed fathered Jesse,
and Jesse fathered David.
C 4:1 Or said, “Come here Mr. So-and-so
D 4:4 Lit should uncover your ear, saying
E 4:4 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr, Vg; other Hb mss read if he does
G 4:5 Alt Hb tradition reads Naomi, I will have already acquired from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead man, the privilege of raising up the name of the dead man on his property