It narrates the story ofNaomi and her daughter-in-lawRuth, who return toBethlehem after the deaths of their husbands, where Ruth’s loyalty to Naomi leads to her marriage to Boaz. Their sonObed becomes the grandfather ofKing David.
After about ten years, the two sons of Naomi also die in Moab (1:4). Naomi decides to return to Bethlehem. She tells her daughters-in-law to return to their own mothers and remarry. Orpah reluctantly leaves. However, Ruth demurs: "Do not urge me to leave you, to turn back and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus and more may the Lord do to me if anything but death parts me from you." (Ruth 1:16–17 NJPS).
Naomi entreating Ruth and Orpah to return to the land of Moab byWilliam Blake, 1795"The Gleaners", an engraving illustrating the Book of Ruth byGustave Doré (1832–1883).
Naomi and Ruth return to Bethlehem at the beginning of thebarley harvest and, in order to support her mother-in-law and herself, Ruth goes to the fields toglean. As it happens, the field belongs to a man namedBoaz, who is kind to her because he has heard of her loyalty to her mother-in-law. Ruth tells Naomi of Boaz's kindness, and Ruth continues to glean in his field through the remainder of barley and wheat harvests.
Boaz, being a close relative of Naomi's husband's family, is therefore obliged by thelevirate law to marry Ruth, Mahlon's widow, to carry on his family's inheritance. Naomi sends Ruth to thethreshing floor at night where Boaz sleeps, directing Ruth to "uncover his feet and lie down" and await his instructions" (3:4). Ruth complies. On awakening, Boaz asks her who she is, and she replies: "I am yourhandmaid Ruth. Spread your robe over your handmaid, for you are a redeeming kinsman" (3:9 NJPS).
Acknowledging he is a close relative, Boazblesses her and agrees to do all that is required. He notes that "all the elders of my town know what a fine woman you are" (3:11 NJPS). However, Boaz advises her that she has a male relative closer than he. Ruth remains in submission at his feet until she returns to the city in the morning.
Early that morning, Boaz goes to the city gate to meet with the other male relative before the town elders. The relative is not named. Boaz addresses him asploni almoni "so and so". The relative, unwilling to jeopardize the inheritance of his own estate by marrying Ruth, relinquishes hisright of redemption, thus freeing Boaz to marry Ruth. They transfer the property, redeeming it, and ratify the redemption by the nearer kinsman taking off his shoe and handing it over to Boaz.Ruth 4:7 notes for later generations that:
Now this was formerly done in Israel in cases of redemption or exchange: to validate any transaction, one man would take off his sandal and hand it to the other. Such was the practice in Israel. (NJPS)
Boaz and Ruth are then married and have a son. The women of the city celebrate Naomi's joy in finding a redeemer to preserve her family name. Naomi takes the child and places it on her bosom.
The child is namedObed, whom the reader discovers is "the father ofJesse, the father of David" (Ruth 4:13–17); that is, he is the grandfather ofKing David, and so Ruth is the great-grandmother of King David.
The book concludes with an appendix tracing the Davidic genealogy all the way back fromPerez, "whomTamar bore toJudah", through to Obed, down to David.
According to some scholars, the Book of Ruth is likely a work of historical fiction.[4][5] Other scholars hold that the Book is a historical narrative written in the form of a short story.[6]
The book does not name its author.[9] It is traditionally ascribed to the prophetSamuel (11th century BCE), but Ruth's identity as a non-Israelite and the stress on the need for an inclusive attitude towards foreigners suggests an origin in the fifth century BCE, whenintermarriage had become controversial (as seen inEzra 9:1 andNehemiah 13:1).[10]
A substantial number of scholars therefore date it to thePersian period (550-330 BCE).[2] The genealogy that concludes the book is believed to be a post-exilicPriestly addition, as it adds nothing to the plot; nevertheless, it is carefully crafted and integrates the book into thehistory of Israel running from Genesis to Kings.[11]
A large letterנ, amajuscula, occurs in the first word ofRuth 3:13 - לִינִי (lî-nî; "tarry, stay, lodge, pass the night") - which the smaller Masora ascribes to the Oriental or Babylonian textualists.[20][21]
The Book of Ruth illustrates the difficulty of trying to use laws given in books such asDeuteronomy as evidence of actual practice.[2] Naomi plans to provide security for herself and Ruth by arranging alevirate marriage with Boaz. She instructs Ruth to uncover Boaz's feet after he had gone to sleep and to lie down. When Boaz wakes up, surprised to see a woman at his feet, Ruth explains that she wants him to redeem (marry) her. The usual interpretation is to see sexual allusions in this part of the story, with 'feet' as aeuphemism forgenitals.[24][25][26][Note 1]
Since there is no heir to inherit Elimelech's land, custom required a close relative (usually the dead man's brother) to marry the widow of the deceased in order to continue his family line (Deuteronomy 25:5–10). This relative was called thegoel, the "kinsman-redeemer". As Boaz was not Elimelech's brother, nor Ruth his widow, scholars refer to the arrangement here as "Levirate-like".[27] A complication arises in the story when it is revealed that another man is a closer relative to Elimelech than Boaz and therefore has first claim on Ruth.[27]
This conflict is resolved through the custom that required land to stay in the family: a family could mortgage land to ward off poverty, but the law required a kinsman to purchase it back into the family (Leviticus 25:25ff). When Boaz meets the near kinsman at the city gate, the place where contracts were settled, the kinsman initially agrees to purchase Elimelech's (now Naomi's) land; but upon hearing he must also take Ruth as his wife, he withdraws his offer. Boaz thus becomes "kinsman-redeemer" to Naomi and Ruth.[27]
The book can be read as a political parable relating to issues around the time ofEzra andNehemiah (the 5th century BCE):[8] unlike the story ofEzra–Nehemiah, where marriages between Jewish men and non-Jewish women were broken up, Ruth teaches that foreigners who convert to Judaism can become good Jews, foreign wives can become exemplary followers of Jewish law, and there is no reason to exclude them or their offspring from the community.[28] Some believe the names of the participants suggest a fictional nature of the story: the husband and father was Elimelech, meaning "My God is King", and his wife was Naomi, "Pleasing", but after the deaths of her sons Mahlon, "Sickness", and Chilion, "Wasting", she asked to be called Mara, "Bitter".[8]
The reference toMoab raises questions, since in the rest of the biblical literature it is associated with hostility to Israel, sexual perversity, andidolatry, andDeuteronomy 23:3–6 excluded an Ammonite or a Moabite from "the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation".[8] Despite this, Ruth the Moabite married a Judahite and even after his death still regarded herself a member of his family; she then married another Judahite and bore him a son who became an ancestor ofDavid.[28] Concerning this, theMishnah says that only male Moabites are banned from the congregation.[29]
"Levenspoort" (Arch of Life), with a quote from Ruth 4:10 at its base; a bronze memorial sculpture by Yetty Elzas. In remembrance of the71 Jewish citizens of Wageningen and surroundings, deported and murdered during the years 1940-1945
Scholars have increasingly explored Ruth in ways which allow it to address contemporary issues.Feminists, for example, have recast the story as one of thedignity of labour and female self-sufficiency,[citation needed] and as a model forlesbian relations,[30] while others have seen in it a celebration of the relationship between strong and resourceful women.[31] Others have seen it as a book that champions outcast and oppressed peoples.[32]
^For "feet" as a euphemism for genitals see, for example, Amy-Jill Levine, "Ruth," in Newsom and Ringe (eds.),The Women's Bible Commentary, pp. 78-84. The usual interpretation, as given here, is that Ruth is told to uncover Boaz's genitals, but see Kirsten Nielsen, "Other Writings," in McKenzie and Graham (eds.),The Hebrew Bible Today, pp.175-176, where it is argued that Ruth is to uncover herself.
^abTrible, Phyllis."Ruth: Bible".The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. RetrievedJanuary 5, 2025.…probably a piece of historical fiction set in the time of the judges.
^Joseph S. Exell; Henry Donald Maurice Spence-Jones (Editors). ThePulpit Commentary. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
Allen, Leslie C. (1996)."Ruth". In LaSor, William Sanford; Hubbard, David Allan; Bush, Frederic William; et al. (eds.).Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament. Eerdmans.ISBN9780802837882.
Atteridge, Harold W. (2006).The HarperCollins Study Bible. HarperCollins.
Bartal, Ruth (2023).'The Book of Ruth and Blanche of Castile. Leiden: Alexandros Press.ISBN9789490387129.
Irwin, B.P. (2008)."Ruth 4: Person". In Longman, Tremper; Enns, Peter (eds.).Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings. InterVarsity Press.ISBN9780830817832.
Leith, Mary Joan Winn (2007)."Ruth". In Coogan, Michael D.; Brettler, Marc Zvi; Newsom, Carol Ann; et al. (eds.).The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version. Oxford University Press.ISBN9780195288803.
Mihăilă, Alexandru (2011).The Conversion of the Foreigners between Ruth and Ezra-Nehemiah. Institutul Teologic Penticostal.
