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Ruth's Story and Its Theological Significance

The Book of Ruth tells the story of a Moabitess woman named Ruth, who becomes an ancestress of King David and, subsequently, of Jesus Christ [1]. The narrative begins with a famine in Judah, prompting Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, to migrate to Moab [1, 5]. After about ten years, Elimelech and his sons die, leaving Naomi a widow and childless [1]. Naomi decides to return to Bethlehem, and her daughter-in-law Ruth insists on accompanying her, famously declaring, "Your people shall be my people, and your God my God" [4]. This declaration is sometimes interpreted as evidence of Ruth's conversion to the God of Israel [13].

Upon their return to Bethlehem, Ruth gleans in the fields of Boaz, a relative of Elimelech [1]. Boaz, impressed by Ruth's loyalty to Naomi and her industriousness, shows her favor [11]. The story culminates in Boaz marrying Ruth, fulfilling the role of a kinsman-redeemer [8, 12]. The people and elders at the city gate witness this union, praying for Ruth to be fruitful like Rachel and Leah [9, 14]. Ruth conceives and bears a son named Obed [6], who becomes the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David [1, 15].

The book's primary purpose is to establish David's ancestry, demonstrating his lineage through Ruth and Boaz [2, 15]. This connection is significant because David is a pivotal figure in Israelite history, and his lineage is crucial for understanding the messianic promises [15]. The inclusion of Ruth, a Moabitess, in this genealogy is notable, as it highlights God's ability to elevate individuals of humble origins to positions of dignity and splendor, as seen in David's rise to kingship [7]. Some interpretations also view Ruth's espousal to Boaz as a type or foreshadowing of the Gentile church's espousal to Christ [10, 12].

While the exact date and author of the Book of Ruth are uncertain, tradition attributes it to Samuel [2, 3]. It is believed to have been composed long after the events it describes, possibly around the time of Gideon, approximately 1250 B.C. [1, 2]. The book was originally considered part of the Book of Judges but later became a separate book in the Hebrew Bible [3].

Sources

  1. Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Ruth — (a female friend) a Moabitish woman, the wife, first of Mahlon, second of Boaz, the ancestress of David and Christ, and one of the four women who are named by St. Matthew in the genealogy of Christ. A severe famine in the land of Judah induced Elimelech, a native of Bethlehem--ephratah, to emigrate into the land of Moab, with his wife Naomi, and his two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. This was probably about the time of Gideon, B.C. 1250. At the end of ten years Naomi now left a widow and childless, having heard that there was plenty again in Judah, resolved to retur”
  2. Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Ruth, Book Of — contains the history of Ruth, as narrated in the preceding article. The main object of the writer is evidently to give an account of David's ancestors; and the book was avowedly composed long after the time of the heroine. See (Ruth 1:1; 4:7,17) Its date and author are quite uncertain. Tradition is in favor of Samuel. It is probable that the books of Judges, Ruth, Samuel and Kings originally formed but one work. The book of Ruth clearly forms part of the books of Samuel, supplying as it does the essential point of David's genealogy and early family his”
  3. Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Ruth The Book of — Was originally a part of the Book of Judges, but it now forms one of the twenty-four separate books of the Hebrew Bible. The history it contains refers to a period perhaps about one hundred and twenty-six years before the birth of David. It gives (1) an account of Naomi's going to Moab with her husband, Elimelech, and of her subsequent return to Bethlehem with her daughter-in-law; (2) the marriage of Boaz and Ruth; and (3) the birth of Obed, of whom David sprang. The author of this book was probably Samuel, according to Jewish tradition. "Brief as ”
  4. Treasury of Scripture Knowledge “Ruth 1:16 cross-references: Joshua 24:18, Ruth 2:6, Ruth 2:11, Ruth 2:12, 2 Samuel 15:21, 2 Kings 2:2, 2 Kings 2:4, 2 Kings 2:6, Psalms 45:10, Isaiah 14:1, Daniel 2:47, Daniel 3:29, Daniel 4:37, Hosea 13:4, Zechariah 8:23, Matthew 8:19, Luke 24:28, John 13:37, Acts 21:13, 2 Corinthians 6:16, 1 Thessalonians 1:9, Revelation 14:4”
  5. Treasury of Scripture Knowledge “Ruth 1:1 cross-references: Genesis 12:10, Genesis 26:1, Genesis 43:1, Leviticus 26:19, Deuteronomy 28:23, Deuteronomy 28:38, Judges 2:16, Judges 12:8, Judges 17:7, Judges 17:8, Judges 19:1, 2 Samuel 21:1, 1 Kings 17:1, 1 Kings 18:2, 2 Kings 8:1, 1 Chronicles 2:51, 1 Chronicles 2:54, Psalms 105:16, Psalms 107:34, Jeremiah 14:1, Ezekiel 14:13, Ezekiel 14:21, Joel 1:10, Joel 1:16, Amos 4:6”
  6. Ruth “So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and he went in to her, and Yahweh gave her conception, and she bore a son. -- Ruth 4:13”
  7. Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, CHAPTER 9, section 4: son, who was king, and left his dominions to his sons for one and twenty generations. I was therefore obliged to relate this history of Ruth, because I had a mind to demonstrate the power of God, who, without difficulty, can raise those that are of ordinary parentage to dignity and splendor, to which he advanced David, though he were born of such mean parents.”
  8. Ruth “Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, I have purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, that the name of the dead not be cut off from among his brothers, and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses this day.” -- Ruth 4:10”
  9. Treasury of Scripture Knowledge “Ruth 4:11 cross-references: Genesis 24:60, Genesis 29:16, Genesis 29:32, Genesis 35:16, Genesis 35:19, Genesis 35:23, Genesis 35:24, Genesis 46:8, Numbers 26:1, Deuteronomy 25:7, Deuteronomy 25:9, Ruth 1:2, 1 Kings 21:8, 1 Chronicles 2:51, Psalms 127:3, Psalms 128:3, Psalms 132:6, Proverbs 14:1, Jeremiah 32:10, Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:6”
  10. Ruth (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Ruth 2 (introduction): There is scarcely any chapter in all the sacred history that stoops so low as this to take cognizance of so mean a person as Ruth, a poor Moabitish widow, so mean an action as her gleaning corn in a neighbour's field, and the minute circumstances thereof. But all this was in order to her being grafted into the line of Christ and taken in among his ancestors, that she might be a figure of the espousals of the Gentile church to Christ, Isa 54:1. This makes the story remarkable; and many of the passages of it are instructive and very improvable. Here we hav”
  11. Ruth (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Ruth 2:23: And of wheat harvest - That is, she was to continue gleaning in the farm of Boaz to the end of the barley harvest; and then, when the wheat harvest began, to continue to its conclusion in the same way. In the interim, as well as each night, she lodged with her mother-in-law. 1. Ruth seems to have been a woman of a very amiable mind: she was modest, and she was industrious, and most probably a comely woman; and all these things served to attract the attention of Boaz, and to engage his affection. Her attachment also to her mother-in-law could not fail to secure his est”
  12. Ruth (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Ruth 4 (introduction): In this chapter we have the wedding between Boaz and Ruth, in the circumstances of which there was something uncommon, which is kept upon record for the illustration, not only of the law concerning the marrying of a brother's widow (Deu 25:5, etc.), for cases help to expound laws, but of the gospel too, for from this marriage descended David, and the Son of David, whose espousals to the Gentile church were hereby typified. We are here told, I. How Boaz got clear of his rival, and fairly shook him off (Rut 4:1-8). II. How his marriage with Ruth was public”
  13. Sefaria (Jewish (Rationalist)) “Abraham Ibn Ezra on Ruth 1:13: "To her people and to her gods": Evidence that they converted.”
  14. Ruth (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Ruth 4:11: And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, we are witnesses,.... Both of the purchase of the estate by Boaz being legally made, and of the marriage of Ruth to him, the condition of the bargain: the Lord make the woman that is come into thine house; not into his house, strictly and literally taken, the place of his habitation; for both he and she were now at the gate of the city, and as yet she was not introduced into his house; but by his marriage of her she was brought into his family, and was become a principal part of it, being his wife. This i”
  15. Ruth (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Ruth 4:18: 4:18-22 The book of Ruth ends with a genealogy of ten generations, from Perez, the son of Judah (Jacob’s son), to David, the grandson of Obed. Besides being one of the world’s great stories, this tale concerns the family history of David, Israel’s greatest king. That Ruth and Boaz were ancestors of Israel’s greatest king is a major reason for the inclusion of this small book in the Old Testament.”
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