Ruth is a short and beautiful story of faithfulness: a foreign woman, a Moabite, joins God's people out of love for her mother-in-law Naomi and becomes the great-grandmother of King David.
AuthorUnknown author
DateEvents in the time of the judges; probably written after the exile
AudienceIsrael, about welcoming the foreigner
🎯 Learning objective
Understand the message of Ruth, its historical setting and its place in the history of salvation.
🏛️ Historical context
It takes place in Bethlehem during a famine. After the exile, when some rejected foreigners, this book reminded Israel that God welcomes all who take refuge under his wings.
🔙 Background
Naomi, an Israelite, emigrates to Moab, loses her husband and sons and returns to Bethlehem with her daughter-in-law Ruth, who refuses to leave her.
🧭 Structure of the book
Chapter 1: loss and return to Bethlehem
Chapter 2: Ruth gleans in Boaz's field
Chapter 3: Ruth and Boaz at the threshing floor
Chapter 4: marriage and David's genealogy
⭐ Key events and teachings
1"Where you go I will go; your people shall be my people, and your God my God" (1:16)
2Boaz treats Ruth with kindness (ch. 2)
3Boaz redeems the inheritance as next of kin (ch. 4)
4Obed, David's grandfather, is born (4:17)
🏷️ Main themes
Faithful love (hesed)Welcoming the foreignerProvidence in daily lifeThe Messiah's genealogy
📖 Verses to memorize
Ruth 1:16She answered: Be not against me, to desire that I should leave thee and depart: for whithersoever thou shalt go, I will go: and where thou shalt dwell, I also will dwell. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.
Ruth 1:17The land that shall receive thee dying, in the same will I die: and there will I be buried. The Lord do so and so to me, and add more also, if aught but death part me and thee.
Ruth 2:12The Lord render unto thee for thy work, and mayst thou receive a full reward of the Lord the God of Israel, to whom thou art come, and under whose wings thou art fled.
Ruth 4:14And the women said to Noemi: Blessed be the Lord, who hath not suffered thy family to want a successor: that his name should be preserved in Israel.
Ruth 4:17And the women, her neighbours, congratulating with her, and saying, There is a son born to Noemi, called his name Obed: he is the father of Isai, the father of David.
💭 For reflection
Why does Matthew include Ruth in Jesus' genealogy (Mt 1:5)?
Whom am I called to accompany faithfully?
A short story of Ruth, a Moabite woman who stays faithful to her mother-in-law Naomi and embraces the people and the God of Israel. Through her kindness and that of Boaz, she becomes the great-grandmother of King David and an ancestor of Jesus.