Naomi entreating Ruth and Orpah to return home
The
Book of
Ruth
is the eighth book of the
Old Testament
(
Christian
), and the
Tanakh
(
Jewish
). It is one of the shortest books in both the Jewish and Christian holy books, consisting of only four chapters. It is unknown who wrote the book.
The book does not name its author. In the past, people believed the
prophet Samuel
(11th century BCE) was the author. But the majority of scholars now date it to the Persian period (6th?4th centuries BCE).
The book tells the story of the family of Elimelech, his wife
Naomi
, and their sons Mahlon and Chilion. Because of a
famine
, they were forced to leave
Bethlehem
and go to the land of
Moab
. Once there, Elimelech died, and his sons
married
two Moabite
women
. Mahlon married Ruth, and Chilion married Orpah. After some time there, Mahlon and Chilion both died.
Ruth in Boaz's Field
Naomi was forced to return
home
because her husband and sons were dead. She then told Ruth and Orpah to return home to their families and find new husbands. Orpah returned home but Ruth
promised
she would follow Naomi wherever she went. Ruth's pledge to Naomi is found in chapter 1 verses 16 and 17.
But Ruth said, "Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die? there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!"
Although originally made by a daughter-in-law to her mother-in-law, a form of this pledge is sometimes included in wedding services.
[2]
They returned to their home and Ruth decided she would go into the
fields
to pick up
grain
the
wealthy
people
would drop on the
ground
(a common practice in that time). A kind man named Boaz, who was the owner of the field, noticed her and her
beauty
. He also learned that she had chosen to follow the God of Israel and that she was caring for her
widowed
mother-in-law. He told his
workers
to drop extra grain for her. When she went
home
to tell her mother-in-law how much she received, they found out that Boaz was a close
relative
of theirs. Under Jewish law, this gave Ruth the right to marry Boaz, if Boaz bought the land formerly owned by Ruth's husband.
After an even closer relative said he would not buy the land and marry her, Boaz and Ruth were
happily
married
. She would bear him a son named Obed, who was the father of Jesse, who was the father of
David
, who was, according to the New Testament, the
ancestor
of
Jesus
.
[3]