The Book of Ruth in the Bible is short, but filled with important lessons. This overview of the book will introduce several of them to you.
Where is Ruth in the Bible?
Jewish tradition divides the Bible into 3 sections: Torah, Prophets (Neviim), and Writings (Ketuvim). (Combining the first letter of each Hebrew word gives us the word Tanach.)
The Book of Ruth is found in the Writings after The Song of Songs and before Lamentations.
In many non-Jewish bibles, Ruth is placed after the book of Judges and before 1 Samuel. That placement does make sense based on the chronology of the recorded events.
What is Megillat Ruth?
The phrase “Megillat Ruth” is the Hebrew name for the Book of Ruth.
Ruth is one of the books of the Jewish Bible grouped together and called the Five Megillot (Hebrew: Chameish Megillot).
The word megillah means scroll. The plural form is megillot (scrolls). For grammatical reasons, the word megillah sometimes changes to megillat.
Who Wrote the Book of Ruth?
The text of Ruth provides no claims of authorship. There is a tradition that the Prophet Samuel wrote Ruth.
The Gemara quotes a beraita that lists the authors of all 24 books of the Jewish Bible.
Who wrote the Scriptures? — Moses wrote his own book [the Torah] and the portion of Balaam and Job. …
Samuel wrote the book which bears his name and the Book of Judges and Ruth. …
There is a basis for accepting the traditional authorship.
In 1 Samuel 16:1-13 we read that God sent Samuel to Bethlehem. He sent him to the house of Jesse (David’s father) to anoint a successor to King Saul. It seems likely that during this visit Samuel heard the story of Ruth and Boaz.
Why is Ruth a Separate Book?
We could ask the question another way: Why isn’t Ruth included as part of Judges?
The events recorded in the Book of Ruth took place during the time of the Judges.
1. It came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. …
In fact, there is a tradition that Boaz was a judge. (I plan to write more about Boaz in another article.)
One purpose for the Book of Ruth is the genealogy of King David in the final verses of the book (Ruth 4:18-22).
I suggest that Samuel and the sages who came after him considered that the genealogy of King David was important enough that it needed to be highlighted in a separate book.
Book of Ruth Story
The Book of Ruth begins with the tragedy of a family leaving the Land of Israel to survive a famine. All of the family, except for Naomi, die in the land of Moab.
Naomi decides to return to Israel. Her daughter-in-law Ruth insists on coming with her. When they arrive in Bethlehem, Ruth takes on the responsibility of finding food for her and Naomi.
Ruth gleans in the fields owned by Boaz. Boaz is impressed by Ruth and accepts the responsibility as a close relative to support Naomi and Ruth.
Boaz marries Ruth. Ruth gives birth to Obed, the grandfather of King David.
Book of Ruth Timeline
As mentioned above, the events in the Book of Ruth take place during the era of the Judges.
That era began when the Jewish people entered the Land of Israel in the Jewish year 2488. It ended 394 years later with the death of Samuel in 2882.
Based on the genealogy of King David, it’s reasonable to assume the events in Ruth took place about 80 – 100 years before the death of Samuel.
The events recorded in Ruth took place over a period of more than 10 years.
In Ruth 1:4-5 we read about the marriage and death of Naomi’s sons.
4. And they [Naomi’s sons Mahlon and Kilion] took wives of the women of Moab; … and they dwelled there about ten years.
5. And both Mahlon and Kilion died; and the woman was bereft of her two sons and her husband.
It’s not clear what the “ten years” refers to. It could mean that the total time the family was in Moab was 10 years. Alternatively, it could mean they died after 10 years of marriage, but the family was in Moab longer than that.
Naomi and Ruth came to Bethlehem during the barely harvest (Ruth 1:22). The barley harvest starts about the time of Passover in the spring.
Ruth spent the barley harvest and wheat harvest gleaning in the fields (Ruth 2:23).
Naomi convinced Ruth to approach Boaz during the time of winnowing the barley harvest (Ruth 3:2). The winnowing season would be late summer or early fall.
This means the events of Ruth 1:19 – 4:13 took place during a span of about 6 months.
Book of Ruth Themes
There are 3 main themes that characterize the Book of Ruth.
1. Acceptance of the Torah
The verses Ruth 1:15-18 record Ruth’s moving words when she expresses her desire to stay with Naomi.
16. … wherever you go, I will go; and where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God;
17. Where you die, will I die, and there will I be buried; the Lord do so to me, and more also, if even death parts me from you.
Naomi urged Ruth to return to her family. Ruth clearly expressed her desire to follow Naomi. Ruth’s statements are viewed as the paradigm of a non-Jew accepting the Torah and converting to Judaism.
2. Kindness and Self-sufficiency
Most of Ruth does not seem to deal with significant issues that would justify including it in the Bible.
Rabbi Ze’eira said: This scroll [Ruth] does not contain [the laws of] purity or impurity, and not prohibitions or allowances. Why was it written? It is to teach you the extent of the good reward for those who perform kindness.
Here’s how my friend Pam M. expressed this concept:
I feel that Ruth offers many life lessons: the importance of devotion, perseverance, loyalty, respect, faith in the future. Ruth’s outstanding middot made her the grandmother of a king and the antecedent of Moshiach. Not many of us have those same middot, and even if we do, we do not merit such rewards! But the lesson is clear: our behaviors have actions which COULD affect many others!
3. Genealogy of King David
As I mentioned above, the importance of David’s genealogy is probably why Ruth is recorded as a separate book. Of course, according to Jewish tradition, the eventual Messiah is descended from King David.
The conclusion also shows how God guides events in the world, as He nurtures a person on the margins of society, a female Moavite convert, until she becomes the ancestor of King David himself. One of David’s psalms contains a verse that aptly describes the plot of this book: “The stone that the builders rejected became the cornerstone.”
Why is Ruth Read on Shavuot?
The one-day festival of Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people.
God commanded the Jewish people to prepare themselves to receive the Torah (see Exodus 19:10-15). Those preparations are similar to steps a non-Jew goes through to convert.
Because Ruth is a model for acceptance of the Torah it is appropriate to read it on Shavuot.
Further Reading
This article is part of a planned series on the Book of Ruth.
One article provides several outlines of the book.