Ruth 1-4    Listen

What you need to know about the Book of Ruth
The story of Ruth is set during the period of the Judges (verse 1) and is the story of King David's great grandmother. She was a Moabite widow who eventually married her mother-in-law's Jewish relative, Boaz. The closing of the Book of Ruth (4:16-22, see below) describes the birth of Obed (David's grandfather) and the lineage connecting him to King David. Ruth was obviously written to explain how David happened to be the descendant of a Moabite woman.

Naomi loses her husband and two sons (Ruth 1:1-18)

1 ¶ Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.
2 The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion—Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there.
3 Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons.
4 Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years.
5 Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.
6 ¶ Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the LORD had visited His people by giving them bread.
7 Therefore she went out from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
8 And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each to her mother’s house. The LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.
9 The LORD grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.” ¶ So she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.
10 And they said to her, “Surely we will return with you to your people.”
11 ¶ But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?
12 Turn back, my daughters, go—for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons,
13 would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me!”
14 ¶ Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
15 ¶ And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”
16 ¶ But Ruth said:
“Entreat me not to leave you,
Or to turn back from following after you;
For wherever you go, I will go;
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God.
17 Where you die, I will die,
And there will I be buried.
The LORD do so to me, and more also,
If anything but death parts you and me.”
18 When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.

Because of the famine in Judah, Naomi's family had moved to Moab (east of Judah on the other side of the Dead Sea). Her husband (Elimelech) died; her two sons (Mahlon and Chilion) then married Moabite women. But both of her sons died; now you have three widows. One Moabite daughter-in-law heads home while Ruth (a Moabite) says she'll accompany Naomi back to her hometown in Judah. A popular line for a wedding song is found in verse 16 ("whither thou goest, I will go"). It is also significant to note in verse 15 that leaving Naomi and returning back to their Moabite people also meant returning to their Moabite gods, a course chosen by Orpah, but refused by Ruth. Incidentally, the inhabitants of Bethlehem were called "Ephrathites."

It was in no way inappropriate for Orpah to return to her father's house. In Jewish culture we see this when Tamar returned to her father's house in Genesis 38:11 (see notes), and we see similar stipulations with regard to the priests' daughters in Leviticus 22:13 (see notes). Naomi's statement in verse 11 is based upon what is called "Levirate Law" found in Deuteronomy 25:5-10 (see notes). That law stipulates that another of Naomi's sons should marry these widows. No more sons were available.

Returning home is tough (Ruth 1:19-22)

19 ¶ Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was excited because of them; and the women said, “Is this Naomi?”
20 ¶ But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
21 I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”
22 ¶ So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

Back in Judah life still is hard. Naomi and Ruth show up in Bethlehem and Naomi declares to the hometown folks that her new name is Mara - a move designed to declare that her family was perhaps being punished for having moved to Moab. You see, "Naomi" means "pleasant," but "Mara" means "bitter."

The barley harvest (verse 22) began each year with the Feast of Unleavened Bread on Nisan 15. Therefore, the time of the year is around March/April by our Gregorian calendars.

Times still aren't easy back in Bethlehem (Ruth 2)

1 There was a relative of Naomi’s husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz.
2 So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.” ¶ And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”
3 ¶ Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
4 ¶ Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, “The LORD be with you!” ¶ And they answered him, “The LORD bless you!”
5 ¶ Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?”
6 ¶ So the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered and said, “It is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab.
7 And she said, “Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So she came and has continued from morning until now, though she rested a little in the house.”
8 ¶ Then Boaz said to Ruth, “You will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women.
9 Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.”
10 ¶ So she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”
11 ¶ And Boaz answered and said to her, “It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before.
12 The LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”
13 ¶ Then she said, “Let me find favor in your sight, my lord; for you have comforted me, and have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants.”
14 ¶ Now Boaz said to her at mealtime, “Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed parched grain to her; and she ate and was satisfied, and kept some back.
15 And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her.
16 Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.”
17 ¶ So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.
18 Then she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. So she brought out and gave to her what she had kept back after she had been satisfied.
19 ¶ And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you.” ¶ So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.”
20 ¶ Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of the LORD, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!” And Naomi said to her, “This man is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives.”
21 ¶ Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also said to me, ‘You shall stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ”
22 ¶ And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, and that people do not meet you in any other field.”
23 So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz, to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law.

We see in verses 1-3 that Ruth did not go looking specifically for the field of Boaz. Verse 3 tells us that it was " she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz." Showing up at the field of Naomi's relative, Boaz, was unintended. The corners of fields were not to be reaped, and the sheaf accidentally left behind was not to be fetched away, according to the law of Moses (Leviticus 19:9, see notes; Leviticus 23:22, see notes; Deuteronomy 24:21, see notes). They were to be left for the poor to glean, and that's what Ruth was doing there. Boaz was impressed; Ruth must have been pretty. Keep in mind, she wasn't Jewish by birth.

When Boaz asks his foreman about Ruth, he is told that even though she was not by law required to do so, she had courteously asked to glean in his fields. Moreover, she has worked all day with very few breaks (verse 7). Boaz first addresses Ruth directly in verse 8 when he insists that she glean only in his field with his personal guarantee of protection from the young men in the fields and an offer for her to drink from the vessels provided for his own workers along with eating with them at meal breaks. Ruth's inquiry of Boaz in verse 10 regarding the reason for his favorable treatment of her is met with his appreciation toward her because of the way she had chosen to care for Naomi. Remember, Naomi was the widow of a near relative of his. Nonetheless, I'll venture a guess here that she was a very attractive young woman.

In verse 16, Boaz commands his reapers to leave generous portions on the ground for Ruth to glean. When Ruth shows up that evening with way more barley than expected (an ephah was 22 to 41 quarts), an explanation is in order. As it turns out, Naomi remembers that Boaz is a relative. Hmmm...Ruth just happens to venture on to the field of Naomi's husband's relative, and that relative seems to be favorably disposed toward Ruth. Recognizing opportunity when she sees it, Naomi helps Ruth devise a plan.

Lay at his feet? (Ruth 3)

1 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it may be well with you?
2 Now Boaz, whose young women you were with, is he not our relative? In fact, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.
3 Therefore wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.
4 Then it shall be, when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies; and you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down; and he will tell you what you should do.”
5 ¶ And she said to her, “All that you say to me I will do.”
6 ¶ So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law instructed her.
7 And after Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.
8 ¶ Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and there, a woman was lying at his feet.
9 And he said, “Who are you?” ¶ So she answered, “I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative.”
10 ¶ Then he said, “Blessed are you of the LORD, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich.
11 And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman.
12 Now it is true that I am a close relative; however, there is a relative closer than I.
13 Stay this night, and in the morning it shall be that if he will perform the duty of a close relative for you—good; let him do it. But if he does not want to perform the duty for you, then I will perform the duty for you, as the LORD lives! Lie down until morning.”
14 ¶ So she lay at his feet until morning, and she arose before one could recognize another. Then he said, “Do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.”
15 Also he said, “Bring the shawl that is on you and hold it.” And when she held it, he measured six ephahs of barley, and laid it on her. Then she went into the city.
16 ¶ When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “Is that you, my daughter?” ¶ Then she told her all that the man had done for her.
17 And she said, “These six ephahs of barley he gave me; for he said to me, ‘Do not go empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’ ”
18 ¶ Then she said, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.”

Here's the plan devised by Naomi. When Boaz turns in for the night on the threshing floor (a flat spot in the field), uncover his feet and take your place down there. He wouldn't notice at that time because of his generous indulgence in wit-impairing beverages prior to bed time. Ruth implements Naomi's plan.

Boaz awakens, finds her there, is impressed that she had not fixed her eyes upon a young man instead and tells her to hang on while he works things out. Of course he recognizes that she is, in effect, proposing marriage. The problem: There was a closer relative; Boaz would need to forgo on acquisition of Elimelech's possessions until that closer relative declines.

More about the feet thing
Some have suggested that lying at the feet of Boaz was a figure of speech suggesting a greater act of intimacy between Ruth and Boaz. While some maintain that the Hebrew word (shaw-kab´) for "lie down" in verse 7 is an expression of this greater act of intimacy, the word is not always used in that context in the Old Testament. Sometimes it is simply used to describe someone resting - as in the case of Jacob in Genesis 28:11 (see notes). Then there's the reference in verse 7 to uncovering the feet of Boaz and the request that he spread the wing of his skirt over Ruth in verse 9. It is true that to "cover one's feet" (KJV) is a figure of speech to describe a restroom break in I Samuel 24:3 (see notes). Furthermore, the reference to "skirt" (KJV) in Deuteronomy 27:20 (see notes) is indicative of something sexual when it says in the KJV, "Cursed be he that lieth with his father’s wife; because he uncovereth his father’s skirt." The NKJV reads in that verse, "...uncovered his father’s bed." However, that is still insufficient evidence to conclude that the act between Boaz and Ruth is to be regarded as anything more than the plain message of the text would indicate, and there's good reasoning for that reservation.

Since the Book of Ruth was written after David became king describing the events of a story that took place during the period of the judges, it would seem that if the author had intended for us to see something more intimate than that which is stated, it would have been written so more clearly. The author recognizes that his readers would not necessarily be aware of the established customs during the period of the judges. We see this with the explanation of customs given in Ruth 4:7, "Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging…" This would indicate that since the time of the writing of the Book of Ruth, these customs had changed and needed explanation for perspective. Therefore, it would be impossible to say with any certainty that the customs in verses 7-9 involved more intimacy than is plainly indicated. Furthermore, the commendation of Ruth's virtuous reputation in 3:11 by Boaz would seem to indicate that the act as stated was all that transacted between them that night. One more thing - we are given the impression in 4:13 that after their marriage is the first time Boaz and Ruth were intimate when it says, "So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son."

Boaz gains a sandal and a wife (Ruth 4:1-17)

1 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, “Come aside, friend, sit down here.” So he came aside and sat down.
2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down.
3 Then he said to the close relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech.
4 And I thought to inform you, saying, “Buy it back in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.’ ” ¶ And he said, “I will redeem it.”
5 ¶ Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.”
6 ¶ And the close relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”
7 ¶ Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging, to confirm anything: one man took off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was a confirmation in Israel.
8 ¶ Therefore the close relative said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” So he took off his sandal.
9 And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi.
10 Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.”
11 ¶ And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.
12 May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the LORD will give you from this young woman.”
13 ¶ So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son.
14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel!
15 And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.”
16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom, and became a nurse to him.
17 Also the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “There is a son born to Naomi.” And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Boaz heads for the town leaders to work out the transaction of Elimelech's possessions. Keep in mind, leaving Israel, as Elimelech had done years earlier, did not void his deed on the property he left behind. Hence, Naomi's a land owner. The nearest relative is summoned to the scene; he consents to buying the piece of property from Naomi. Ooooo! Too bad for Boaz! Not to worry - Boaz reminds him that marrying Ruth to provide a descendant for Elimelech is part of the transaction according to their modified treatment of Deuteronomy 25:5-6 (Ruth didn't show up to spit on him; see notes). Whoa! A new wife comes with the piece of property. On second thought, the other near kinsman declines the offer, clearing the way for Boaz to properly make the claim. He states as his reason for refusal that marrying Ruth would "ruin my own inheritance." As stated, he was apparently concerned that Ruth's eventual son would become an heir to all his property along with his other children. I figure he also had to be concerned with how his present wife would react if his quick trip to town yielded another wife in the home. No doubt about the text - Ruth was the deal breaker here. After an exchange of a sandal, Boaz is free to take Elimelech's possessions and marry Ruth.

Incidentally, in verse 12 we see a reference to "Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah." Those are the well-known ancestors for the Tribe of Judah, the ancestors of Boaz. Click here to read this fascinating story and notes in Genesis 38:1-30. One more point that may be troubling the reader of this story right now: Weren't the Hebrews forbidden from hanging with the Moabites according to the Law of Moses. While it is true that the Mosaic Law contained restrictions on associations with Moabites, marrying a Moabitess does not violate that law according to Deuteronomy 23:3-5 (see notes).

King David's grandmother was a Moabite (Ruth 4:18-22)

18 ¶ Now this is the genealogy of Perez: Perez begot Hezron;
19 Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot Amminadab;
20 Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon;
21 Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed;
22 Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David.

The genealogy here gives us insight into why the Book of Ruth was written. Ruth's great grandson, David, later would become King of Israel.