In a very dark time of Israelite history, a foreign woman named Ruth becomes a believer and a great hero of the faith.
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize
SUMMARY
Title
The Book of Ruth is named for a Moabite woman. She had married a Hebrew man living in Moab.
The Book of Ruth and the Book of Esther are the two books in the Bible named for women.
Author
No one knows for sure who wrote the Book of Ruth.
Jewish tradition attributes the book to the prophet Samuel. If he was the author, the book would have been written near the time when David was anointed king of Israel.
Date
Most scholars place the date of the writing of Ruth in the time of David or Solomon.
Since Solomon is not mentioned in the genealogy at the end of the book (see Ruth 4:18-21), one might deduce that the book was written in David’s time.
On the other hand, an old custom that had ceased to be practiced — the exchanging of the sandal — was explained (4:7).
This has caused some to think that the Solomonic period was more likely since additional time would have passed for the custom to have fallen into disuse.
Purpose
The actions recorded in the Book of Ruth took place during the times of the judges. It was an era of widespread religious apostasy and social degradation of the people.
Against that backdrop, Ruth stands out like a blazing torch on a dark night. She is a great hero of the faith.
She will be the great-grandmother of king David, in the direct lineage of the Messiah.
There is every indication that the Book of Ruth contains true history.
OUTLINE
A TIME OF GREAT LOSS
Ruth 1:1-4. Naomi’s husband dies
Ruth 1:5. Naomi’s two sons-in-law die
RETURNING HOME
Ruth 1:6-18. Naomi and Ruth return to Judah
Ruth 1:19-22. They arrive in Bethlehem
RUTH MEETS BOAZ
Ruth 2:1-17. Ruth scavenges for food
Ruth 2:18-23. Ruth reports back to Naomi
RUTH INITIATES; BOAZ ACCEPTS
Ruth 3:6-15. Ruth asks Boaz to marry her
Ruth 3:16-18. Ruth reports back to Naomi
RUTH MARRIES BOAZ
Ruth chapter 4:1-12. Boaz goes to the city gate
Ruth chapter 4:13-22. The descendants of Ruth
MEMORIZE
Ruth 1:16. But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. (NIV translation)
Ruth 1:17. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried with you. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”(NIV translation)
Great verses to memorize from the entire Bible
RUTH
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.
