Ruth #20

Ruth, a Moabite woman, marries into an Israelite family that has settled in Moab during a famine; when her husband and father-in-law die, she chooses to remain with her widowed mother-in-law Naomi rather than return to her own people, declaring, “whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God” (Ruth 1:16-17). This declaration of loyalty (hesed) becomes one of the Bible’s most quoted expressions of covenantal faithfulness, and it stands against the grief of Naomi, who tells the women of Bethlehem, “Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me” (Ruth 1:20).

Loyalty and Gleaning

Returning with Naomi to Bethlehem in poverty, Ruth goes out to glean leftover grain and happens upon land belonging to Boaz, a relative of Naomi’s late husband. Aware of her reputation, Boaz blesses her: “The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust” (Ruth 2:11-12), and extends her unusual favor and protection as she continues gleaning through the harvest.

Redemption

At Naomi’s instruction, Ruth approaches Boaz at the threshing floor by night and asks him to exercise the ancient custom of kinsman redemption on her behalf: “I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman” (Ruth 3:9). Boaz agrees, and after a nearer kinsman declines the obligation, marries her before the town elders, who bless the union: “The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel” (Ruth 4:11), redeeming both her and Naomi’s family line. Their resulting son, Obed, becomes grandfather to David, and the women of Bethlehem tell Naomi, “There is a son born to Naomi… he is the father of Jesse, the father of David” (Ruth 4:14-17). Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus later names Ruth among the women in Christ’s ancestral line, recording that “Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse” (Matthew 1:5), tying her story directly into the messianic lineage.

Legacy

Ruth’s inclusion in Israel’s story, despite her foreign origin, is often read as an early signal of God’s redemptive purposes extending beyond ethnic Israel, and her loyalty to Naomi remains a lasting biblical model of steadfast love and devotion. She is one of only two women, along with Esther, to have a book of the Bible named for her.