History
The book of Ruth
A Moabite widow, Ruth, finds a home and a redeemer in Boaz, and becomes David’s great-grandmother.
Ruth is set in the days of the judges (Ruth 1:1) and ends with the genealogy from Perez to David (4:18–22), so it was written when David was known, but probably not yet king over everyone. It shows God’s care for ordinary people and brings a foreign woman into the line of the Messiah (Matthew 1:5).
Kinds of writing
- Narrative 97%
- Genealogy 3%
Key verses
Ruth's promise to Naomi. Ruth said, “Don’t urge me to leave you, and to return from following you, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God.”
Ruth 1:16 (World English Bible)
People
Places
On the timeline
Dating notes
Many scholars place it later, in the time of the kings or after the exile. Jewish tradition names Samuel. The span is an estimate; Scripture doesn’t say when the book was written.