Introduction: Ruth is only mentioned in the Old Testament book bearing her name. She was a native of Moab, a country to the east of Israel across the Jordan River. Eventually she married a Hebrew man, lost him to death, but journeyed with her mother-in-law to a new land. She became a believer in the God of Israel, and received a very special privilege!
1 Raised as a pagan in a pagan land
Text, Ruth 1:1-5, KJV: 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 Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. 2 And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. 3 And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. 4 And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. 5 And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.
Ruth’s story begins when she and another Moabite woman, Orpah, married men of Israel. A word about Moab is in order: the founder of Moab, also named Moab, was the son of Lot, Abraham’s nephew, and Lot’s oldest daughter. More about this is found in Genesis 19. Whether or not Lot’s daughter, the mother of Moab, was ever a believer in the God of Lot and of Abraham is not certain, but it is certain that eventually the Moabites became pagan. Their national “god” was Chemosh, mentioned a few times in the Old Testament. Many years later, one of Moab’s kings, named Mesha, made an inscription called the “stele of Mesha” or something similar, like “the Moabite stone”, describing a certain event in which, in Mesha’s words, “Chemosh was angry with his land” or words to that effect. The internet has articles about this monument or inscription at various locations.
Many years before Mesha’s reign, rhe people of Moab had on occasion dealt with Israel during Israel’s wilderness journey. One such occasion took place when Balak, king of Moab, wanted Balaam to curse Israel. No matter how much Balak wanted this, and no matter how hard Balaam tried, God overruled and caused Balaam to utter blessings, not curses! The whole story is found in Numbers 22-24.
Moab had also conquered at least part of Israel during the days of the Judges, ruling over Israel for 18 years (Judges 3:12-30). But nothing is mentioned about a famine in that passage so the time of Elimelech’s journey to Moab is not certain. The only other clue is that Boaz, mentioned later, referred to Ruth as a woman who did not seek younger men (3:10), so this story may have taken place about 50-100 years after Israel arrived in Canaan. Boaz’ age is never given.
No matter when they arrived in Moab, bad things seemed to happen quickly. Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died in Moab; nothing is said about his funeral or where he was buried or anything like that. Now Naomi was left, widowed, with two sons and no apparent means of support. Her sons took Moabite women as wives and maybe they all thought this was their “happily ever after”—notice there is no mention of any return, or desire to return, to Bethlehem or even to Israel.
Still, the time these five had together couldn’t have been very long. If I read verse 4 correctly, the group only had 10 years before both of Naomi’s sons died. Again, nothing is mentioned about how they died, where they were buried, or other details. Naomi must have been devastated at these losses, everyone she knew and loved, husbands and sons, all gone.
But eventually Naomi received some good news. Somehow she heard that the famine was gone, and that was enough for her to want to go back to her home. Now imagine the work of packing up over 10 years’ worth of belongings or “stuff” and getting ready to head back to a land that she hadn’t seen in many years!
Apparently all was completed and the day finally came for Naomi to leave Moab—for good. She was going to return to Bethlehem even though she may not have known what was going to happen once she arrived.
And there was still another problem. She had two daughters-in-law who at least told her they wanted to come along!
What was Naomi going to do? What was she going to say to these girls, pagans from a pagan land? Remember, Chemosh was the “god” of Moab, not the LORD, and there is no indication that as of yet either girl had rejected Chemosh. It was bad enough that her sons had married pagan women in a pagan land, but now, for whatever reason, these two wanted to live in Israel with Naomi!
She decided to “lay her cards on the table”, so to speak, and tell them exactly how she felt.
2 Relocated as a stranger in a strange land
Text, Ruth 1:14-18, KJV: 14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her. 15 And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law. 16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: 17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me. 18 When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.
Naomi, by now, had suffered the loss of her husband and her two sons. She then decided to leave where she had been staying in Moab and head back to her hometown, Bethlehem in Judah. Her two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, had proclaimed, “We’re going with you” and it seems that in verse 7 they went at least part of the way with her to Bethlehem. How sincere these two Moabite ladies felt about (permanently?) relocating to Israel is anybody’s guess but Naomi decided to say exactly how she felt to them.
She told them, beginning in verse 8, that each girl should go back to their homes and find new husbands, men of Moab, who may have been even better for them (implied?). Naomi then kissed them—a sign of goodbye and farewell in that era—and they all wept. When that was done, they both said, perhaps with more determination, “Surely we’ll go with you back to your people, too (verse 10, paraphrased)”. Again, they may have meant it, but Naomi had more to say.
And why Naomi said what she told them in verses 11-13 has never been completely explained. A hint of this comes later when she asked the people of Bethlehem to call her “Mara (bitter)” instead of “Naomi (pleasant)” so this may be the result of pent-up or even bitter feelings. At any rate, she told Orpah and Ruth that she was too old to have more sons, and by the way, even if she did, would these girls wait for the boy/s to be old enough for marriage. Maybe she had the story of Judah and his sons in mind (Genesis 38)?
That was enough for Orpah. She kissed her mother-in-law, in so many words saying not only “good bye” but also “I’m outta here,” and then went back to her life in Moab. Naomi then guessed as much but she looked and saw Ruth still right where she was—and not moving. Verse 15 paraphrases Naomi as saying, “Your sister-in-law went back to her people and her gods (the Moabites, like most peoples of that era, worshiped many “deities” but not the God of Israel), so why don’t you do like she did and leave me, as well?” Whether this was a taunt (are you going to leave me, too?) or a test (you know what I’m like so can you handle it?) or something else (did Naomi really want Ruth to die in sin, lost without God, and spend forever in Hell?) does not have a definite answer. Only Naomi knew what she was doing and saying and the reason/s why.
Ruth was still standing there and gave Naomi an answer she may not have expected but had to be pleased once Ruth was finished. Ruth didn’t hesitate and didn’t flinch when she told Naomi, in so many words, “I’m going with you, so don’t try to talk me out of it. I’ll live where you live, I’ll die where you die, I’ll take your people as my own, and (this is the most important part), your God shall be my God.” As a note, the words “shall be” in the KJV text of verse 16 are in italics, meaning they were not part of the original but supplied by the translators. This could mean that not only the God of Naomi “shall be” the God of Ruth—but also that she had already believed in Him (thy God—my God)! She closed by taking an oath used by the Hebrews, “the LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”
Naomi saw that Ruth had made up her mind and was “steadfastly” going to go with her, “she left speaking unto her”. This probably doesn’t mean that they didn’t say anything at all, but just in the context that Naomi stopped trying to get Ruth to leave or whatever was on her mind. We’ll never know the mind of Naomi at that point, whether she was speaking out of a broken heart (and who could blame her after her losses) or a bitter heart (God, You did this to me and I’ll never forget it) or something else. Kudos to Ruth for making a firm decision and then following that same decision firmly!
Chapter 2 describes how Ruth decided to help Naomi by gleaning for grain, finding the field of Boaz near Bethlehem. Boaz was the son of Salmon, son of Nahshon, a leader of Judah in the days of Joshua and Rahab, the harlot of Jericho who became a believer or convert to the God of Israel. God blessed these two with Boaz, and later he is also to become a blessing to many other people, both then and generations later.
Ruth’s occupation in Moab is never stated, nor is it explained how she came to learn about gleaning or any kind of agriculture in general. Naomi may have discussed the provision for widows and foreigners (this meant legal immigrants who wished to join the nation of Israel) in the Law of Moses, where those in need could glean in various fields (see Leviticus 19:9-10, 23:22 and Deuteronomy 24:19-21). Ruth, being a widow and a foreigner, definitely qualified as one who could legally glean. She did glean and kept doing this from the beginning of the barley harvest (1:22) to the end of the wheat harvest, several weeks later (2:23). Of note in chapter 2 also is how Boaz took notice of Ruth, and how kindly he treated her. Had others been so kind to Ruth, before Boaz set an example?
Then chapter 3 gives an interesting glimpse of a different side of life in Israel. For the vast majority of marriages, the male pursued the female: examples include how Abraham’s servant found a bride for Isaac (Genesis 24) and how Jacob desperately wanted Rachel as a wife (Genesis 29 but watch for the “bait and switch” Jacob encountered). On other occasions, a woman was “given” to a man; much like Joseph was given an Egyptian bride, Asenath, in Genesis 41. Later, Caleb gave his daughter Achsah to Othniel after he conquered Kiriath-sepher (see Joshua 15:16-17). Although seldom if ever mentioned, women taken captive could become wives of Israelites. The Law of Moses gave the “protocol” or what was supposed to happen and the humane provision for release if the relationship didn’t work out (see Deut. 21:10-14).
There was another situation in view here, not the same as in the other cases. Naomi had explained to Ruth that Boaz was not only her employer, but also Naomi’s relative through her marriage to Elimelech. As such, Boaz was in line to be a “kinsman-redeemer” or as some translated, a vindicator or champion. It is admittedly difficult for us in our day to completely understand many things from those days but it is enough that Boaz was in God’s place, at God’s timing, to be just the man Ruth and Naomi needed.
The events of chapter 3 are condensed, featuring Boaz remaining by the threshing floor in order to prepare the barley after it was reaped from the soil. Naomi gave Ruth detailed instructions on how to dress, how to act, what to say, and to wait for his reply. Many years ago, Dr. J. Vernon McGee on his “Thru the Bible Sunday Sermon” preached on this text, giving some light-hearted remarks such as how Naomi told Ruth “to put off those old widow’s weeds (a term for clothing which widows clothed themselves for up to a year in days gone by) and find a nice party dress”. He added something—the exact words I don’t recall—about using a little nice perfume, “maybe something like ‘Midnight in Moab’” or something like that. I lost the signal soon after that but what he said mirrors what Naomi had said: look your best, and trust God for the rest.
She did exactly what Naomi told her to do and was Boaz ever surprised to see her lying down at his feet, when he woke up in the middle of the night! Even more so, she seemed to be asking him to marry her, as some commentators have pointed out. Boaz had to be pleased because Ruth was not only diligent in finding food for herself and Naomi; she also retained her virtue even as a stranger in a strange land. Then, to ensure her reputation as a virtuous woman, he told her to leave before anyone could see her and gave her a good amount of barley (exact amount uncertain) to take home.
When Ruth arrived home, Naomi asked her a seemingly unusual question, “Who art thou, my daughter?” which may be another way of asking “how did it go?” Ruth explained what happened and, perhaps knowingly, Naomi said, “Just rest a bit—he’s going to get it taken care of today.”
And as will be seen, he did exactly that!
3 Rewarded as a bride in her bridegroom’s land
Text, Ruth 4:13-22, KJV: 13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son. 14 And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel. 15 And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him. 16 And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it. 17 And the women her neighbours gave it 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. 18 Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron, 19 And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab, 20 And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon, 21 And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, 22 And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.
Starting with verse 1 of chapter 4, the narrative tells how Boaz (quickly?) arrived at Bethlehem’s gate. The gate, as many commentators and teachers stated, was the place where many transactions took place. Lot, Abraham’s nephew, for example, “sat in the gate” of Sodom, meaning most likely he was one of the leaders (Genesis 19). Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah from Ephron the Hittite at the gate of Hebron (Gen. 23). Gates are mentioned other times in the Old Testament in both a literal and symbolic sense.
Once Boaz arrived at the gate, he waited for a certain person to arrive. Chapter 3 gives some additional information about this person, who legally had more of a right to marry Ruth and redeem Naomi’s property, left to her after her husband, Elimelech, died. Now he’s here, and Boaz has something to say to him.
And in summary, Boaz told him, “You have the right of redemption if you want to use it (paraphrased)” and he told Boaz, “Yes, I want to do this. Then Boaz added, “If you do this, you’ll need to marry Ruth, widow of Mahlon, in order to keep his line alive.”
When the other person heard this, he had a change of heart. He then said, “No, I can’t do this; if I do, I’ll put my own inheritance in jeopardy or risk messing it up. You can go ahead and be the kinsman-redeemer—this is something I can’t do (paraphrased)”. He then removed his shoe and then handed it to Boaz, showing proof this was a genuine transaction. Oddly enough, this type of transaction is a modification (or, corruption?) of what the Law commanded in Deut. 25:5-10 but what did transpire here was enough for all the parties involved.
Now that the other relative, who had more of a legal right to marry Ruth than Boaz, had basically renounced this privilege, Boaz didn’t waste any time in announcing his desire to marry Ruth and fulfilling the requirements of the kinsman-redeemer. For additional and deeper information about the kinsman-redeemer, read the Scofield Reference Bible note at Isaiah 59:20. Boaz met all the conditions, and was willing to do all that was needed.
And with little if any fanfare, Boaz married Ruth! There are no details about the ceremony, if any, but then the Old Testament doesn’t mention wedding ceremonies very often. The important thing is that Boaz kept his promise, marrying Ruth as he said he would. Eventually God did bless this couple with a boy (no record of any other children) named Obed. His birth certainly brought joy back to Naomi, as well as Boaz and Ruth! Although Obed is seldom mentioned in the Bible but he had a son and a grandson who were mentioned quite often: Jesse and David.
David, you’ll recall, became king of Israel and one of his descendants was—you guessed it—Jesus, the Messiah! Matthew 1 shows the genealogy how Jesus was in the line of David though his son, Solomon; Luke 3, through Nathan and Mary’s father Heli. Ruth couldn’t have seen all of this as a young girl in pagan Moab, nor, probably, when she started gleaning in Boaz’ field once she and Naomi returned to Bethlehem. Even so, she knew she had a new faith and a new family, and this was something she never would have known had she stayed in Moab. God blessed Ruth!
Conclusion: Ruth grew up a pagan in a pagan land, Moab. Like most if not all of the people there, she most likely worshiped Chemosh and any number of Moab’s other pagan deities. Something did happen, though, and she decided once and for all to believe in the God of Naomi, the God of Israel, even as a stranger in a strange land.
And she was rewarded for this, by finding another good husband and a child—and even better, she became a mother of the Messiah!
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
