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People

Ruth

Ruth was a Moabite woman who married Boaz and became an ancestor of King David and Jesus Christ.

The name Ruth means “drunk; satisfied”

FemaleMoabOld & New Testaments2 books34 verses

Summary

A woman of the Moabites living before Israel's Monarchy, first mentioned at Ruth 1:4; referred to as Ruth (רוּת) or Ruth (Ῥούθ); wife of Mahlon and Boaz; mother of Obed.

Profile

The story of Ruth is about a kind and loyal woman. It shows how God's hidden guidance helps those who love Him (Romans 8:28). This story is part of the history leading to the Messiah (God’s chosen one). It begins with sadness but ends happily.

Ruth lived during the chaotic time of the judges. She was a foreigner from Moab who married into an Israelite family from Bethlehem while they were in Moab. All the men in this family died in Moab, leaving three widows—Ruth, her mother-in-law Naomi, and her sister-in-law Orpah. When Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem, Ruth chose to go with her. Ruth's expression of love, loyalty, and faith in the Lord, who was Naomi's God, is unmatched (Ruth 1:16–17).

As Naomi expected, life in Bethlehem was hard for her and her daughter-in-law. Ruth took the initiative to solve their food problem by gleaning in the grain fields. This task was hard and risky (Ruth 2:2). She acted with modesty, grace, and courtesy, but also with determination, focus, and endurance.

With Naomi's encouragement, Ruth asked Boaz, a wealthy landowner who supported her gleaning, to be the family redeemer (Ruth 3:1–9). This included marriage. By doing this, Ruth showed great family loyalty (Ruth 3:10). Ruth's generous and diligent care for Naomi is a major theme in this book. Boaz responded to Ruth's proposal by calling her a virtuous woman (Ruth 3:11). She showed what it means to be a virtuous and capable wife (see Proverbs 31:10–31, which uses the same Hebrew phrase and is placed immediately before Ruth in the Hebrew Bible).

Boaz resolved the legal matters and then married Ruth. The book concludes with the birth of a baby boy, Obed. This ending reveals an important purpose of the book of Ruth. Obed became King David's grandfather. The New Testament mentions Ruth as one of only five women in the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:5). Ruth's everyday faithfulness had eternal significance as God fulfilled his purposes through her.

Passages for Further Study

Ruth 1:4–4:13; Matthew 1:5

Glossary entries

Ruth (Person)

Family members

Spouse

Boaz Mahlon

Children

Obed

Alternative names

Mentions

Includes 21 verses that refer to Ruth without naming them, as “he”, “she”, or the subject of a verb.

  1. Ruth 1:4
    …who took Moabite women as their wives, one named Orpah and the other named Ruth. And after they had lived in Moab about ten years,
  2. Ruth 1:14
    Again they wept aloud, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
  3. Ruth 1:15Referred to, not named
    “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; follow her back home.”
  4. Ruth 1:16
    But Ruth replied: “Do not urge me to leave you or to turn from following you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.
  5. Ruth 1:17Referred to, not named
    Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”
  6. Ruth 1:18Referred to, not named
    When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to persuade her.
  7. Ruth 1:19Referred to, not named
    So Naomi and Ruth traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women of the town exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”
  8. Ruth 1:22
    So Naomi returned from the land of Moab with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess. And they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
  9. Ruth 2:2
    And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go into the fields and glean heads of grain after someone in whose sight I may find favor.” “Go ahead, my daughter,” Naomi replied.
  10. Ruth 2:3Referred to, not named
    So Ruth departed and went out into the field and gleaned after the harvesters. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.
  11. Ruth 2:5Referred to, not named
    And Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?”
  12. Ruth 2:8
    Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Do not go and glean in another field, and do not go away from this place, but stay here close to my servant girls.
  13. Ruth 2:10Referred to, not named
    At this, she fell on her face, bowing low to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me, even though I am a foreigner?”
  14. Ruth 2:11Referred to, not named
    Boaz replied, “I have been made fully aware of all you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and how you came to a people you did not know before.
  15. Ruth 2:12Referred to, not named
    May the LORD repay your work, and may you receive a rich reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge.”
  16. Ruth 2:13Referred to, not named
    “My lord,” she said, “may I continue to find favor in your eyes, for you have comforted and spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your servant girls.”
  17. Ruth 2:14Referred to, not named
    At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here; have some bread and dip it into the vinegar sauce.” So she sat down beside the harvesters, and he offered her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied and had some left over.
  18. Ruth 2:15Referred to, not named
    When Ruth got up to glean, Boaz ordered his young men, “Even if she gathers among the sheaves, do not insult her.
  19. Ruth 2:16Referred to, not named
    Rather, pull out for her some stalks from the bundles and leave them for her to gather. Do not rebuke her.”
  20. Ruth 2:17Referred to, not named
    So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. And when she beat out what she had gleaned, it was about an ephah of barley.
  21. Ruth 2:18Referred to, not named
    She picked up the grain and went into the town, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. And she brought out what she had saved from her meal and gave it to Naomi.
  22. Ruth 2:19Referred to, not named
    Then her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today, and where did you work? Blessed be the man who noticed you.” So she told her mother-in-law where she had worked. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.
  23. Ruth 2:21
    Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also told me, ‘Stay with my young men until they have finished gathering all my harvest.’”
  24. Ruth 2:22
    And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “My daughter, it is good for you to work with his young women, so that nothing will happen to you in another field.”
  25. Ruth 2:23Referred to, not named
    So Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean grain until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
  26. Ruth 3:1Referred to, not named
    One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek a resting place for you, that it may be well with you?
  27. Ruth 3:5Referred to, not named
    “I will do everything you say,” Ruth answered.
  28. Ruth 3:6Referred to, not named
    So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had instructed her to do.
  29. Ruth 3:7Referred to, not named
    After Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then Ruth went in secretly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.
  30. Ruth 3:9
    “Who are you?” he asked. “I am your servant Ruth,” she replied. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, for you are a kinsman-redeemer.”
  31. Ruth 4:5
    Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi and also from Ruth the Moabitess, you must also acquire the widow of the deceased in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.”
  32. Ruth 4:10
    Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to raise up the name of the deceased through his inheritance, so that his name will not disappear from among his brothers or from the gate of his home. You are witnesses today.”
  33. Ruth 4:13
    So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And when he had relations with her, the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.
  34. Matthew 1:5
    Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse,