Bible Timeline · About 1100 BC, in the days of the judges
Ruth and Boaz
Ruth was a Moabite widow who refused to leave her mother in law Naomi and followed her to Bethlehem. There she met Boaz, a relative who acted as their kinsman redeemer and married her. Their son Obed was the grandfather of King David.
Read it in the Bible: Ruth 1:1-4:22 Ruth 1:16-17 Leviticus 25:25 Deuteronomy 25:5-6 Matthew 1:5-6
Ruth was a young widow from Moab, a nation outside Israel, who chose to follow her Israelite mother in law Naomi and Naomi's God. In Bethlehem she gleaned grain in the field of a man named Boaz, who turned out to be a close relative. Boaz acted as their kinsman redeemer, married Ruth and restored Naomi's family. Their son Obed became the grandfather of King David, which puts Ruth in the family line of Jesus. The story happened in the days of the judges, about 1100 BC. In one of Israel's darkest periods, it is a quiet story of loyal love.
What Is the Story of Ruth?
In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a certain man from Bethlehem in Judah, with his wife and two sons, went to reside in the land of Moab. Ruth 1:1
There is a bit of irony here. Bethlehem means house of bread, and the house of bread had no bread. The man was Elimelech, his wife was Naomi, and their sons were Mahlon and Chilion. In Moab the sons married two local women, Orpah and Ruth. Then, over about ten years, all three men died.
Naomi heard the famine was over and headed home. She urged both daughters in law to go back to their own families and find new husbands. Orpah kissed her goodbye. Ruth would not let go.
What Did Ruth Say to Naomi?
Ruth's words are some of the most famous in the Bible, and they are often read at weddings, even though she said them to her mother in law.
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. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May Yahweh punish me, and ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” Ruth 1:16 to 17
This was more than family loyalty. Ruth was leaving her country, her gods and any hope of a normal future, and she was choosing Yahweh. When they reached Bethlehem the whole town buzzed. Naomi told them not to call her Naomi, which means pleasant, but Mara, which means bitter.
I went away full, but Yahweh has brought me back empty. Ruth 1:21
How Did Ruth Meet Boaz?
God's law told farmers not to harvest the edges of their fields, so the poor and the foreigner could gather what was left, Leviticus 19:9 to 10. That is called gleaning. Ruth was both poor and a foreigner, so she went out to glean.
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. Ruth 2:3
She happened to. That is the Bible's gentle way of winking at us. God's name is not on every page of Ruth, but His fingerprints are everywhere. Boaz was a man of standing who greeted his workers with “Yahweh be with you,” Ruth 2:4. He had heard about Ruth's loyalty, and he blessed her.
May Yahweh repay your work, and may you receive a rich reward from Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge.” Ruth 2:12
He told his men to leave extra grain on purpose and to leave her alone. Ruth came home with about half a bushel of barley, Ruth 2:17, and Naomi's eyes lit up. Boaz was one of their family's redeemers.
What Is a Kinsman Redeemer?
In Hebrew the word is go'el. Under God's law, when an Israelite fell into poverty, lost land or died without a son, a close male relative had the right and duty to step in. He could buy back family land, Leviticus 25:25, and could marry the widow to carry on the dead man's name, Deuteronomy 25:5 to 6. He had to be a relative, he had to be able to pay, and he had to be willing.
Naomi came up with a bold plan. At the end of the harvest Ruth went to the threshing floor at night, lay down at Boaz's feet and, when he woke up startled, asked him to spread the corner of his garment over her, Ruth 3:9. It was a marriage proposal. The Hebrew word for corner of the garment is the same word Boaz had used for God's wings in 2:12. Ruth was asking Boaz to be the answer to his own prayer.
Boaz was honored, not offended. He called her a woman of noble character, Ruth 3:11, the same phrase used for the wife of Proverbs 31. But there was a closer relative with first rights.
How Did Boaz Redeem Ruth?
The next morning Boaz sat at the town gate, where legal business happened, and waited for the other relative. He explained that Naomi's land was for sale. The man was happy to buy it. Then Boaz mentioned the fine print. Whoever bought the land also took Ruth as his wife and raised a son to carry on Mahlon's name. The man backed out, since it would complicate his own inheritance. He took off his sandal to seal the deal, the custom of the day, Ruth 4:7 to 8. Boaz announced before the elders that he would redeem it all.
So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And when he had relations with her, Yahweh enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. Ruth 4:13
The women of Bethlehem rejoiced with Naomi. The woman who came home empty now held a grandson in her arms.
The neighbor women said, “A son has been born to Naomi,” and they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse, the father of David. Ruth 4:17
When Did Ruth Live?
Ruth 1:1 says it happened when the judges ruled. Counting back three generations from David, who was born about 1040 BC, gives about 1100 BC. Matthew 1:5 says Boaz was the son of Salmon by Rahab, the woman from Jericho. If Rahab was Boaz's own mother, the story happened earlier, nearer the start of the judges. Many think the family list skips some generations, which ancient genealogies often did. The Big Question page The Missing Generations covers this. Jewish tradition in the Talmud says Samuel wrote the book, and Jewish communities read it every year at the Feast of Weeks, the harvest festival Christians know as Pentecost.
Why Is a Moabite in Jesus' Family Tree?
Moab was one of Israel's rivals, and Deuteronomy 23:3 kept Moabites out of the assembly of Yahweh. Yet God brought a Moabite woman into the royal line. Ruth is one of five women named in Jesus' family tree in Matthew 1, along with Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba, called Uriah's wife, and Mary. Several were foreigners and several had painful stories. Matthew seems to want us to notice that God's grace was never limited to insiders.
How Ruth Points to Jesus
Boaz is one of the best pictures of Jesus in the Old Testament. He was a relative who had the right to redeem, the means to pay and the will to do it. Jesus became our relative by becoming human.
But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive our adoption as sons. Galatians 4:4 to 5
Boaz paid with silver. Jesus paid with His own blood, 1 Peter 1:18 to 19. And Ruth's story begins in Bethlehem and ends with David, the king who would be born there. About a thousand years later, another child of Ruth's line would be born in Bethlehem, the house of bread, and call Himself the bread of life. When everyone else was doing what was right in their own eyes, God was quietly writing a love story that would end at a manger.
Get Nate's Highlighting Guide Free
Free. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.Something went wrong. Please try again, or email [email protected].
Questions People Ask
Who was Ruth in the Bible?
Ruth was a Moabite widow who stayed loyal to her Israelite mother in law Naomi and chose to follow Yahweh. She married Boaz in Bethlehem and became the great grandmother of King David, Ruth 4:17.
What is a kinsman redeemer?
In Hebrew a go'el was a close relative who had the right and duty to rescue a family member in need. He could buy back lost land and marry a childless widow to carry on her husband's name. Boaz did this for Ruth and Naomi.
How is Ruth related to Jesus?
Ruth married Boaz, and their son Obed was the father of Jesse, the father of King David. Matthew 1:5 names Ruth in the family line of Jesus, the Son of David.
Where does wherever you go, I will go come from?
It comes from Ruth 1:16 to 17, where Ruth refuses to leave Naomi and says, your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. It is often read at weddings.
When did the story of Ruth happen?
Ruth 1:1 says it was in the days when the judges ruled. Counting back three generations from David gives about 1100 BC, though it may be earlier if Rahab was Boaz's own mother, as Matthew 1:5 can suggest.