Ruth (biblical figure)

Ruth (/ruːθ/; Hebrew: רוּת, Modern Rut, Tiberian Rūθ), is the protagonist of the Book of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible.

Biblical narrative

Ruth was a Moabitess, who married into the Hebrew family of Elimelech and Naomi, whom she met when they left Bethlehem and relocated to Moab due to a famine. Elimelech and his two sons died leaving Naomi and her two daughters-in-law as widows. When Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem, Ruth decided to go with her despite the fact that Orpah, Naomi's other daughter-in-law went back home. Ruth famously vowed to follow Naomi in the following passage:

But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.(Ruth 1:16-17, ESV)

Ruth went to glean in the fields, where she met Boaz. At the instigation of Naomi she forced Boaz to declare his intentions regarding Ruth by slipping into the threshing floor at night, uncovering his feet, and lying at his feet (Ruth 3:8) in the Mosaic tradition of having the nearest relative be the kinsman redeemer (Leviticus 25:25-55). Boaz indicated his desire to marry her, and called Ruth a "woman of noble character". After overcoming the obstacle of having a relative with a stronger claim (per the Mosaic requirements in Deuteronomy 25:7-9), Boaz married Ruth, and they had a son, named Obed. The genealogy in the final chapter of the book explains how Ruth became the great-grandmother of David: Boaz begot Obed, Obed begot Jesse and Jesse begot David (Ruth 4:17). In the Christian narrative, she is thus also the ancestor of Joseph (husband of Mary and would-be legal father of Jesus), and is one of the five women mentioned in the genealogy of Matthew 1 (along with Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba, and Mary).