Kerygma · Tools · Bible figures
Ruth.
Ruth is a Moabite — an outsider to Israel — who, after the death of her husband, declares her loyalty to her mother-in-law Naomi with one of the Bible's great vows: "where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God" (1:16). She follows Naomi to Bethlehem, gleans in the fields of Boaz, and through the customs of the kinsman-redeemer marries him. She becomes the great-grandmother of King David.
Timeline
- Married Mahlon in Moab (Ruth 1)
- Returned to Bethlehem with Naomi after the men died (Ruth 1)
- Met Boaz while gleaning (Ruth 2)
- Approached Boaz at the threshing floor (Ruth 3)
- Married Boaz; ancestor of David (Ruth 4)
Key verses
Why Ruth matters
Ruth's presence in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:5) is one of the most subversive details in the Christmas story. The royal line of Israel — and the line that produces the Messiah — runs through a Moabite, a member of the people the Mosaic law explicitly excluded from the assembly. The book quietly argues that God's purpose has always included the nations.
Related tools
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