- The book covers a period of the time of Judges
- Jewish tradition attributes authorship to Samuel
- Dates range from 1100 BC to 1400 BC because of the tendency to skip generations in explaining genealogies (my guess is story is approx 1110-1115)
- David (b. 1041) 7th son of Jesse
- Jesse probably 40 when David born placing his birth at 1081
- Obed estimate 30 when Jesse born placing his birth at 1111
- Boaz estimate 40 (seems to be an older man) placing his birth at 1150
- “The Book of Ruth is a pearl in the swine pen of the judges.” (J. Vernon McGee)
- View the timeline
- Theme:
- The inability of individuals to provide (and God's hidden hand of provision)
- The contrast between fear and trust
- The sovereignty of God in the midst of poor choices (Rom 8:28)
- Chapter 1 itself contains a chiastic structure that reveals the main point of this part of the story.
- What are some key observations we see in this first paragraph
- Lots of names
- Famine in the land and a choice to leave the land
- Food was often a problem, although sometimes because of the oppressors during low periods in the cycle of Judges
- Lived in Moab ten years
- Not said, but a tremendous amount of pain
- Names:
- Elimelech - means God is king
- Naomi - means kindness, pleasant, delightful, friendly
- Mahlon - to grow weak, tired; to fall sick, be ill; to feel pain
- Chilion - to fail; to stop, to come to end; to vanish, fade away
- Orpah - top of the head, neck
- Ruth - to drink one's fill, to be refreshed
- What about Elimelech's actions?
- Elimelech's name and his actions stand in contrast to name
- The land represents the fulfillment of God's promises
- What do the children's name suggest?
- They were sick from an early age
- It is amazing that they made it to marrying age
- How do you view life from Naomi's perspective?
- They leave their family and friends
- They leave their heritage
- Her husband dies
- Both of her children die
- She is destitute and poor
- CONCLUSION: it is hard to imagine a worst story for a woman. Naomi is the female Job
- Why does Naomi want her daughters-in-law to return home?
- Maybe she did not want them to experience what she experienced in being torn from her family
- She was not able and unlikely to provide sons for them (maybe because the two she did have were difficult to get). Naomi recognized her own inadequacy
- The girls would be foreigners (even if converts), and it was unlikely to find a man to marry foreign widows
- The sister-in-law returns to her people and her gods
- Why does Ruth follow Naomi?
- She was a true follower of the one true God
- She identifies with the God of Israel now, and not the gods of her land
- Given all that has happened to Naomi, why would Ruth choose Yahweh over the Moabite gods?
- Personal feeling is that despite all Naomi's pain, Naomi's faith in God was still strong
- This is very important point and even more important in the next section -- How many people would follow a bitter woman?
- Do you know how many times Job says he is bitter? None, 1, 3, or 7 (answer: 7)
- Is Naomi bitter in spirit? Or is there another reason she wants to be called "bitter"?
- What does the Psalmist reveal?
- APPLICATION: Bitterness can be a good thing if it wakes us up to what is right
- Chapter 2 has its own chiastic structure
- Boaz’s conversation with Ruth is the focus of this section.
- So was the intent to go to Boaz's field?
- The author introduces an important piece of information
- The author makes it clear that it was "happenstance"
- Why does Boaz take interest in her?
- One he notices her. Suggestion that he was interest or even attracted
- When he finds out who she is, his interest is in her character
- The phrase "under whose wings you have come to take refuge" is a very important commentary of the book. What is the author saying?
- Elimelech left the wings and left his people
- Ruth left her people and came under God's wings
- POINT: Ruth shows the faith that Elimelech did not show
- What additional things does Boaz do for Ruth (and Naomi)?
- She was treated as a worker
- She was allowed to glean among the sheaves (if she did accidentally)
- The workers were told to drop a few sheaves now and then
- Ruth gleans about an ephah (3/5 of a bushel of barley or a half-month's wages in one day)
- She was actually paid better than the day laborers
- "The wheat harvest followed the barley harvest by a month (v. 23). The Feast of Unleavened Bread in late March or early April inaugurated the barley harvest. The Feast of Firstfruits seven weeks later in late May or early June terminated the wheat harvest." (Constable, T. (2003). Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Ru 2:17). Galaxie Software.)
- Chapter two ends with God blessing Ruth and in turn Naomi. God provides food and safety, the very things that Elimelech sought when he left the land
A Famine
(v. 1)
B
Emigration from Bethlehem (v. 1)
C
Naomi = pleasant (v. 2–5)
D
Leaving Moab for Bethlehem (vv. 6–7)
E
Naomi’s speech (v. 8)
F Naomi kisses Orpah and Ruth good-bye (v. 9)
G All weep loudly (v. 9)
H Naomi’s inability to conceive (vv. 11–13)
G’ All weep loudly (v. 14)
F’ Orpah kisses Naomi good-bye (vv. 14–15)
E’
Ruth’s speech (vv. 16–18)
D’
Entering Bethlehem from Moab (v. 19)
C’
Mara = bitter (vv. 20-21)
B’
Immigration to Bethlehem (v. 22)
A’ Barley
harvest (v. 22)
Constable, T.
(2003). Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Jdg 21:25). Galaxie
Software. (with corrections by twm)
Ruth 1:1–5 (ESV) —
1 In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and
a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his
wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of
his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They
were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab
and remained there. 3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she
was left with her two sons. 4 These took Moabite wives; the
name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there
about ten years, 5 and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman
was left without her two sons and her husband.
Ruth 1:6–14 (ESV) —
6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country
of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his
people and given them food. 7 So she set out from the place
where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to
return to the land of Judah. 8 But Naomi said to her two
daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord
deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of
her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. 10 And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me?
Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a
husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this
night and should bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait
till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my
daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of
the Lord has gone out against me.” 14 Then they lifted
up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth
clung to her.
Ruth 1:15–18 (ESV) —
15 And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people
and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 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. 17 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.” 18 And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said
no more.
Ruth 1:19–22 (ESV) —
19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when
they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the
women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 She said to them, “Do not
call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
21 I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back
empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the
Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”
22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her,
who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the
beginning of barley harvest.
Psalm 73:1–6 (ESV) — 1 Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
Psalm 73:21–26 (ESV) —
21 When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward you.
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides
you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion
forever.
Ruth 2:1–13 (ESV) —
1 Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan
of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the
Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of
grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go,
my daughter.” 3 So she set out and went and gleaned in the field
after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging
to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech. 4 And behold,
Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you!”
And they answered, “The Lord bless you.” 5 Then Boaz said to
his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6 And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is
the young Moabite woman, who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the
reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now,
except for a short rest.”
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean
in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. 9 Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after
them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are
thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” 10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him,
“Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since
I am a foreigner?” 11 But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for
your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me,
and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a
people that you did not know before. 12 The Lord repay
you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the
God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” 13 Then she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you
have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of
your servants.”
A Ruth and Naomi (2:2–3)
B Boaz
and the reapers (2:4–7)
C Boaz
and Ruth (2:8–15a)
B’ Boaz
and the reapers (2:15b–16)
A’ Naomi
and Ruth (2:19–22)
(Constable, T.
(2003). Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Ru 1:22). Galaxie
Software.)
Ruth 2:14–23 (ESV) —
14 And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and
dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to
her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left
over. 15 When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young
men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her
to glean, and do not rebuke her.”
17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she
had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what
she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over
after being satisfied. 19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you
glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of
you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The
man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 And Naomi
said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness
has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is
a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.” 21 And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep
close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ” 22 And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my
daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be
assaulted.” 23 So she kept close to the young women of Boaz,
gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with
her mother-in-law.
