Book of Ruth: Introduction

Blaine Robison, M.A.

Published 29 July 2026

Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Scripture Text: The Scripture text of this commentary is prepared by Blaine Robison based on the Westminster Leningrad Codex found at BibleHub.com. The essentially literal translation seeks to reflect the Hebraic character of the author and writing. Other Bible versions may be quoted. Click here for Abbreviations of Bible Versions.

Sources: Bibliographic data for works cited may be found at the end of the article. Works without page numbers are cited ad loc. Important early Jewish sources include the following:

● LXX: The abbreviation "LXX" ("70") stands for the Septuagint, the Jewish translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, which was in use among Jews by the mid-2nd century B.C. Online.

● Josephus: The Works of Flavius Josephus (c. 75–99 A.D.), Jewish historian, trans. William Whiston (1737). Online.

● MT: The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Tanakh for Rabbinic Judaism. Work on developing a uniform Hebrew Bible began in the 2nd century under Rabbi Akiva, but completed by Jewish scholars known as the Masoretes between the 7th and 10th centuries A.D. The oldest extant manuscripts date from around the 9th century. Online.

● Talmud: Unless otherwise indicated references to the Talmud are from the Soncino Babylonian Talmud (1948); available online at Halakhah.com. The Jerusalem Talmud, identified with "TJ," may be found here. Click here for Talmud abbreviations.

Special Terms: In order to emphasize the Hebraic nature of Scripture I use the terms ADONAI (for the sacred name YHVH), Tanakh (Old Testament), Besekh (New Testament), Yeshua (Jesus) and Messiah (Christ).

Syntax: Unless otherwise noted the meaning of Hebrew words is from The New Brown, Driver, Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (1981). Parsing information for Hebrew verbs is taken from John Joseph Owens, Analytical Key to the Old Testament (1989). An explanation of Hebrew verbs and grammatical construction can be found at Hebrew4Christians.com.

Authorship-Date

Jewish sages asserted that the book of Ruth was written by Samuel (Baba Bathra 14b). Of course the added genealogy in 4:16-22 was likely composed by an editor, such as Nathan or Gad (cf. 1Chr 29:29). Christian scholars prefer to say the author of Ruth is unknown, and probably written in the era of the monarchy, perhaps 1000 BC.

Canonical Status

The book of Ruth is not part of the Prophets (Neviim) in the Hebrew Bible, but is included in the section of Five Megillot (Scrolls) of the Writings (Ketuvim). The book of Ruth is generally read in the Jewish observance of Shavuot (Feast of Weeks or Pentecost), because this is the time of year when Ruth joined herself to Israel and Shavuot is the anniversary of the death of King David.

Setting of Ruth

The story is set in the period of the judges (1:1) and reflects a temporary time of peace between Israel and Moab. The period of the judges could cover the time period from the death of Joshua (Jdg 2:8-10) to the accession of King Saul (1Sam 11:15), since Samuel is regarded as a judge-deliverer of Israel (1Sam 7:15). The book of Judges narrates the oppression of Israel by six nations and their duration: Mesopotamians (8 yrs., 3:8); Moabites (18 yrs., 3:14), Canaanites (20 yrs., 4:3), Midianites (7 yrs., 6:1), Ammonites (18 yrs., 10:8), and the Philistines (40 yrs., 13:1) for a total of 111 years.

Then the book recounts the stories of twelve judge-deliverers and their duration: Othniel (40 yrs., 3:9-11); Ehud (80 yrs., 3:15-30); Shamgar (no period specified, 3:31); Deborah (40 yrs., 4:1-10); Gideon (40 yrs., 6:11-8:32); Abimelech (3 yrs., 9:1-22); Tola (23 yrs., 10:1-2); Jair (22 yrs., 10:3-5); Jephthah (6 yrs., 11:1-12:7); Ibzan (7 yrs., 12:8-10); Elon (10 yrs., 12:11-12); Abdon (8 yrs., 12:13-15); and Samson (20 yrs., 13:1-16:31). These dating references total 299 years.

Since the story takes place during the time of the judges, which judge could it be? According to one Jewish tradition the story of Ruth takes place one hundred years after Othniel (Ginzberg). The Targum identifies Boaz as an alternate name of Ibzan (Jdg 12:8-10). Rashi, the Jewish commentator, accepts the Talmudic view that the story takes place in the time of Ibzan (Baba Bathra 91a). The association is incredible since Ibzan had 30 sons and 30 daughters (Jdg 12:9), which implies he was a polygamist. The Targum is rebutted by Josephus who said that Ibzan did nothing in the seven years of his administration that was worth recording, or deserved a memorial (Ant. V, 7:13).

Christian commentators offer different points of view. Ellicott sets the story of Ruth early in the period of the judges. Keil favors the time of Gideon. The genealogy record states that Salmon who lived in the time of Joshua and married Rahab, beget Boaz (Ruth 4:21; 1Chr 2:11; Matt 1:5; Luke 3:32), which would make Rahab the mother-in-law of Ruth. However, considering the lengthy period of the judges, perhaps as much as 450 years (cf. Acts 13:19-20), there must be a significant gap in the genealogy for Boaz to then beget Obed, the grandfather of David.

According to Josephus the story of Ruth took place when Eli was high priest who was appointed after the death of Samson (Ant. V, 9:1). Edersheim prefers to accept the report of Josephus. Henry Morris suggests that since Josephus was much closer to the biblical events than modern scholars, then the gap is most likely between Salmon and Boaz (312). Salmon is remembered because of marrying Rahab. Thus Salmon begat Boaz in the ancestral sense, rather than the immediate sense. Skipping over names in Israelite family histories is not unusual.

The Israelite authors of biblical genealogies weren't concerned with giving an exhaustive list of ancestors; just enough to tell us the origin of certain key persons. For example, Matthew's genealogy of Yeshua is organized into three periods of fourteen generations, from Abraham to Yeshua (Matt 1:17), listing 42 names. In contrast Luke lists 77 names in his genealogy of Yeshua. Matthew clearly passed over many intermediate members of Yeshua's lineage. The same is true of the genealogy in Ruth 4:18-22. There is just about 1,000 years between Judah's son Perez and David, but the Ruth genealogy gives only ten generations, again far less than what is needed for an exhaustive genealogy.

Finally, after all the speculation on which judge would have been in office during the story of Ruth, the end result is that the issue is moot. The identification of the judge is almost irrelevant and was likely deliberately omitted to prevent a distraction to the essential message of the story. A Moabite woman who previously served a pagan deity was radically changed to give her life to the God of Israel, and in so doing was admitted into the Hebrew Hall of Women Heroes (Ruth 4:11-12).

Purpose and Message of Ruth

The book of Ruth stands as an appendix to the book of Judges and a prelude to the books of Samuel. The book provides an important chapter in the ancestry of King David, and presents the virtues of piety and righteousness in an unrighteous age. Thus, Ruth really deserves to be included in the historical section of Early Prophets in the Tanakh. The book may be outlined as follows:

● Ruth comes to Bethlehem, Ch. 1

● Ruth meets Boaz, Ch. 2

● Ruth’s appeal to Boaz, Ch. 3

● Marriage of Ruth and Boaz, Ch. 4

Both Boaz and Ruth are presented as models of godly behavior. Boaz blesses his workers by the name of ADONAI (2:4), as well as blessing Ruth (2:12). In contrast to the lack of respect for the Torah during this period (cf. Jdg 17:6), Boaz obeys the Torah, both in the law of gleaning by an alien (2:7; cf. Lev 19:9-10; 23:22), and the law of family obligation (4:5, 14). In the latter he obeys two laws, first the duty of a brother-in-law (Heb. yabam), to wed a brother's widow without a son (Gen 38:8; Deut 25:5-10), and second the duty of a kinsman-redeemer (Heb. go'el) to insure that land is kept in the family (4:14; Lev 25:5-6).

Ruth is also a model because she chooses to identify with Israel and the God of Israel (1:16). Moreover, Ruth demonstrates godly virtue and accepts Torah obligations by her willingness to marry Boaz. The example of Ruth and her place in the Davidic and Messianic genealogies (Matt 1:5) is a profound rebuke of replacement theology.

Works Cited

BDB: The New Brown, Driver, Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon. London: Oxford University Press, 1907. Reprinted by Associated Publishers and Authors, Inc., 1981. Online at BibleHub.com.

Clarke: Adam Clarke (1762-1832), Commentary on the Holy Bible: Luke (1826). Online.

DNTT: Dictionary of New Testament Theology, 3 Vols. Colin Brown, ed. Zondervan Publishing House, 1975.

Edersheim: Alfred Edersheim, Bible History Old Testament (1876-87). Book 3, Chap. 21. Hendrickson Publishers, 1995. Online.

Ellicott: Charles John Ellicott (1819–1905), Commentary for English Readers (1878). Online.

Keil: C.F. Keil, The Book of Ruth, Commentary on the Old Testament, Vol. 2 (1866-1891) by C.F. Keil and F. Delitzsch. Hendrickson, 2006. Online.

Morris: Henry M. Morris (1918-2006), The Defenders Study Bible. World Publishing Co., 1995. [Formerly President of Institute for Creation Research]

Rashi: Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaqi (1040-1105), Commentary on the Tanakh. Online. (French rabbi, rabbinical judge and commentator)

Targum: Aramaic Targum on Ruth, (1−600 A.D.) trans. Samson H. Levy, 1934. Online.