The Book Of Ruth

The Book of Ruth

The Book of Ruth is often overlooked, but it is a very important book in the Bible.  Ruth was King David’s Great-Grandmother.  She was a Moabite (one of the enemies of Israel), but she was loyal to her mother-in-law, Naomi, and converted to the Israelite Religion (which would later be called Judaism).

This Book takes place at the same time as the Book of Judges, but it was probably put into writing many years later.

Notice the themes of the book:

1.    God provides (Grain is often used in this book)

2.    Redeemer (Boaz is a redeemer – one who makes things right – this is also looking forward to a Redeemer of All of Israel – who ended up being Jesus Christ)

3.    Ruth is a “woman of valor” – The only other time this is used is in Proverbs 31.  She is faithful to Naomi. (In the Jewish order of the Bible, Ruth comes right after Proverbs)

4.    Death and New Life

5.    Faithfulness

6.    God Restores

In Jewish congregations, Ruth is read on the Jewish Holiday of Shavuot.  This commemorates Moses receiving the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible) from God.  Shavuot is also called Pentecost because it happens 50 Days after the Passover Holiday.  This book was probably read when the Holy Spirit came to the first Christians.  Shavuot also celebrates the grain harvest.  In ancient times, grain was very important because it was life.  The Torah is also “life” as is the rest of the Bible to Christians.

Here’s a Bit of Biblical Humor about the Book of Ruth, but yet it contains a lot of truth:  For all the single ladies in such a hurry to get married here is a piece of Biblical advice. Ruth patiently waited for her mate Boaz. So while waiting on your Boaz, please do not settle for any of his relatives ... Brokeaz, Poaz, Lyinaz, Cheatinaz, Dumbaz, Cheapaz, Lockedupaz, Goodfornothinaz, Lazyaz or Marriedaz and especially his third cousin Beatinyoaz. Please wait on your Boaz and make sure he respects Yoaz!

What follows is a literal translation from Hebrew to English that we did in my Hebrew Class.  You’ll see that some of the sentences may seem awkward.  This is part of the trouble of translation.  Hebrew and English are 2 unrelated languages, and do not always have a word for word translation.  So, when translating, translators have to take the meaning (and sometimes they have to guess what is meant) and make the best decision they can.  Compare this with your own Bible and see how it is different and the same.  I put some notes in parentheses so that you can understand certain things better.

Chapter 1

1.     In the day when the Judges judged there was a famine in the land.  A man from Bethlehem (lit. “House of Bread”) of Judah went to sojourn in the field of Moab; he, his wife, and his two sons.

2.     The name of the Man was Elimelech (lit. “My God is King”) and the name of his wife was Naomi (lit. “My delight), and the names of his two sons were Mahlon (lit. “sick”) and Chilion (lit. “weakening), Ephrathites from Bethlehem of Judah.  And they went (or entered) to the field of Moab, and they stayed there.

3.     Elimelech, the husband of Naomi died, and she was left with her two sons.

4.     And they married Moabite women one named Orpah (lit. “gazelle”), and the second named Ruth (lit. “friend”).  And they dwelt there about ten years.

5.     (Then) also the two, Malhon and Chilion died and the woman was left without her two sons and without her husband.

6.     And she and her daughters-in-law arose and returned from the field of Moab because they heard from the field of Moab that the LORD had visited his people and gave bread (or food) to them.

7.     She went down (left) from the place where she was living with her daughters-in-law with her and she went on the road (or way) to return to the land of Judah.

8.     And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Turn back each of you to her mother’s house, May the LORD show you the faithfulness that that you have made with the dead and with me.

9.     “May the LORD give to you and may you find rest in the house of your husband,” and she kissed them and they raised their voices and wept.

10. And they said to her “We will return with you to your people.”

11. And Naomi said “Return, my daughters, to your people.  Go from me.  Why should you go with me?  Do I have sons in my womb to be husbands for you?

12. “Return, my daughters, because I am to old for a man.  And even if I said ‘there is hope for me, also if tonight I were with a man, and I also gave birth to sons

13. “should you wait until they are grown on this account so as not to be with a husband?  No my daughters because it is more bitter for me than for you because the hand of the LORD has struck.

14. And they raised their voices and wept, and Orpah kissed the mother-in-law and Ruth clung to her.

15. And she said, “Behold, return with your sister-in-law to your people and to your gods.  Follow after your sister-in-law.”

16. But Ruth said, “Do not press me not to follow you and to turn from after you; because where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay, your people will be my people and your God will be my God,

17. “And where you die, I will die and there I will be buried.  And thus the Lord will do to me and add to me and indeed only death will separate you and me.”

18.  And she saw that she was determined to go with her and she stopped speaking to her (or trying to convince her not to go).

19. And the two of them went and entered Bethlehem, and when they entered Bethlehem, the whole city buzzed over them and said, “Is this Naomi?”

20. And she said to them, “Why do you call me Naomi?” Call me Mara (meaning bitter) because Shaddai (Meaning: The Almighty) has embittered me greatly!

21. “I left full, and the LORD caused me to return empty.  How can you call me Naomi when Shaddai (The Almighty) has brought harm upon me?”

22. And Naomi returned and Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law with her came from the field of Moab and entered Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Chapter 2

1.     And to Naomi, there was a relative of her husband, a man, a mighty man of valor, from the family of Elimelech (lit. My God is King) named Boaz.

2.     And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and let me glean corn after those in whose eyes I find favor.”  And she said to her, “Go my daughter.”

3.     She went and entered and gleaned in the field after the reapers and the chance chanced her (by chance she came) to the plot of the field of Boaz who was from the family of Elimelech.

4.     And behold! Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you.” And they said to him, “May the Lord bless you.”

5.     And Boaz said to the lad in charge of the reapers, “Who is that young girl?”

6.     The lad over the reapers answered and said, “That girl, she is the Moabite who returned with Naomi from the Field of Moab.

7.     “She said, ‘Let me glean and let me gather among the sheaves of corn behind the reapers’ and she entered and she stood from morning until now – as for this one, her sitting…in the house…a little.” (Intentional broken speech – Possible because the Lad was nervous – similar to how people stutter to find words when they are nervous).

8.     And Boaz said to Ruth, “Have you not heard my daughter, don’t go glean from another field, and don’t leave from this, and you shall cling to my maidens.

9.     Let your eyes be in the field in which you are harvesting and follow after them.  I have commanded the lads not to touch you.  When you are thirsty go to the buckets and drink from those from which the lads draw (water).”

10. And she fell to her face, and prostrated (herself) to the ground and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes that you would recognize me, a foreigner?”

11. And Boaz answered and said to her, “It was told to me (emphasized in Hebrew) all that you did for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband.  You left your father and your mother and land of your birth and came to a people that you did not previously (“Previously” in Hebrew is said “yesterday three days ago”) know.

12. “May the LORD repay your deed, and may your reward be full from the LORD God of Israel under whose wings you sought refuge.”

13. And she said, “Why do I find favor in your eyes, my lord, that you have comforted me and have spoken to the heart of your servant though I am not like one of your servants?”

14. And Boaz said to her, “At the time to eat (meal time), come here and eat some of the bread and dip your morsel in vinegar and sit beside the reapers.”  And he picked up and offered grain to her.  And she ate, was satisfied, and had some left over.

15. When she got up to glean, Boaz ordered his servants, saying to them, “Let her glean even among the sheaves and do not humiliate her.

16. And also you shall draw out (stalks of wheat) for her from among the sheaves and leave them for her, and she shall pick them, and you shall not rebuke her.”

17. And she gleaned in the field until evening and beat what was gleaned about an ephaph (ancient unit of measurement) (of) barley.

18. And she carried it, and entered the city.  And her mother-in-law saw what she gleaned, and she (Ruth) took it out and gave her what she had left over after her fill.

19. The mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where did you work?  Blessed is he who is regarding you!”  She told her mother-in-law whom she worked with saying, “The name of the man I worked with is Boaz.”

20. And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed is he by the LORD who did not forsake his faithfulness with the living and with the dead.”  And Naomi said to her, “The man is near to us (he is a relative), he is one of our redeemers.” (Custom at that time was that the nearest relative would marry a widow)

21. And Ruth the Moabite said, “Also, it is that he said to me, ‘You shall cling to my lads until they complete all my harvest.’”

22. And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Ruth, “It is good my daughter that you go out with his maidens that they may not come upon you in another field.”

23. And she clung to Boaz’s maidens to glean until the harvest of barley and the harvest of wheat finished and she dwelled with her mother-in-law.

Chapter 3

1.     And Naomi, her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, will I not seek a resting place that will be good for you?

2.     “And is not Boaz our relative whose maidens you were with?  Behold!  He will be winnowing at the threshing floor of barley tonight

3.     “And wash, anoint, and place a garment upon yourself and you will go down to the threshing floor.  Don’t let yourself become known to the man until he is finished eating and drinking.

4.     “And let it be that when he lies down that you know the place where he lies down there and go and uncover the place of his feet (place of feet COULD have sexual connotations, but not necessarily), and he will tell you what you should do.”

5.     And she said to her, “All that you said to me, I will do.”

6.     And she went down to the threshing floor and she did everything according to which her mother-in-law commanded her.

7.     And Boaz ate and drank and his heart was glad, and he went to lie down at the edge of the granary.  And she, entered with secrecy and uncovered the place of his feet, and she lay down.

8.     Halfway through the night, the man was stirred, he turned over, and behold – a woman – lying down at the place of his feet.

9.     And he said, “Who are you?” And she said, “I am Ruth, your maidservant – spread the skirt of your garment over your maidservant since you are a redeemer (possibly a proposal of marriage).”

10. And he said, “Blessed are you by the LORD, my daughter, you have made your latter faithfulness greater than your former faithfulness; not going after young men whether poor or rich.

11. “And now, my daughter, because all that you say I will do for you because the whole gate of my people (meaning all of my people) knows that you are a woman of virtue (eshit hail – Only other usage of this is in Prov. 31:10).

12. “And now indeed it is true that I am a redeemer, but there is a redeemer nearer than I (meaning: there is a closer relative).

13. Stay here tonight, and when it is morning, if he redeems you, good, let him redeem, and if he does not desire to redeem you, I myself will redeem you as surely as the LORD lives (This is a VERY STRONG oath – not to be taken lightly).  Lie down until morning.”

14. And she lay down at the place of his feet until morning, and she rose before a man could recognize his neighbor (meaning: while it was still dark), and he said, “Do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.”

15. And he said, “Present the shawl which is upon you and hold firm to it.” And she held firmly and he measured 6 (measures of ) barleys , and he placed it on it and he went to the city.

16. And she went to her mother-in-law, and she (Naomi) said, “Who are you my daughter?” And she made clear to her all that the man had done for her.

17. And she said, “The 6 (measures of) barley he gave to me because he said to me, ‘do not go back empty to your mother-in-law.”

18. And she (Naomi) said,  “Stay, my daughter until you know how the matter will fall because the man will not be still until he has finished the matter today.

Chapter 4

1.     Boaz went to the gate and sat down there, and behold, the redeemer passed by whom Boaz spoke about.  He said, “Come, sit here, So-and-So.” And he came and sat.

2.     Then he took 10 elder men of the city and said, “Sit here,” and they sat.

3.     He said to the redeemer, “Naomi, now returned from the field of Moab must sell the plot of land – the field – of our relative, Elimelech.

4.     “I said the matter to you to say buy in front of the men and in front of the elders of my people.  If you will redeem, redeem.  But if you will not redeem, tell me that I may know because there is not anyone to redeem but you, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem”

5.     And Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi from Ruth the Moabite, the wife of the dead one, you have acquired to raise up the name of the dead over his inheritance.”

6.     And the redeemer said, “I myself am not able to redeem, lest I ruin my own inheritance.  You yourself redeem my right of redemption because I am not able to redeem.

7.     Formerly in Israel concerning the right of redemption and concerning the right of exchange, this is how every matter was established: A man would remove his sandal and give it to his neighbor.  This was confirmation in Israel.

8.     And the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it,” and he removed his sandal.

9.     And Boaz spoke to the elders and said, “You all are witnesses to this today that I have acquired everything that belongs to Elimelech and everything that belongs to Chilion and Malhon from the hand of Naomi.

10.  “And also Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Malhon, I have acquired to be a wife in order to establish the name of the dead over his inheritance and so the name of the dead will not be cut off from his brothers and from the gate of his place.  You are witnesses today.”

11.  And all the people that were in the gates said, “Witnesses, may the LORD make the woman enter into your house like Rachael and Leah (in Genesis), the 2 of whom built the house of Israel.  Make valor in Ephrata and call a name in Bethlehem.

12.  “May your house be like the house of Perez whom Tamar bore to (the tribe of) Judah from the offspring which the LORD will give to you from this young girl.”

13.  And Boaz took Ruth, and she came for him a wife, and he went to her.  And the Lord gave to her pregnancy, and she gave birth to a son.

14.  And the women said to Naomi, “ Blessed be the Lord that did not leave you without a redeemer this day and may his name be called in Israel.

15.  And let him be to you a restorer of life (or soul) and sustain your old age because your daughter-in-law who loves you bore him, which is better to you than 7 sons (meaning: Ruth is better than 7 sons).”

16.  And Naomi took the little boy, and she placed him on her bosom, and she became to him a nurse.

17.  And the female inhabitants called a name to him (meaning: named him) saying, “A son has been born to Naomi, and they called his name Obed (trans: servant) who was the father of Jesse, father of David.

18.  These are the generations of Perez:  Perez begot Hezron,

19. Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot Amminidab.

20. Amminidab begot Nahshon, Nahshon begot Salmah

21. Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed.

22. And Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David.