In the Bible
What is a kinsman redeemer?
A close relative who had the duty to buy back family land and care for a widow in the family. Boaz takes that role for Ruth and Naomi.
See Ruth 4:9-10
Israel’s story
Who was Ruth in the Bible?
Ruth was a woman from Moab who married into an Israelite family. When her husband died, she refused to leave her mother-in-law Naomi and went with her to Bethlehem. There she gathered grain in the fields of Boaz, who married her. Her great-grandson was King David.
- When
- “In the days when the judges ruled”, before Israel had a king. Roughly the 1100s BC.
- Read
- Ruth 1–4
6 moments
Ruth’s life, in order
See where Ruth fits on the Bible timeline
Tap a passage to read it here. Each one opens in full in the Lumin Translation.
Famine and loss
Naomi’s family moves from Bethlehem to Moab. Her husband and both sons die there, one of them Ruth’s husband.
“Where you go, I will go”
Naomi tells her daughters-in-law to go home. Orpah goes. Ruth will not leave her.
Back to Bethlehem
They arrive at the start of the barley harvest. Naomi tells the town to call her Mara, which means bitter.
In the field of Boaz
Ruth gathers leftover grain in the field of Boaz, a relative of Naomi. He protects her and leaves extra for her.
At the threshing floor
On Naomi’s advice, Ruth lies at Boaz’s feet in the night and asks him to redeem the family.
Married, and a son
Boaz marries Ruth at the town gate. Their son Obed is the grandfather of David.
Where it happened
Read these first
Key verses about Ruth
But Ruth said, “Do not press me to abandon you, to turn back and stop following you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you spend the night, I will spend the night. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.
Ruth 1:16Where you go, I will go
May Yahweh repay you for what you have done. May you receive a full reward from Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
Ruth 2:12Under God’s wings
Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, and Obed fathered Jesse.
Matthew 1:5Ruth in Jesus’ family line
Questions people ask
What the Bible says, and what tradition adds
Each answer is marked: in the Bible, tradition, readers disagree, or not known.
Tradition, not the Bible
Who wrote the book of Ruth?
The book does not say. Jewish tradition in the Talmud names Samuel. Most scholars leave it unknown.
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