Book of Ruth

Definition and Meaning

The Book of Ruth is the eighth of the thirty-nine books of the Protestant Old Testament and consists of four chapters. The book takes its name from its central figure, Ruth, a Moabite woman. Although it is a short narrative, it addresses family, faith, and the acceptance of foreigners, and it is widely read in Korean churches.

Biblical and Historical Background

The story is set "in the days when the judges ruled" (Ruth 1:1). The judges were the leaders who guided Israel before the establishment of the monarchy.

• Plot: Elimelech's family goes to Moab to escape a famine, and all the men of the household die there. Ruth, one of the daughters-in-law, declares, "thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God" (Ruth 1:16), and follows her mother-in-law Naomi to Bethlehem. During the barley harvest, Ruth gleans in the field of Boaz.
• Kinsman-redeemer: Boaz marries Ruth as a "kinsman-redeemer." The term translates the Hebrew go'el and refers to a close relative responsible for recovering the land of an impoverished kinsman and for continuing the family line.
• Genealogy: The book closes with a genealogy running through Obed and Jesse to David (Ruth 4:17–22). Matthew 1:5 includes Ruth in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.
• Place in the canon: Following the order of the Greek translation known as the Septuagint, Protestant Bibles place Ruth between Judges and 1 Samuel. The Hebrew Bible places Ruth among the Writings (Ketuvim) and classifies it as one of the Five Scrolls (Megillot). In Judaism, Ruth is read at the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot).
• Authorship and date: The author is unknown. Jewish tradition attributes the book to Samuel, but scholars are divided on its date of composition, with some placing it in the monarchic period and others after the Babylonian exile.

Practice in the Korean Church

• Harvest Thanksgiving: Because the story is set during the barley harvest, the book is frequently used as a sermon text for Harvest Thanksgiving.
• Family and marriage: Ruth 1:16–17, a passage that illustrates faithful devotion, is often quoted at wedding services and in sermons during Family Month. The book is also frequently used in sermons on the relationship between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law and on filial piety.
• Differences in interpretation: Many preachers read Boaz as a type of Christ, that is, a figure who foreshadows Christ, and present the kinsman-redeemer as a picture of redemption. Other preachers and scholars, however, give priority to the historical meaning of the text and to God's providence, and they approach such typological readings with caution.
• Embracing foreigners: Because the book tells of a foreign woman, Ruth, being received into the community of Israel, it is also cited in sermons on multicultural families and ministry to migrants.
• Lectionary: Churches that follow a lectionary, a schedule of Scripture readings arranged according to the church year, read Ruth on designated Sundays.