BibleLectio

People › Ruth

Ruth in the Bible.

A Moabite widow who followed Naomi to Bethlehem and married Boaz; David's great-grandmother. She was born about 1115 BC, by Ussher’s count. The King James Version names Ruth in 13 verses, from Ruth 1:4 to Matthew 1:5.

Read it in BibleLectio

Ruth’s family.

Herself
Ruth
Husbands, and their children
BoazObed
Mahlonno children named

Her family as Theographic Bible Metadata lists it; each name opens its own page.

Ruth’s own words.

Ruth speaks in 10 verses of the King James Version, all in Ruth.

Her first words in the Bible
And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
Ruth 1:16 ›

In BibleLectio, turn on Voices and every word Ruth says shows in her own colour.

Who Ruth was.

A friend, a Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, whose father, Elimelech, had settled in the land of Moab. On the death of Elimelech and Mahlon, Naomi came with Ruth, her daughter-in-law, who refused to leave her, to Bethlehem, the old home from which Elimelech had migrated. There she had a rich relative, Boaz, to whom Ruth was eventually married. She became the mother of Obed, the grandfather of David. Thus Ruth, a Gentile, is among the maternal progenitors of our Lord (Matt. 1:5). The story of “the gleaner Ruth illustrates the friendly relations between the good Boaz and his reapers, the Jewish land system, the method of transferring property from one person to another, the working of the Mosaic law for the relief of distressed and ruined families; but, above all, handing down the unselfishness, the brave love, the unshaken trustfulness of her who, though not of the chosen race, was, like the Canaanitess Tamar (Gen. 38:29; Matt. 1:3) and the Canaanitess Rahab (Matt. 1:5), privileged to become the ancestress of David, and so of ‘great David’s greater Son’” (Ruth 4:18-22).

From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897).

Places in Ruth’s story.

Each opens its own page: where it is on the map and every verse.

All 13 verses that name Ruth.

Ruth 12

  • Ruth 1:4And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.
  • Ruth 1:14And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.
  • Ruth 1:16And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
  • Ruth 1:22So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.
  • Ruth 2:2And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.
  • Ruth 2:8Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens:
  • Ruth 2:21And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.
  • Ruth 2:22And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter in law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field.
  • Ruth 3:9And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman.
  • Ruth 4:5Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.
  • Ruth 4:10Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.
  • Ruth 4:13So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son.

Matthew 1

  • Matthew 1:5And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;

Questions about Ruth.

Who was Ruth in the Bible?

A Moabite widow who followed Naomi to Bethlehem and married Boaz; David's great-grandmother. The King James Version names Ruth in 13 verses, from Ruth 1:4 to Matthew 1:5.

Who were Ruth’s husbands?

Boaz and Mahlon.

Who was Ruth’s child?

BibleLectio’s family tree lists Obed.

Where does Ruth speak in the Bible?

In 10 verses of the King James Version, all in Ruth. Her first words are in Ruth 1:16.

Everyone in the Bible, in one app.

Open BibleLectioComing to the App Store