Ruth

The Moabitess widow of Mahlon, the son of Elimelech and Naomi and later wife of Boaz, with whom she bore Obed, David's grandfather.

The book named after her tells the story of her faithfulness that 'clung' on to her destitude mother-in-law, insisting to remain with her, saying, "Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God" ((Ruth 1:16). Returning to her dead husband's hometown of Bethelehem with her mother-in-law, she found favour with Boaz, one of the family's kinsmen, and eventually marrying him and fathering the grandfather of King David. That makes her David's great-grandmother.

The fact that God would include a Moabitess into the genealogy of the Messiah is proof that God is no respector of what we humans may approve of as acceptable or respectable. He chooses whom he would.

(Incidentally, according to the rules exercised by modern Israel, in which a person qualifies as a Jew if his mother is a Jew, David would be considered a Gentile. We do not know who was David's mother or grandmother, and since the nearest woman ancestor to whom he may be traced is a Moabitess, David would have be classed as a Gentile.)

Open Family Tree ☰ (Generation 9)

Further Reading & Resources:

Stephen P. Dray, "Ruth 1:1-22. Trust and Obey," Evangel 13.2 (1995):34-36.
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Stephen P. Dray, "Ruth 2:1-23 Grace for today," Evangel 14:1 (1996): 3-4.
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Stephen P. Dray, "Ruth 3:1-4:22 Living in Grace," Evangel 14:2 (1996): 35-37.
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Gregory R. Goswell, "The book of Ruth and the house of David," Evangelical Quarterly 86.2 (April 2014): 116-129.Pdf N 6-7 (Open on Phone)

CONCORDANCE (NIV)

Ruth is mentioned only in the book of her name (20x) and once in Matthew:

Ruth 1:4 — They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, [both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.]

Ruth 1:14 — At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye, but Ruth clung to her.

Ruth 1:16 — But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.

Ruth 1:18 — When Naomi realised that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

Ruth 1:22 — So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.

Ruth 2:2 — And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, "Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favour." Naomi said to her, "Go ahead, my daughter."

Ruth 2:17-19 — So Boaz said to Ruth, "My daughter, listen to me. Don't go and glean in another field and don't go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls. ¹⁸She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough. ¹⁹ Her mother-in-law asked her, "Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!" Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. "The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz," she said.

Ruth 2:21-23 — Then Ruth the Moabitess said, "He even said to me,`Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.'" ²²Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, "It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with his girls, because in someone else's field you might be harmed." ²³ So Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Ruth 3:5 — [One day Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, should I not try to find a home for you, where you will be well provided for? . . . When he [Boaz] lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do."] "I will do whatever you say," Ruth answered.

Ruth 3:7 — When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet and lay down.

Ruth 3:9 — "Who are you?" he asked. "I am your servant Ruth," she said. "Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman-redeemer."

Ruth 3:16 — When Ruth came to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, "How did it go, my daughter?" Then she told her everything Boaz had done for her [and added, "He gave me these six measures of barley, saying,`Don't go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.'"]

Ruth 4:5 — Then Boaz said, "On the day you buy the land from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabitess, you acquire the dead man's widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property."

Ruth 4:10 — I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon's widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from the town records. Today you are witnesses!"

Ruth 4:13 — So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. Then he went to her, and the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.

Matt 1:5 — [A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of . . . ] Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, [and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of . . .]