Ruth
Like the Book of Jonah, the Book of Ruth, a masterpiece of storytelling, has a moral lesson, but this lesson may not be the chief reason why the book was written. It is a story about a Hebrew woman named Naomi who lives during the period of the judges, prior to the establishment of the monarchy. After the death of her husband, Naomi accompanies her two sons to a land occupied by the Moabites. Here the two sons marry Moabite women. Later, after both of her sons have died, Naomi decides to return to the land of the Hebrews so that she might dwell among her own people. She urges her two daughters-in-law to stay with the Moabites. One of the daughters-in-law, Orpah, yields to Naomi's request and bids farewell to her mother-in-law. The other one, Ruth, refuses to let her mother-in-law return home alone. Her affection and loyalty are expressed in the words "Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God."
As Naomi and Ruth journey back to the land of the Hebrews, they come near Bethlehem at the time of a grain harvest. Naomi's kinsman, a wealthy Hebrew named Boaz, owns a large field of grain. Ruth asks that she be allowed to work with the gleaners, who gather the grain that the reapers have missed. Boaz grants Ruth's request, giving instructions to his servants to see to it that plenty of grain is left for Ruth and her mother-in-law. Because Naomi is a relative of Boaz, she and Ruth are treated generously. In time, Ruth becomes Boaz' wife; their son Obed will be the grandfather of King David.
