Book of Ruth

The Book of Ruth (Hebrew: מגילת רות‎‎, Ashkenazi pronunciation: [məˈɡɪləs rus], Megilath Ruth, "the Scroll of Ruth", one of the Five Megillot) is included in the third division, or the Writings (Ketuvim), of the Hebrew Bible; in the Christian canon it is treated as a history book and placed between Judges and 1 Samuel, as it is set "in the days when the judges judged". It is named after its central figure, Ruth the Moabitess, the great-grandmother of David.

The book tells of Ruth's accepting the God of the Israelites as her God and the Israelite people as her own. In Ruth 1:16-17, Ruth tells Naomi, her Israelite mother-in-law, "Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me." The book is held in esteem by Jews who fall under the category of Jews-by-choice, as is evidenced by the considerable presence of Boaz in rabbinic literature. The Book of Ruth also functions liturgically, as it is read during the Jewish holiday of Shavuot ("Weeks").

The book is structured in four chapters:

Act 1: Prologue and Problem: Death and Emptiness (1:1–22)

Act 2: Ruth Meets Boaz, Naomi's Relative, on the Harvest Field (2:1–23)

Act 3: Naomi Sends Ruth to Boaz on the Threshing Floor (3:1–18)

Act 4: Resolution and Epilogue: Life and Fullness (4:1–22)

Genealogical appendix (4:18–22)

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