The relationship of Ruth and Naomi
Naomi knows she must go back to her people (towards the end of the period of the Judges, in
c.1060BC, Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi returned across the River Jordan from Moab to
Bethlehem). Ruth travels with her. Ruth fights for her survival with the infamous passage,
“Entreat me not to leave thee….your people will be my people, your God, my God!”
Ruth 1:19-22 The two women arrive in Bethlehem (meaning ‘house of bread’) at the start of
the barley harvest in April. Barley was used to make bread
Ruth 3:1-18 Ruth seeks out Boaz under cover of darkness. Boaz is fast asleep after
winnowing barley on the threshing floor. He awakes to find Ruth at his feet. As a relative, Boaz
agrees to help Ruth and Naomi by buying a plot of land which belonged to Naomi’s husband
Elimelech (see Leviticus 25:25).
Ruth 4:1-12 To fulfil the laws of inheritance, another kinsman – who is more closely related
to Ruth than Boaz – is given the option of buying the land, but he cannot afford it. So Boaz
buys the land from Naomi and then marries Ruth in order to keep the ownership of the land
within Elimelech’s family
Names & meanings
• Ruth – friend, companion
• Naomi – pleasantness
• Myra – Bitterness
• Boaz – bo, in him [there is] oz, might
• Obed – servant
• Bethlehem – House of Bread, in time becomes the City of David
