Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• Message9
  The Book of Ruth is one of the most fascinating and important short stories that anyone has ever written. As a piece of literature it is almost perfect. The German poet Goethe called it "the loveliest complete work on a small...
• Outline
  I. Naomi's predicament ch. 1A. The deaths of Naomi's husband and sons 1:1-5B. Naomi's inability to provide husbands for Ruth and Orpah 1:6-14C. Ruth's profession of faith in Yahweh 1:15-18D. Naomi's weak faith 1:19-21E. Hope ...
• I. NAOMI'S PREDICAMENT ch. 1
  As is often true in literature, the structure of the piece sometimes reveals the purpose of the writer. This is certainly the case in the Book of Ruth. The writer constructed the whole book with a chiastic (crossing) structur...
• C. Ruth's profession of faith in Yahweh 1:15-18
  Ruth concluded that her prospects for loyal love and rest (vv. 8-9) were better if she identified with Israel than if she continued to identify with Moab. She had come to admire Israel's God. Elimelech and his family had fulf...
• D. Naomi's weak faith 1:19-21
  Naomi had experienced both blessing and loss since she had left Bethlehem. When she returned home she chose to emphasize her hardships. She had forgotten God's faithfulness and His promises to bless all Israel (Gen. 12:1-3, 7...
• E. Hope for the future 1:22
  This summary sentence not only concludes chapter 1 but also prepares the reader for the remaining scenes of the story. Naomi had left Bethlehem pleasant (Heb. na'em) but returned bitter (v. 20). She had left with Elimelech, o...
• II. NAOMI AND RUTH'S PLANS chs. 2--3
  Chapter 1 in a sense prepares for chapters 2-4 that constitute the heart of the book. Chapter 1 presents a problem, but chapters 2-4 provide the solution. The key to the solution on the human level was the planning of Naomi a...
• B. The plan to obtain seed ch. 3
  Having obtained food and safety the two women could look beyond their immediate physical needs to their greater need. Whereas Ruth took the initiative in proposing a plan to obtain food (2:2), Naomi now suggested a plan to ge...
• C. God's provision of a son 4:13-17
  Verse 13 is a key verse in the book because it records the fulfillment of Naomi and Ruth's plans to obtain rest (2:2; 3:1-5).82A son was indispensable to the continuation of the line of Boaz as well as that of Mahlon and Elim...
• David's flight from Jerusalem 15:13-37
  The people of Israel had formerly given the kingdom to David as a gift (5:1-3), but now they took that gift from him (v. 13).237David knew that Absalom was popular with the people. Evidently he fled Jerusalem to save his own ...
• God's ability to heal and cleanse ch. 5
  Naaman (Aram. gracious) was commander of the Aramean army under Ben-Hadad II (cf. 1 Kings 15:18, 20). Leprosy in the ancient world degenerated the bodies of its victims and eventually proved fatal. At this time no one could c...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• A Gentle Heroine, A Gentile Convert
  Ruth 1:16-22 The lovely idyl of Ruth is in sharp contrast with the bloody and turbulent annals of Judges. It completes, but does not contradict, these, and happily reminds us of what we are apt to forget in reading such pages...