Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 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...
• 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...
• 2. The maidservant of Boaz 2:8-13
  Boaz called Ruth his daughter (v. 8) because she was considerably younger than he (3:10) and because of his affection for her. He explained why he felt as he did for her in the following verses. Normally the poor migrated fro...
• 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...
• 1. Naomi's plan to secure rest for Ruth 3:1-5
  Naomi had expressed a desire back in Moab that each of her daughters-in-law might find "rest"(1:9). The Hebrew word reads "security"in the NASB and "a home"in the NIV, but its meaning in other parts of the Old Testament is a ...
• 2. Ruth's encouragement and Boaz's response 3:6-13
  Ruth carried out Naomi's instructions exactly, further demonstrating her loyal love to her mother-in-law, and encouraged Boaz to pursue the possibility of marriage (vv. 6-9)."Note that the threshingfloor was a public place an...
• 3. Ruth's return to Naomi 3:14-18
  Ruth had risked danger by sleeping on the threshing floor (v. 14). Other people might have seen her and assumed that something bad was taking place. Evidently some of Boaz's reapers were aware of her presence, but Boaz told t...
• B. Boaz obtains the right to marry Ruth 4:7-12
  Probably the practice of standing on land one possessed led to the custom of using the sandal as a symbol of possession in land transactions (v. 7; cf. Gen. 13:17; Deut. 1:36; 11:24; Josh. 1:3; 14:9).80Most scholars believe t...
• 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...