The Book of Ruth Themes

Family looms large in the Book of Ruth—both biological and otherwise. Naomi loses her biological sons, but gains Ruth as both a companion and daughter. Ruth's romance with Boaz is also based on t...

Man or woman? That is the question. In the world of the Book of Ruth, your gender pretty much determined every detail of your life and where it was headed. A man could earn a living, own land, wage...

Just about everyone in our story loves eating humble pie. But, don't confuse humility with being passive or weak. Throughout most of the Book of Ruth, the characters' humble words help them achieve...

The Book of Ruth is big on loyalty. In fact, the Hebrew word for this—chesed—appears multiple times throughout the story. This word is used elsewhere in the Bible to describe God's loyalty and...

Spoiler alert: the Book of Ruth is a bit of a bummer. It starts off with the death of three people and things get worse from there. Grief, separation, poverty—someone pass the tissues, please. Bu...