Bible Dictionary
Ruth, Book Of
The Book of Ruth tells the story of Ruth, Boaz, Naomi, and their family line leading to David. Its date and human author are uncertain, though Jewish tradition associated it with Samuel.
Definition
The Book of Ruth contains the history of Ruth, Naomi, Boaz, and the ancestry of David. Its central purpose is to preserve the account of David’s ancestors, and its date and human author are uncertain.
Biblical Usage
The book supplies an essential part of David’s genealogy and early family history, linking the period of the Judges with the history recorded in Samuel.
Historical Background
Tradition favors Samuel as author. The book may once have formed part of a larger work including Judges, Ruth, Samuel, and Kings, and it was evidently composed long after the events it describes.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Smith's Bible Dictionary
contains the history of Ruth, as narrated in the preceding article. The main object of the writer is evidently to give an account of David’s ancestors; and the book was avowedly composed long after the time of the heroine. See (Ruth 1:1; 4:7,17) Its date and author are quite uncertain. Tradition is in favor of Samuel. It is probable that the books of Judges, Ruth, Samuel and Kings originally formed but one work. The book of Ruth clearly forms part of the books of Samuel, supplying as it does the essential point of David’s genealogy and early family history, and is no less clearly connected with the book of Judges by its opening verse and the epoch to which the whole book relates.