Summary Of Ruth Chapter 1

Ruth chapter 1 provides the backbone and context for the following three chapters, giving reason for the circumstances and decisions made throughout the book, the need and search for security, and the heartfelt declaration of loyalty from Ruth to Naomi.

The book of Ruth provides readers with a real account of real characters, beginning with a famine in Judah “in the days when the judges ruled” (v. 1), resulting in the relocation of Elimelech and his wife, Naomi, and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, to Moab, where the two sons wed Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah (v.4). The three men in the family die and the women are forced to fend for themselves, so Naomi and her two daughters-in-law set their sights on Judah, despite Naomi’s advice against her daughters following her there (v. 5-7). She warns, “Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands?” (v.11), and she instructs the women to return to their mothers’ houses (v. 8-9). Orpah takes Naomi’s advice but Ruth’s response is much different; instead, she expresses her devotion to Naomi, proclaiming, “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go…where you die, I will die,” (v.

This text provides insight to our sex and the bible class on how women and their gender and sexuality were regarded in this time, showing their need for a man to provide security, worth, and