Old Testament: The Book of Ruth

Evidence is insufficient on the author of the book of Ruth. Historically, it gives the impression to be during the era of the judges (Ruth.1:1), but was finalized at another time. (Hubbard, 1988). According to Gerald West, editor for Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible, “The opening words, In the days when the judges ruled looks back to that period; the gloss in Ruth 4:7 explains an ancient custom for later readers; and Ruth 4:22 mentions David. Thus, the final editorial process could not have ended before the time of David” (West, 2003, p. 211). The 19th century German philosopher, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said that Ruth is "The loveliest complete work on a small scale" (Hillenbrand, 2003, P.189).

During the time of the Judges, Israelites’ apostasy and immorality brought suffering (Judges 2:19). God judged the people, and the consequences was war and famine. Due to the famine, Elimelek and Naomi, from the tribe of Judah, left their family property located near Bethlehem to go to a neighboring country called Moab. The Moabites were descendants of Lot through his daughters (Genesis 19:36-38). There is no indication that they were led by God to leave, but headed to the land for survival. Their sons married Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah.

I consider Ruth's marriage to be her first career. During this time, women had only two acceptable places in society: they could be a daughter in their father’s household or a wife in their husband’s household. A woman without a husband had no social standing (Taitz, Henry, Talon, 2003). Ruth's marriage to Malhon proved an important career decision. H.B. Gelatt states in his Formal Decision Theory, that an individual that “must make a decision has two or more possible courses of action. ...

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...verything and take care of Naomi. Rather we classify her a missionary or a caregiver she had the compassion and empathy to handle both.

In Naomi’s homeland Ruth becomes an alien in a foreign country. Things were bad but life had to go on. Naomi was bitter and living through hard times. Naomi was sure God was dealing harshly with her, and she was unhappy. Ruth was an encourager and stayed with Naomi taking care of her needs. We can see the spirit of a counselor take form. Ruth tried to provide assistance during Naomi’s time of difficulty. There is not a lot of information in this part of a passage to draw a specific conclusion but seeing the type of woman Ruth was becoming leads me to believe the role of counselor in Ruth’s life was used in Naomi. Any yet, God still used Naomi even in her bitterness to graft Ruth into the lineage of Jesus Christ (West, 2003).