Painterly portrait of a young woman with warm olive skin and a head scarf, holding sheaves of golden barley in a field at sunset. — Painterly interpretation — not a historical likeness.

Old Testament

Ruth

Moabite outsider whose loyalty made her great-grandmother to King David.

Traditional datingTime of the Judges, c. 1100s BC

Their story, briefly

Married into an Israelite family that fled famine to Moab.
Widowed young; refused to leave Naomi: 'Where you go, I will go.'
Gleaned in the fields of Boaz, a kinsman-redeemer.
Married Boaz; bore Obed, grandfather of David.
Named in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

Key passages

Ruth 1:16-17
Ruth 2:11-12
Ruth 4:13-17
Matthew 1:5-6

How their life points to Christ

Boaz the kinsman-redeemer is a quiet shadow of Christ — a relative with the right and the will to pay the cost and bring an outsider in. Ruth is proof that the gospel was always for the nations.

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More from Scripture

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Mary, mother of Jesus

Young Judean woman who said yes to God and bore the Savior.

Painterly portrait of a young Persian-Jewish queen with dark braided hair, modest jeweled headdress, and rich burgundy and gold robes.

Esther

A Jewish exile made queen of Persia — 'for such a time as this.'

Painterly portrait of a poised young Hebrew woman with dark hair under a simple woven head covering, in sage and cream robes.

Abigail

A wise woman who stopped a future king from sin.