Ruth 1 is the first chapter of the Book of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, part of the Ketuvim ("Writings"). This chapter contains the story of how Elimelech, Ruth's father-in-law, driven by famine, moved into Moab, and died there (Ruth 1:1-5); Naomi returning home, Ruth accompanies her (Ruth 1:6-18); They came to Bethlehem (Ruth 1:19-22).
Text
The original text was written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 22 verses.
Textual versions
Some early witnesses for the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Aleppo Codex (10th century) and Codex Leningradensis (1008). Some fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, i.e., 4Q104 (4QRutha; ca. 50 BCE) with extant verses 1–12, and 4Q105 (4QRuthb; 30 BCE-68 CE) with extant verses 1‑6, 12‑15, with only slight variations from the Masoretic Text.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century).
The Bethlehem Trilogy
Three sections of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) — Judges 17–18, Judges 19–21, Ruth 1–4 — form a trilogy with a link to the city Bethlehem of Judah and characterized by the repetitive unique statement: "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25; cf. Ruth 1:1) as in the following chart:
Verse 1
Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. "Now it came to pass" (Hebrew ויהי ): literally, "And it came to pass." The "And" (Hebrew: , w[a]) is a remarkable opening of the book, which is also found in the first word of the Book of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, Ezekiel, Esther, and Ezra; all these books, including Ezekiel, are historical. "In the days when the judges ruled": literally, "when the judges judged". The narratives in this book took place in the early times of the judges, although the precise date cannot be determined. The note of time, like that in Ruth 4:7; ; , indicates that this book was written after the rule of the judges had ceased. The genealogy points to the time of David as the earliest when the Book of Ruth could have been written. Josephus places it during the time of Eli as the high priest, but that is too late for Boaz, the grandfather of Jesse, the father of David, to live. Some Jewish writers, as rabbi Jarchi, place it during the time of Ibzan, who they identify as Boaz, but with no evidence, and also too late for the events. The Jewish chronology put it during the time of Eglon, king of Moab, when Ehud was judge; Lightfoot concurs and place it between the third and fourth chapters of Judges, during the times of Ehud or Shamgar. Junius refers it to the times of Deborah and Barak; and others, on account of the famine, think it began in the period when the Midianites oppressed Israel, taking away the fruits of the earth, thus when Gideon was called to be a judge. "And a certain man" (Hebrew: איש 'îsh): The word "certain" is added for clarity, as the original simply reads "And a man". "Bethlehem, Judah": not Bethlehem in the tribe of Zebulun, . The name denotes the fruitfulness of the place, and the plenty of bread ("Beth-lehem" means "house-(of)-bread"). "Dwell" (KJV: "sojourn"): as a resident alien. "The country of Moab" (Hebrew: שדי מואב sadeh Moab): Here, and in Ruth 1:2, ; Ruth 4:3, literally, "the field" or "fields of Moab." The same word sadeh is used of the territory of Moab, the Amalekites, Edom, and the Philistines, showing a consistent reference to a foreign country, not the country of the writer.