1In the days when the judges judged, there was a famine in the land. A certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to live in the country of Moab with his wife and his two sons. 2The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi. The names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah. They came into the country of Moab and lived there. 3Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. 4They took for themselves wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other was Ruth. They lived there about ten years. 5Mahlon and Chilion both died, and the woman was bereaved of her two children and of her husband. 6Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab; for she had heard in the country of Moab how Yahweh had visited his people in giving them bread. 7She went out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her. They went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May Yahweh deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9May Yahweh grant you that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband.”
Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices, and wept. 10They said to her, “No, but we will return with you to your people.”
11Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters. Why do you want to go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? 12Go back, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, ‘I have hope,’ if I should even have a husband tonight, and should also bear sons, 13would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from having husbands? No, my daughters, for it grieves me seriously for your sakes, for Yahweh’s hand has gone out against me.”
14They lifted up their voices and wept again; then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth stayed with her. 15She said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her god. Follow your sister-in-law.”
16Ruth said, “Don’t urge me to leave you, and to return from following you, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. 17Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May Yahweh do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”
18When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
19So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. When they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was excited about them, and they asked, “Is this Naomi?”
20She said to them, “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21I went out full, and Yahweh has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since Yahweh has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?” 22So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.
The setting for the story of Ruth is essential to understand what is recorded in the book. The author starts the book with the words, "In the days when the judges judged, there was a famine in the land."
First, we may see that the book was likely written in the time of David, or possibly Solomon, and was written about people who really lived and events that occurred, about two-hundred years earlier in the time of the period of the judges. Certainly not everything that occurred in regards to the characters of Ruth is given but the author chooses the details that develops the theme that the author wishes to teach in the book. Moreover, it is not simply a biographical sketch of the major characters of Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz, but it is a theological story about how Yahweh was faithful to His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The fact that the time of the Judges was an unsettled time when the Israelites, having entered and settling into their promised land were ruled by Judges who sought to solve the problem of the failure to rid Israel of the Canaanites who continued to live among them, as well as the Philistines. Since there was no king who would unite the tribes of Israel, there was much unrest.
The author presents an Ephrathite family of four people. The father's name was Eli-melech (meaning my God is king). The wife and mother was named Naomi (meaning pleasant), while the two sons were Mahlon (maḥlôn, sickness), and the other Chilion (ḵilyôn, wasting), so it may be that their names were changed (as was common in the Jewish culture) to reflect their condition in the story that gave rise to their death. This family lived in the "house of Bread," the meaning of "Beth-lechem" but moved to Moab at the beginning of the story, since there was a famine in the land of Israel.