Meaning of the Name Ruth
The precise origin of the Hebrew name Ruth is debated; the most commonly proposed link is with the word for 'friendship, companion' (re'ut). Since the meaning is not certain, 'friend' is passed on as a traditional explanation.
Origin
The name Ruth is of Hebrew origin.
Who is Ruth in the Bible?
Ruth is the Moabite daughter-in-law who bound herself to Naomi with the words 'where you go, I will go'; the book bearing her name tells of her faithfulness. She marries Boaz and becomes the great-grandmother of David; Matthew names her in the genealogy of Jesus.
The story of Ruth in the Bible
Ruth's story begins with a famine: a family from Bethlehem migrates to Moab, the sons marry Moabite women, and then the father and both sons die. When her mother-in-law Naomi decides to return home, Ruth has an easy way out — going back to her own people. Instead she binds herself to Naomi with words that have echoed through history: where you go I will go; your people will be my people, and your God my God. In Bethlehem the two women survive as the poor do, and Ruth goes out to glean in the field of Boaz. He has heard all she did for her mother-in-law and blesses her in the name of the LORD, under whose wings she has taken refuge. Through the customs of family redemption Boaz marries Ruth; when their son Obed is born, the neighbor women rejoice for Naomi's sake. Obed becomes the father of Jesse, and Jesse of David — so the Moabite bride enters the family line of Israel's greatest king, and Matthew names her in the genealogy of Jesus.
Is Ruth mentioned in the Quran?
The name Ruth does not appear in the Quran; in the Bible she is the heroine of the Old Testament book that bears her name, the great-grandmother of David, and one of the women named in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus.
Verses where Ruth appears
- Ruth 1:16-17 —
Ruth said, “Don’t entreat me to leave you, and to return from following after you, for where you go, I will go; and where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God; where you die,…
- Ruth 4:13-17 —
So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and he went in to her, and Yahweh gave her conception, and she bore a son. The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be Yahweh, who has not left you this day without a near kinsman;…
- Matthew 1:5 —
Salmon became the father of Boaz by Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse.