Discover The Word

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

TEXT: The book of Ruth

IDEA: The book named after Ruth gives a curious reader a reason for reading it.

PURPOSE: To get listeners to read the story of Ruth

How important is the title of a book?

Which is better—”the Sermon on the Mount” or “What Jesus Said About Successful Living”?

The people who put the Bible together didn’t seem to be obsessed with titles, but that the story titled “Ruth” should be called that is remarkable for several reasons.

I. Ruth is not an Israelite.

Five times in the story, Ruth is referred to as a “Moabite.” Who were the Moabites?

This is the only book in the entire Old Testament named for a non-Israelite. (Luke is the only New Testament book named after a Gentile.)

II. Ruth isn’t the main character in the story.

The story opens describing the crises in Naomi’s family—the deaths of her husband and her two sons.

At the beginning of the story it is Naomi who has lost everything and at the end it is Naomi who is filled by the birth of a grandson, Obed.

You’d think the story should be named for Naomi, not for Ruth.

III. Ruth’s secondary role is reinforced by the way the characters relate in the story.

Dialogue is a feature of the story called “Ruth.”

Fifty-five of the eighty-five verses in the book feature dialogue. Over half of the words in the book (678 out of 1,294 words) are on the lips of the characters.

Of the three main characters in the story, Ruth speaks least often and her speeches are the shortest: she speaks a total of 120 words in 10 speeches. Naomi speaks 225 words in 12 speeches and Boaz speaks 281 words in 14 speeches.

Based on the dialogue, the story might have been called “Boaz’s story.”

IV. The title represents the narrator’s and the reader’s special fascination with the character of Ruth.

What is that fascination?

Matthew singles her out as one of the four women in his genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:5).