Ruth 3:1-5 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it may be well with you? 2 “And now is not Boaz our kinsman, with whose maids you were? Behold, he winnows barley at the threshing floor tonight. 3 “Wash yourself therefore, and put on perfumed oil and put on your cloak, and go down to the threshing floor; but do… Continue reading
Ruth 2:1 Now Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.
Analysis of v. 1:
1) V. 1 introduces Boaz as another principal character and establishes his relationship with Naomi.
2) He is designated as a “kinsman” of her husband.
3) The term translated “kinsman” possesses a range of meanings: “acquaintance, confidant, intimate… Continue reading
Chapter 1 begins the account of Ruth who traveled from Moab to Israel to care for her grief-stricken mother-in-law, Naomi. Continue reading
1) Title.
a) The Book of Ruth is named after a Moabite woman who lived during the period of the Judges.
b) The etymology of the name “Ruth” is uncertain.
c) Some have suggested the name is a Moabite modification of the Hebrew term for “friendship, association.”[1]
d) The book of Ruth is one of two books named for… Continue reading
Judges 21:1-6 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, “None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin in marriage.” 2 So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. 3 And they said, “Why, O LORD, God of Israel, has this come about in Israel, so that one tribe should be missing today in Israel?” 4 And it came about the next day that the people arose early and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 5 Then the sons of Israel said, “Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up in the assembly to the LORD?” For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the LORD at Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” 6 And the sons of Israel were sorry for their brother Benjamin and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel today. Continue reading
Judges 20:1-7 Then all the sons of Israel from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, came out, and the congregation assembled as one man to the LORD at Mizpah. 2 And the chiefs of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, took their stand in the assembly of the people of God, 400,000 foot soldiers who drew the sword. 3 (Now the sons of Benjamin heard that the sons of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the sons of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this wickedness take place?” 4 So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “I came with my concubine to spend the night at Gibeah which belongs to Benjamin. 5 “But the men of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me; instead, they ravished my concubine so that she died. 6 “And I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance; for they have committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel. 7 “Behold, all you sons of Israel, give your advice and counsel here.” Continue reading
Judges 19:1-4 Now it came about in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, who took a concubine for himself from Bethlehem in Judah. 2 But his concubine played the harlot against him, and she went away from him to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah, and was there for a period of four months. 3 Then her husband arose and went after her to speak tenderly to her in order to bring her back, taking with him his servant and a pair of donkeys. So she brought him into her father’s house, and when the girl’s father saw him, he was glad to meet him. 4 And his father-in-law, the girl’s father, detained him; and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and lodged there. Continue reading
Judges 18:1-4 In those days there was no king of Israel; and in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for themselves to live in, for until that day an inheritance had not been allotted to them as a possession among the tribes of Israel. 2 So the sons of Dan sent from their family five men out of their whole number, valiant men from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to search it; and they said to them, “Go, search the land.” And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. 3 When they were near the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite; and they turned aside there, and said to him, “Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this place? And what do you have here?” 4 And he said to them, “Thus and so has Micah done to me, and he has hired me, and I have become his priest.” Continue reading
Judges 17:1-4 Now there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. 2 And he said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver which were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD.” 3 He then returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I wholly dedicate the silver from my hand to the LORD for my son to make a graven image and a molten image; now therefore, I will return them to you.” 4 So when he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith who made them into a graven image and a molten image, and they were in the house of Micah. Continue reading
Judges 16:1-4 Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her. 2 When it was told to the Gazites, saying, “Samson has come here,” they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. And they kept silent all night, saying, “Let us wait until the morning light, then we will kill him.” 3 Now Samson lay until midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two posts and pulled them up along with the bars; then he put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the mountain which is opposite Hebron. 4 After this it came about that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah Continue reading