Megillat Ruth - Structure and Overview

The plot of the story develops over the course of time and space on two planes: on the personal plane, Naomi's family moves from the experiences of starvation and death to a new reality of sustenance and the renewal of a previously severed family line; on the national plane, the book begins in the era of judges, a spiritual and physical low point for the nation, and ends with the birth of David as a sign of national redemption.

The central axis of the book includes two primary episodes, which take place over the course of two ends of an agricultural period: the beginning of the barley harvest Pessah time, and the end of the wheat harvest at Shavuot.

Chapter 2 described Ruth as a desolate Moabite stranger, gathering sheaves dropped by the harvesters. Thanks to the kindness of the field owner, Boaz, she returns to her mother-in-law with a respectable amount of barley, giving the two women the hope of sustenance for the foreseeable future.

Chapter 3 moves toward the time of threshing in the field. Ruth follows Naomi's plan and goes to the threshing floor at night, in an attempt to enable Boaz to redeem the family lands, and the opportunity to assume responsibility for Ruth through an act reminiscent of a levirate marriage.

The final chapter of the book takes place at the gate of the city. The story centers on Boaz's redemption of the land and of Ruth, in order to "perpetuate the name of the deceased upon his estate."

The book ends with the birth of the son – Oved, the dynasty that begins with Peretz and culminates with King David.

The movement from hunger and death to a new life symbolized by sustenance and the birth of a child is intertwined with the national transition from the physical and spiritual low point during the Era of Judges, to the hope for a better future symbolized by the Monarchy.

The geographical setting of Beit Lehem – literally "house of bread" – is deeply symbolic: the physical reconstruction of the home (land, marriage, and birth) emerges from the more primal needs for sustenance – gathering barley or wheat, which provides Ruth and Naomi with the initial ability to survive.

The family and the nation both evolve through the hessed of the book's protagonists: Boaz provided two strange women with sustenance, while Ruth provided Naomi with companionship, barley and wheat from Boaz's field. Through their marriage, Boaz and Ruth recreate a line that was severed, and through the hessed of rebuilding their personal line, they inadvertently create a line of monarchy for their nation.