Ruth Observation Study - Book Summary

The version used is KJV

Themes

  • YHVH the Restorer
  • History of David's Lineage

The chapter in key words

  • return, shuv H7725
  • glean, laqat H3950
  • lie down, shakav H7901
  • redeem, ga'al H1350

Titles of God

  • YHVH, LORD
  • Restorer

Some Repeating words

  • her 52
  • she 48
  • unto 47
  • he 29
  • Boaz 20
  • Naomi 19
  • law 19
  • LORD 18
  • Ruth 12
  • kinsman 12

Best viewed as a word clouds, which shows the dialog nature of the book

img1

but when I remove the words around speech or dialog, I get the following

img2

In addition, the Hebrew (WLC used) words have a different word distribution than the English equivalent (KJV used). KJV based english word count distribution

img3

and the Hebrew counts from Leningrad Codex

img4

Keywords

  • LORD 19
  • kinsman 13
  • glean 12
  • return 8
  • redeem 9
  • sat 4

Comparisons/Contrasts

  • Elimelech and Boaz
  • Naomi in Bethlehem to Naomi in Moab and Naomi back in Bethlehem
  • Ruth as a Moabite and Ruth as an Israelite
  • Boaz and Peloni Almoni (the first kinsman)
  • Women in town: when they welcome Naomi and when Ruth has a son
  • Men doing what is right in his own eyes and Boaz
  • Land of Bethlehem in famine vs in abundance

Cause & effect

The entire book is orchestrated by Yah, but for the specifics, here are the cause and effect.

Questions for Detail Study

  • Property rights: Naomi selling the land or a parcel and what does it mean?
  • Levirite marriage and redemption: was Boaz right in attaching Ruth to the purchase and is this a levirite custom?
  • What timeframe do we think the book of Ruth occured in the time of Judges?