WATCHMAN33
Ruth supports the grieving Naomi on the road from Moab toward Bethlehem as Orpah recedes and golden barley fields appear beyond the hills.
KING JAMES VERSION

RUTH 1

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CHAPTER VISUAL

Ruth 1 — Bereaved Naomi returns to Bethlehem, and Ruth binds herself to Naomi, her people, and her God.

About this illustration

The road joins the farewell in Moab with the first sight of Bethlehem at barley harvest. Ruth’s loyalty is shown through posture and companionship rather than visible words.

Scripture basis: Ruth 1:1–22
  1. 1Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Beth-lehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.
  2. 2And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth-lehem-judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.
  3. 3And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons.
  4. 4And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.
  5. 5And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.
  6. 6 Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread.
  7. 7Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah.
  8. 8And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother’s house: the LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.
  9. 9The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept.
  10. 10And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people.
  11. 11And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?
  12. 12Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons;
  13. 13Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me.
  14. 14And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.
  15. 15And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.
  16. 16And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
  17. 17Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.
  18. 18When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.
  19. 19 So they two went until they came to Beth-lehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Beth-lehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?
  20. 20And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
  21. 21I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?
  22. 22So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Beth-lehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

King James Version · Standardized 1769 text with Strong’s numbering · Public domain outside the United Kingdom

EXPLORE THE MESSAGE

Related Watchman 33 Resources

Archaeological Evidence

ARCHAEOLOGY EVIDENCEInscription
Commonly dated to the tenth century BC

The Gezer Calendar

A palm-sized limestone tablet from Gezer arranges an agricultural year into short lines about gathering, sowing, tending, and harvest, preserving early alphabetic writing and rural vocabulary while leaving its language, date, and purpose open to debate.

Exodus 23:14–17 · Leviticus 23:9–22 · Ruth 1:22
Open evidence file
ARCHAEOLOGY EVIDENCEInscription
Late eighth or seventh century BC

Bethlehem Fiscal Bulla

A tiny provenanced clay docket from Jerusalem reads most plausibly 'in the seventh [year] / Bethlehem / [to the ki]ng,' providing the earliest secure extrabiblical attestation of Judahite Bethlehem while leaving the king, commodity, and administrative mechanism unknown.

Micah 5:2 · Ruth 1:1–2 · 1 Samuel 16:1–13
Open evidence file
ARCHAEOLOGY EVIDENCEManuscript
Herodian period

4QRuthᵃ (4Q104): Ruth in the Second Temple Period

Hasmonean Cave 4 fragments preserve Ruth 1:1-12 in Hebrew, attesting the famine, migration, bereavement, return, and first part of Naomi's farewell while revealing little about the copy's ancient use.

Ruth 1:1–12
Open evidence file