Editing Book of Ruth (section)

{{short description|Book of the Bible}}
{{About|the ancient Hebrew religious text|the 20th-century English-language novel|The Book of Ruth (novel){{!}}''The Book of Ruth'' (novel)|the 1960 film|The Story of Ruth{{!}}''The Story of Ruth''|the 2009 film|The Book of Ruth: Journey of Faith{{!}}''The Book of Ruth: Journey of Faith''|the 2017 ''Ozark'' episode|Book of Ruth (Ozark){{!}}Book of Ruth (''Ozark'')}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2011}}
{{Tanakh OT |Ketuvim |historical}}

The '''Book of Ruth''' ({{langx|he|מְגִלַּת רוּת}}, ''Megillath Ruth'', "the Scroll of Ruth", one of the [[Five Megillot]]) is included in the third division, or the Writings ([[Ketuvim]]), of the [[Hebrew Bible]]. In most [[Old Testament|Christian canons]] it is treated as one of the [[historical books]] and placed between [[Book of Judges|Judges]] and [[1 Samuel]].{{sfn|Coogan|2008|p=8}}

It narrates the story of [[Naomi (biblical figure)|Naomi]] and her daughter-in-law [[Ruth (biblical figure)|Ruth]], who return to [[Bethlehem]] after the deaths of their husbands, where Ruth's loyalty to Naomi leads to her marriage to [[Boaz]]. Their son [[Obed (biblical figure)|Obed]] becomes the grandfather of [[King David]].

Written in [[Biblical Hebrew|Hebrew]] during the [[Persian period]] (c. 550–330 BCE),{{sfn|Grabbe|2004|p=105}}<ref>{{cite book
 | last       = Schipper
 | first      = Jeremy
 | title      = Ruth: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary
 | publisher  = Yale University Press
 | year       = 2016
 | isbn       = 9780300192155
 | url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=RhwvCwAAQBAJ
 | page       = 22
}}</ref> the book is generally considered by scholars to be a work of [[historical fiction]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> [[Evangelical]] scholarship holds that the book is a historical short story.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Lau |first=Peter H. W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G1l-EAAAQBAJ&pg=PP37&dq=book+of+ruth+the+short+story+allows+for+the+historicity |title=The Book of Ruth |date=2023 |publisher=[[Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4674-6577-9 |series=[[New International Commentary on the Old Testament]] |page=37}}</ref>

The book is held in esteem by [[Gerim|Jewish converts]], as is evidenced by the considerable presence of [[Boaz]] in rabbinic literature. It also functions [[liturgy|liturgically]], as it is read during the [[Jewish holiday]] of [[Shavuot]] ("Weeks").{{sfn|Atteridge|2006|p=383}}