Orpah returns to Moab, and Naomi and Ruth continue their journey. Naomi suggests once again that Ruth can go too, but Ruth tells her not to insist, because she will stay with her. And then Ruth speaks perhaps the most famous words in the book.
Ruth 1
15 And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and to her god. Return after your sister-in-law.”
16 And Ruth said, “Do not entice me to leave you by turning back after you, for where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.
17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried.” Thus will the LORD do to me, and thus will He add, that only death will separate you and me.
Companion
Ruth proves to be a true companion, as her name means. She stays and ties her fate to that of Naomi: your people shall be my people, and your God shall be my God. Ruth is a pagan woman who connects herself to the Jewish people and the God of Israel.
Who is a Jew?
There is much debate about who is a Jew and who is not. You can be Jewish by birth, but also by converting to Judaism, becoming a Jew. Israeli law regarding who has the right to immigrate to Israel is much broader than the religious laws that define who is Jewish.
Moreover, over a long period of time, intermingling with other peoples has occurred among the nations. Ruth was a Moabite who, through her marriage to Mahlon (4:2), entered a Jewish family. She represents that part of the nation that, while considered Jewish, also has a different origin.
Your God is my God
The words she speaks are powerful: your people are my people. She connects herself to Israel and distances herself from her Moabite origins. Even more powerful is: your God is my God. Israel was God’s chosen people, and by leaving Moab and following Naomi, Ruth demonstrated that she was turning her back on the gods of her people and turning to the God of Israel (cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:9).
Ruth’s bond with Naomi, her people and, moreover, her God, is described as a marriage: until death doth part. The old covenant was a marriage covenant, and the new covenant will be so again (Isaiah 54:5; Jeremiah 31:31-33).