The Book of Ruth is a short book of four chapters. In our Bibles, it is placed after the Book of Judges because it takes place in the same period (1:1). This division is based on the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament.
Tanakh
In the Hebrew Tanakh, the division is different. There, it is classified under the Writings (Ketuvim). Within the Ketuvim, Ruth occupies a special place as part of the five Scrolls (Chamesh Megillot). These are also called festive scrolls because they are associated with holidays in Jewish tradition:
- Song of Songs – read at Passover
- Ruth – read at Shavuot
- Lamentations – read at Tisha B’Av
- Ecclesiastes – read at Sukkot
- Esther – read at Purim
Feast of Weeks
The Book of Ruth is read on Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks. It is called the Feast of Weeks because seven full weeks were to be counted from the day of the sheaf of firstfruits (Leviticus 23:15-16). On the following day, the fiftieth, the Feast of Weeks began. We also know it as Pentecost, which comes from the Greek word pentekosteh, meaning fiftieth (Acts 2:1).
The day of the sheaf of firstfruits is associated with the barley harvest, and the Feast of Weeks heralds the beginning of the wheat harvest. Both of these are found in the Book of Ruth (1:22; 2:21,23), in which the harvest plays a major role.
Prophetic
The Book of Ruth has high prophetic significance. Pentecost speaks of the outpouring of the Spirit, and the book of Ruth illustrates how, in the future, God will pour out His Spirit on Israel (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17). Pentecost in the last days.
No kingdom yet
The period of Judges, in which the story of Ruth also takes place, is the period in which the people did not yet have a king. This period follows the coming of Joshua, the same name as Jehoshua and also the Greek word Jesus. The people had no leader, and “everyone did what was right in their own eyes” (Judg. 17:6; 21:25). A depiction of an unbelieving people of Israel in our time.
It is noteworthy in this regard that the last word of the book of Ruth is David. The book illustrates the path the people of Israel take after the coming of Joshua (>Jesus) and before it will (once again) become a kingdom, under the rule of the Son of David.
Ruth begins with a man in Bethlehem and ends with David. The parallel with the New Testament is obvious, where Jesus is born in Bethlehem and will sit on the throne in (the New) Jerusalem as the Son of David (Rev. 21:2-3).