Ruth, The Book of. The Book of Ruth contains the history of Ruth, as narrated in the preceding article. The main object of the writer is evidently to give an account of David's ancestors; and the book was avowedly composed long after the time of the heroine. See Ruth 1:1; Ruth 4:7; Ruth 4:17. Its date and author are quite uncertain. Tradition is in favor of Samuel.
It is probable that the books of Judges, Ruth, Samuel and Kings originally formed, but one work. The book of Ruth clearly forms part of the books of Samuel, supplying, as it does, the essential point of David's genealogy, and early family history, and is no less clearly connected with the book of Judges, by its opening verse and the epoch to which the whole book relates.