“Do not implore me to leave you
or to turn back from you;
For wherever you go, I will go;
Where you dwell, I shall dwell;
Your people will be my people;
And your God, my God;
Where you die, I will die;
And there I will be buried with thee’
…Nothing but death will ever separate us.”
– the young widowed Ruth to her
mother–in–law, Naomi.
Imbued with loving kindness, gracious, and loyal to the death, Ruth will not leave center–stage so easily. Symbolizing, as well, sincere and dedicated conversion to Judaism (she is originally a Moabite), the Jews will name and devote a book of the Tanach in her honor. The Book of Ruth is read annually on the Jewish festival of Shavuot (Tabernacles), commemorating the receiving of the Torah at Sinai.
Note: The date of the Book of Ruth is in wide dispute by scholars, as is its author.
Great–grandmother of King David, Ruth emerges, as well, as a key figure in Catholic and Protestant tradition.