There are only two gentiles who have a book of the Hebrew Bible named after them.
Have any idea who they might be?
One is Job.
And the other one is…you you guessed it:
RUTH!
That’s right.
Ruth was NOT a Hebrew.
She was a gentile of Moabite stock.
You do remember who Moab was, don’t you?
He was Lot’s son (or in modern terms “grandson”) born from Lot’s daughter.
Moab also founded the region called after his name.
In fact, Ruth’s line can be traced all the way back through Lot to Abraham’s brother Haran.
Haran was Lot’s father.
Now I just mentioned that Ruth was only one of two gentiles who have a Biblical book named after her.
Well, here’s something else interesting.
She’s also only one of two women who have a Biblical book named after her.
Ruth is one…
Have any idea who the other one might be?
The other woman is Esther.
When we compare and contrast Ruth’s life with Esther’s we actually come up with some amazing insights…
In fact, some scholars have labeled Ruth “the book of contrasts”.
You’ll see why as we move forward.
See ya all next time.
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