Torah FeedThe Book of Ruth
Ruth is book 31 of 39 in the Tanakh, part of Ketuvim. It has 4 chapters and 85 verses.
Updated September 19, 2026
רוּת
- Section
- Ketuvim
- Chapters
- 4
- Verses
- 85
- Longest chapter
- 2 (23 verses)
What Ruth is about
Ruth is the story of a Moabite widow who stays with her mother-in-law Naomi, comes with her to Bethlehem, gleans in the fields of Boaz and marries him. Her great-grandson is King David. It is one of the five scrolls, read on Shavuot.
Opening verse
וַיְהִי בִּימֵי שְׁפֹט הַשֹּׁפְטִים וַיְהִי רָעָב בָּאָרֶץ וַיֵּלֶךְ אִישׁ מִבֵּית לֶחֶם יְהוּדָה לָגוּר בִּשְׂדֵי מוֹאָב הוּא וְאִשְׁתּוֹ וּשְׁנֵי בָנָיו׃
AND IT came to pass in the days when the judges judged, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Beth-lehem in Judah went to sojourn in the field of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.