Book of Ruth Study (Chapter 4)

Book of Ruth Study- Questions

Chapter 4 Opening Discussion

1. Do you like going barefoot? When? Where?

2. When have you sealed a promise in an unusual way (like being “blood brothers”)?

Chapter 4 Questions

1. From Leviticus 25: 23-43 and Deuteronomy 25: 5-10, what are the Lord’s views on property, poverty, and posterity? Given her tenuous position, how would these laws protect Naomi?

2. What cost is involved for the kinsman- redeemer who follows each of these laws? If a woman marries the kinsman, how much of her property goes to him? How much to her son? How might this account for the unnamed redeemer’s reluctance to marry Ruth (v. 6)?

3. What does it say about Boaz, being willing to take on all the expense and duties, when he will get nothing tangible in return? What ancestor of Boaz was born from the same practice of this kinsman-redeemer law (vv. 12, 18-21); see Genesis 38)? How might having a foreigner for a mother (see Matthew 1: 5), have influenced his choice of a wife?

Chapter 4 Reflection

1. How large a problem are your poor, your hungry, and your homeless? How could the biblical principle of gleaning (salvage or recycling) be applied to your situation?

2. When have you faced great physical need? How did the Lord provide for you? How is your story like Naomi’s and Ruth’s story of how the Lord cares?