Ruth רות
a Moabite who joined the Jewish people; great-grandmother of King David
The story of Ruth takes place «in the days when the judges judged», around 2790. Famine drove Elimelech, his wife Naomi and their sons from Bethlehem to Moav. There the men died, and Naomi, left with nothing, decided to return. She released both daughters-in-law; Orpah left, but Ruth «clung to her».
Her answer is one of Scripture's most famous speeches: «Where you go I will go… your people are my people and your God my God.» The sages read it as the classic formula of conversion and derive from it the procedure for accepting a convert.
In Bethlehem she gleans in the field of Boaz, a kinsman of her husband. He notices her, learns what she has done for Naomi, and protects her. On Naomi's advice she comes to the threshing floor at night and asks him to act as redeemer. A nearer kinsman declines, and Boaz marries her.
Their son Oved is father of Yishai, father of David. The scroll is read on Shavuot: written, the sages say, to show how great the reward for kindness is.