Ruth 1: Group Study Handout

How to use: read Ruth 1 aloud together, then take the questions in order. One page is enough for an evening.

Overview

Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their two sons Mahlon and Chilion leave Bethlehem due to a famine and settle in Moab (vv. 1-2). Elimelech dies, leaving Naomi with her two sons, who later marry Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth (vv.

Key verse

“Ruth said, “Don’t urge me to leave you, and to return from following you, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God.”
Ruth 1:16 (WEB)

Outline

Ruth 1:1–2 The Family of Elimelech
Ruth 1:3–5 Tragedy Strikes Naomi
Ruth 1:6–9 Naomi Decides to Return
Ruth 1:10–14 Ruth's Loyalty to Naomi
Ruth 1:15–18 Ruth's Commitment
Ruth 1:19–21 Naomi's Bitterness
Ruth 1:22 Arrival in Bethlehem

Discussion questions

In v6, why does Naomi decide to return from Moab?
What does Naomi tell her daughters-in-law in vv. 8-9 as they prepare to part?
Naomi’s name change in v20 raises the question: what does this signify about her feelings?
Ruth’s declaration in v16 poses the question: what does her commitment suggest about her view of family?
When have you experienced a loss that made you reconsider your relationships, like Naomi in v21?

Go deeper

Passages that echo Ruth 1: Joshua 24, Ruth 2, 2 Samuel 15.

Before next time: read Ruth 2.