Answer
The book of Ruth is set during the period of the judges, a time marked by widespread spiritual depravity and moral decline. Yet, in this dark era, Ruth and Boaz, the main characters in the book of Ruth, shine like beacons of light because of their faithfulness to God and to each other. Although the book is anonymous, tradition attributes its authorship to Samuel, a claim corroborated by implicit biblical evidence. Samuel likely wrote the book near the beginning of David’s kingship, which started in 1011 BC. Thus, Ruth was probably written between 1030 and 1010 BC, shortly before or at the start of David’s reign.
The historical context of Ruth helps determine when the book was composed. The opening verse reveals the time and setting of the story: “In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons” (Ruth 1:1, ESV). The period of the judges began shortly after the death of Joshua, around 1376 BC, and ended with the establishment of Saul as Israel’s first king, around 1052 BC. Therefore, the composition of Ruth likely occurred shortly after the era of the judges; one of the purposes of the book would have been to support the legitimacy of David’s kingship.
Furthermore, the genealogy at the end of the book suggests that the events took place near the end of the period of the judges. This genealogy connects the story to David, revealing that Boaz and Ruth were David’s paternal great-grandparents: “Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David” (Ruth 4:21–22, ESV). Accordingly, Jesse was David’s father, Obed his grandfather, and Boaz his great-grandfather.
Broadly speaking, if there are 20 to 40 years between generations, Boaz would have lived 60 to 120 years before David, as he was David’s great-grandfather. Moreover, this estimate corresponds to 2 Samuel 5:4, which reveals David’s age when he became king: “David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years” (ESV). If David began to reign in 1010 BC at the age of 30, his birth year would be around 1040 BC. Given this, if Boaz is approximately 60 to 120 years older than David, he would have been born between 1160 and 1100 BC. It’s probable that Boaz’s birth year was closer to 1160 BC than 1100 BC. because the story implies twice that Boaz was a generation older than Ruth (Ruth 2:8; 3:10).
If Samuel was the author of Ruth, he would have composed the book sometime after his anointing of David as king. This helps narrow the timeframe for when the book was written, further supported by the fact that Samuel was still living when David’s reign started (1 Samuel 16:6–13; 25:1).
Considering these factors, it’s probable that God used Samuel to write the book of Ruth around the start of David’s reign as king. Understanding David’s heritage gave his generation assurance that his Israelite ancestry was legitimate and godly. More broadly, the relationship between Boaz and Ruth assures every generation that, even amid times of spiritual and moral decay, the light of God’s holy remnant cannot be extinguished.
