A famine in Canaan. Elimelech removes to Moab; with Naomi his wife, and his two sons, who marry Orpah and Ruth there; and die, 1-5. Naomi returns to Judah; her daughters-in-law accompany her on her way, 6-13. Orpah returns home to her people and gods; Ruth remains, being converted, 14-18. They come to Beth-lehem, 19-22.
William Gouge's Domestical Duties: 'Fathers- and mothers-in-law are to be ranked in the first degree of those who are in the place of natural parents. Very good proof there is in scripture for children's subjection to them. The respect which Moses bear to his father-in-law, [Exodus 18:7] and Ruth to her mother-in-law, [Ruth 1-2] and Christ himself to his supposed father, [Luke 2:51] are commended for this very purpose. Subjection is noted in Christ's example: reverence in Moses: recompence in Ruth's.'
Thomas Brooks' Heaven on Earth: 'Many men's love to Christ is like the morning dew; it is like Jonah's gourd, that came up in a night and vanished in a night. But that love that accompanies salvation is like Ruth's love, a lasting and an abiding love, Ruth 1. It is love that will bed and board with the soul, that will lie down and rise up with the soul, that will to the fire, to the prison, to the grave, to heaven with the soul.'
Matthew Henry: 'In this chapter we have Naomi's afflictions. I. As a distressed housekeeper, forced by famine to remove into the land of Moab, verses 1-2. II. As a mournful widow and mother, bewailing the death of her husband and her two sons, verses 3-5. III. As a careful mother-in-law, desirous to be kind to her two daughters, but at a loss how to be so when she returns to her own country, verses 6-13. Orpah she parts with in sorrow, verse 14. Ruth she takes with her in fear, verses 15-18. IV. As a poor woman sent back to the place of her first settlement, to be supported by the kindness of her friends, verses 19-22. All these thing…