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Chapter 1 establishes for us the approximate time in which the event took place. Verse 1, "In the days when the Judges ruled, there was a famine in the land." In our study of the Book of Judges, Chapter 6, we saw that during the time when Gideon was Judge of Israel (approx. 1,150 BC) there was a famine in the land of Canaan caused by the invasion of the Midianites.
The family of Elimelech is mentioned here. His wife was Naomi and they had two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. They were of the Tribe of Ephraim and lived in Bethlehem of Judea. They had to leave Bethlehem , because of the famine, and go into Moab, the land directly east of the Dead Sea, a journey of about 50 miles.
There Elimelech dies and the two sons marry Moabite women. Chilion married Orpah and Mahlon married Ruth. They lived there about 10 years and both sons die. The three women are left without any means of support. Naomi hears that there is again food in the land of Canaan and decides to return to her home. Orpah returns to her parents but Ruth persuades Naomi to take her with her when she returned home. Together they set out for Bethlehem. They arrive in Bethlehem hungry and discouraged. Naomi believes that the Lord has taken from her all that she ever had or cared about. They arrive home at the beginning of the barley harvest season.
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