Ruth
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(companion; friend) (Ruth 1:4; Matt. 1:5)—a Moabite woman, wife of Mahlon. His father Elimelech had moved with Naomi and their two sons from Bethlehem to Moab during a famine. The sons married Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah, but Elimelech and both sons died, leaving Naomi with her daughters-in-law. When Naomi heard that the famine had ended, she resolved to return home and urged the younger women to remain in Moab. Orpah stayed, but Ruth refused to leave Naomi.