Ruth 4:22
“And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →The genealogy concludes with Obed begetting Jesse, and Jesse begetting David.
What Does Ruth 4:22 Mean?
The book ends with its crowning line: Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David. The story that began in famine, loss, and a long road out of Moab arrives at the name of Israel's greatest king. David, the shepherd-king of Bethlehem, descends from Ruth the Moabitess and Boaz the redeemer. The whole quiet drama of loyalty and redemption has been leading here all along.
And the line does not end with David, for from his house, in this same Bethlehem, would come the promised King whose kingdom has no end. Ruth the outsider, gathered in by grace, stands among the ancestors of the Messiah. This is the breathtaking conclusion of the book: God takes a grieving widow, a faithful foreigner, and an honorable redeemer, and through them prepares the way for the Redeemer of the world. The God who fills the empty and welcomes the stranger was, in every gentle turn of this story, writing the opening lines of the gospel. From famine to a king, from Moab to the Messiah, His faithfulness runs unbroken.