Variety Ruth1v16-17

Do not press me to leave you 
or to turn back from following you! 
Where you go, I will go; 
where you lodge, I will lodge; 
your people shall be my people, 
and your God my God.  
Where you die, I will die— 
there will I be buried.
(Ruth 1:16–17) 

Theologian Julia Lambert Fogg presents a biblical story of intergenerational immigration: 

Ruth is the story of a mother and a daughter-in-law who cross borders, lose their husbands, immigrate and emigrate, and ultimately help each other survive even though they are not blood relatives.  

Ruth is the daughter-in-law. She is a Moabite woman who leaves her father’s house to marry a recently arrived immigrant to her town. Her betrothed is a Jewish man, the son of Naomi. Although they are of different ethnic backgrounds, Ruth joins the immigrant Jewish man’s household. She moves in with a Moabite sister-in-law, a Jewish brother-in-law, and a Jewish mother-in-law and father-in-law. The six adults live as what we today might call a mixed family: four immigrants and two locals who are bound together by marriage.  

But before the young couples have children, tragedy strikes. The male breadwinners fall ill and die, one after the other. This is quite a blow to the family—Ruth’s husband, brother-in-law, and father-in-law are all gone. Left without a head of household, the three women must decide what they will do. Will they stay together in Moab? Will they split up so the two young women can start new families? Who will care for the mother-in-law, Naomi, an immigrant with no relatives in Moab and no social network to speak of, and who is too old to marry or to bear children?  

Each woman makes her own choice. Ruth’s sister-in-law returns to her father’s house, to “her people and her gods” in Moab (Ruth 1:15). She will likely marry again and start a new family. Ruth’s mother-in-law, Naomi, decides to return to her Jewish kin in Judah, where she at least has a social network, if not financial resources. These two women make similar choices to simply return home to their own people to start over. They will be reabsorbed into their respective families and cultures of birth. Ruth, however, makes a different choice. She opts to migrate—to leave her home in Moab and travel to Judah with Naomi. For this journey, Ruth binds herself to her mother-in-law, saying,  

Do not press me to leave you 
or to turn back from following you! 
Where you go, I will go; 
where you lodge, I will lodge; 
your people shall be my people, 
and your God my God.  
Where you die, I will die— 
there will I be buried.
(Ruth 1:16–17) 

Through her love for Naomi, Ruth becomes a revered part of Jesus’ lineage: 

Ruth’s words capture the resolute determination of so many migrants across history. She leaves her parents, her sister-in-law, and her people behind. Ruth will help Naomi reestablish Naomi’s family line in Judah among the Jews. We remember Ruth for her covenant commitment to her mother-in-law and for her courage to migrate, to trust Naomi’s God, and to start a new life among a new people. We also remember this courageous migrant for her descendants, including King David and Jesus of Nazareth.