Who Wrote the Book of Ruth and When Was It Written?

As with several of the books in the biblical canon, the writer of Ruth is not identified in the book itself. According to long-standing Jewish (and hence Christian) tradition it was written by Samuel. One of the oldest strata of the Babylonian Talmud (Bava’ Batra’ 14b) records: “Samuel wrote down his own book [i.e., Samuel, up to 1Sm 24:22], Judges, and Ruth.” There is no reason to doubt this tradition, as the scribal/recording role of the early Jewish prophets—and Samuel in particular—is attested elsewhere (1Ch 29:29; 1Sm 10:25). Moreover, as recognized by scholars specializing in historical Hebrew linguistics, the style and phraseology of the Hebrew in Ruth are indeed that of the early biblical period, being similar to that attested in Judges, Samuel, and the earlier parts of Kings. As the writer, therefore, Samuel would most likely have written Ruth sometime toward the end of the 11th century BC, after the enthronement of David recorded in 2Sm 5:3 (or, at the earliest, after his anointing in 1Sm 16).