Editing Book of Ruth (section)

===Mixed marriage===
The book can be read as a political parable relating to issues around the time of [[Ezra]] and [[Nehemiah]] (the 5th century BCE):{{sfn|West|2003|p=209}} unlike the story of [[Ezra–Nehemiah]], where marriages between Jewish men and non-Jewish women were broken up, Ruth teaches that foreigners who convert to Judaism can become good Jews, foreign wives can become exemplary followers of Jewish law, and there is no reason to exclude them or their offspring from the community.{{sfn|Grabbe|2004|p=312}} Some believe the names of the participants suggest a fictional nature of the story: the husband and father was Elimelech, meaning "My God is King", and his wife was Naomi, "Pleasing", but after the deaths of her sons Mahlon, "Sickness", and Chilion, "Wasting", she asked to be called Mara, "Bitter".{{sfn|West|2003|p=209}}

The reference to [[Moab]] raises questions, since in the rest of the biblical literature it is associated with hostility to Israel, sexual perversity, and [[idolatry]], and {{bibleverse|Deut.|23:3–6|9|Deuteronomy 23:3–6}} excluded an Ammonite or a Moabite from "the congregation of the {{LORD}}; even to their tenth generation".{{sfn|West|2003|p=209}} Despite this, Ruth the Moabite married a Judahite and even after his death still regarded herself a member of his family; she then married another Judahite and bore him a son who became an ancestor of [[David]].{{sfn|Grabbe|2004|p=312}} Concerning this, the [[Mishnah]] says that only male Moabites are banned from the congregation.{{sfn|Mihăilă|2011|p=32-33}}