Ruth 1:16–17: A Vow That Embraces Death
Ruth's vow to Naomi is covenant loyalty chosen at personal cost by an outsider with no legal claim on Israel's blessings. The book's importance begins here, where God's purposes run through faithful kindness rather than through Ruth's words as a formula for outcomes.
Deuteronomy 24:17–22: Widows, Orphans, Foreigners
God's people are told not to use their advantage to strip the vulnerable of justice or livelihood. The edges of the harvest and the forgotten sheaf belong to the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, and the reason given is redemption.