Scholarship on ethnicity in the book of Ruth has taken it as axiomatic that Ruth is transformed (at least partially) into an Israelite by the end of the book. This article argues on narrative grounds that the book of Ruth continues to present Ruth as a Moabite, even at the book’s end. Moreover, scholarship has been mistaken in attempting to force an ancient text to function according to modern constructivist assumptions about ethnicity. Although from our perspective as modern readers, Ruth may undergo changes that would qualify as ethnic transformation, the book of Ruth describes her change in social and kinship terms, rather than ethnic ones: the text itself does not imply that Ruth ceases to be a Moabite.

鲁思书中关于种族的学术研究认为，鲁思在本书结尾（至少部分地）转变为以色列人是不言而喻的。这篇文章从叙述的角度论证了路得记继续将路得描述为摩押人，即使在这本书的结尾也是如此。此外，学术界错误地试图强迫古代文本根据现代建构主义关于种族的假设发挥作用。虽然从我们现代读者的角度来看，路得可能会经历可以称为种族转变的变化，但路得记描述了她在社会和亲属关系方面的变化，而不是种族方面的变化：文本本身并不暗示路得不再是摩押人.