'Expositions are typically short and to the point; even "dynamic expositions" do not usually advance the plot, to the extent that stability is considered a central criterion for the definition of “exposition”' (Sternberg). Nonetheless, the book of Ruth’s exposition contains various elements of surprise. After discussing theoretical methods of employing the element of surprise in a narrative, this article traces the tension embedded within the book of Ruth’s exposition’s design: a jarring fusion of banal description and intensive employment of surprise. This ambivalence touches upon conventions in tension with the narrative content, but it also serves the author’s broader theological perception of reward and punishment.