The small synagogue is located in the room adjacent to the tomb and it receives visitors throughout the year, especially on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, in which the Book of Ruth is read.

[3] Yaakov HaShaliach, a Jewish traveller, mentions visiting the grave of Jesse, father of David in Hebron in the year 1235, but he does not specify the burial place.

[5] In 1522, Rabbi Moses ben Mordecai Bassola wrote, "… at the summit of the mountain opposite Hebron is the burial place of Jesse, David's father.

"[6]Yihus HaAvos V'Neviim (Lineage of the Patriarch and the Prophets) a book from 1537 refers to the site as "a handsome building up on the mount, where Jesse, the King David's father is buried."

[citation needed] The first known written reference to the site housing the tomb of both Jesse and Ruth comes from the 1835 book Love of Jerusalem by Haim Horwitz, referencing local oral traditions.

[citation needed] In 1935, Zev Vilnay wrote that visitors were required to pay to access the site, and that it once connected to the Tomb of Machpela but was filled in during the First World War and the entrance was now unknown.