Ruth has spent a night in a barn, lying at Boaz's feet. This is a marriage proposal that we all hope will be successfully resolved, but there is a problem: another man has more rights to Ruth than does Boaz!
Ruth 4: 1-2, Town gate
Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat there. When the kinsman-redeemer he had mentioned came along, Boaz said, "Come over here, my friend, and sit down." So he went over and sat down. Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, "Sit here," and they did so.
Ruth 4: 3-6, A sale of land
Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat there. When the kinsman-redeemer he had mentioned came along, Boaz said, "Come over here, my friend, and sit down." So he went over and sat down. Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, "Sit here," and they did so.
In the ancient Near East, the city gate was the place of legal business. Boaz draws the kinsman-redeemer to him and then arranges for ten elders to join him. He has set up a classical ANE official meeting.
We lose a bit in the NIV's translation "friend" in verse 1. The Hebrew that the NIV translates as "friend" is a rhyming phrase: peloni almoni, and might literally be translated "such-and-such" or "Mr. So-and-so." It is a device to leave the man unnamed.
The ability to bring together ten elders suggests that Boaz has a certain status in the community. Ten Jewish men would be enough to make this meeting official, a minyan (but for legal, not liturgical purposes.)
The ability to bring together ten elders suggests that Boaz has a certain status in the community. Ten Jewish men would be enough to make this meeting official, a minyan (but for legal, not liturgical purposes.)
Then he said to the kinsman-redeemer, "Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line."
"I will redeem it," he said.
Then Boaz said, "On the day you buy the land from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabitess, you acquire the dead man's widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property."
At this, the kinsman-redeemer said, "Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it."
Boaz begins with a mention of a sale of land. (This is the first that we have heard of this sale.) As he introduces this sale, he makes it clear that he, Boaz, is available as a backup to purchase the land.
"I will redeem it," he said.
Then Boaz said, "On the day you buy the land from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabitess, you acquire the dead man's widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property."
At this, the kinsman-redeemer said, "Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it."
Boaz begins with a mention of a sale of land. (This is the first that we have heard of this sale.) As he introduces this sale, he makes it clear that he, Boaz, is available as a backup to purchase the land.
Once the other man agrees, Boaz follows with his surprise. Purchase of that land will mean also taking care of Naomi and Ruth. Furthermore, via the kinsman-redeemer rules of Israel (and the ANE), the man would be expected to father children with Ruth. Any sons of Ruth would apparently inherit Elimelech's land. This will be a significant burden to this man, but Boaz has thoughtfully handed him a way out of this burden by promising to be the backup on the purchase. The man grabs this solution, giving Boaz freedom to be the kinsman-redeemer.
Ruth 4: 7-10, Exchange of sandals
(Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing transactions in Israel.)
So the kinsman-redeemer said to Boaz, "Buy it yourself." And he removed his sandal.
Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, "Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon's widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from the town records. Today you are witnesses!"
Ruth 4: 11-12, Like Rachel and Leah
Then the elders and all those at the gate said, "We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. Through the offspring the LORD gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah."
The elders and other townspeople (and the Storyteller's audience) applaud not the sale but the upcoming marriage of our hero and heroine. In Jewish fashion, they wish this couple many children, comparing Ruth to the mothers of the twelve tribes, and to Tamar, mother of Perez and thus of the descendants of Judah. This is high praise for the couple, and, more so, high praise to identify this alien Moabitess with famous Jewish mothers.
This is a fascinating cultural scene. There is enough detail here that I suspect the Storyteller thinks these activities are interesting also. The ritual with the sandal seems to be a gentler variant on the "Family of the Unsandaled" confrontation described in Deuteronomy 25: 7-10.
Hubbard, in his commentary on page 251, has a lot on the significance of feet in near Eastern traditions. Apparently the sandal represents transferring the right of go'el, redeemer.
Here we learn that Ruth's first husband was Mahlon.
At this point, Boaz has completed a business deal, resolving the status of the land and the widows. But the audience for our Storyteller and the town witnesses of this sale, all recognize a much more significant agreement. In the next paragraph, the elders and others at the gate, applaud not the business arrangement but something more important....
Ruth 4: 11-12, Like Rachel and Leah
The elders and other townspeople (and the Storyteller's audience) applaud not the sale but the upcoming marriage of our hero and heroine. In Jewish fashion, they wish this couple many children, comparing Ruth to the mothers of the twelve tribes, and to Tamar, mother of Perez and thus of the descendants of Judah. This is high praise for the couple, and, more so, high praise to identify this alien Moabitess with famous Jewish mothers.
Ruth 4: 13, A son!
So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. Then he went to her, and the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.
Notice how quickly the storyteller moves us now.
The phrase "went to her" was a euphemism for sex, it usually meant "he went into her room...". The similar American phrase would be "he slept with her".
This book rarely mentions YHWH directly. Here YHWH is explicitly identified as making Ruth able to conceive.
Ruth 4: 14-17, A kinsman-redeemer
The women said to Naomi: "Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth."
Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap and cared for him.
The women living there said, "Naomi has a son." And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
I think this is my favorite passage of the whole book. Ruth has labored through the day; the midwives work with her and finally amid her cries, there is the cry of a child! A son! The child is cleaned by the midwives and caressed by the exhausted Ruth, maybe he nurses a little, and then he is triumphantly carried by the women of the community to Naomi, who waits for word of Ruth's labor. Naomi, who at the beginning of the story identified herself as "bitter", is now allowed to hold her grandson on her lap. Can you see Naomi sobbing softly, holding the child, as the women leave to take the good news to the streets?
Once again, the perspective is that of the women of the community. The reaction of the men is irrelevant to this story.
Ruth 4: 14-17, A kinsman-redeemer
The women said to Naomi: "Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth."
Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap and cared for him.
The women living there said, "Naomi has a son." And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
I think this is my favorite passage of the whole book. Ruth has labored through the day; the midwives work with her and finally amid her cries, there is the cry of a child! A son! The child is cleaned by the midwives and caressed by the exhausted Ruth, maybe he nurses a little, and then he is triumphantly carried by the women of the community to Naomi, who waits for word of Ruth's labor. Naomi, who at the beginning of the story identified herself as "bitter", is now allowed to hold her grandson on her lap. Can you see Naomi sobbing softly, holding the child, as the women leave to take the good news to the streets?
Once again, the perspective is that of the women of the community. The reaction of the men is irrelevant to this story.
Ruth is praised by the women as "better than seven sons", high praise for a stranger from Moab.
Who named Obed? (Obed apparently means "one who works/serves". It may be short for Obadiah, which means "one who serves Yahweh".)
The phrase translated "cared for him" in verse 16 implies some type of long-term arrangement, as a nanny, guardian, foster-mother.
Ruth 4: 18-22, A family line
This, then, is the family line of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David.
Hezron is mentioned in Genesis 46: 12 as traveling with Jacob's descendants to Egypt at the time of Joseph. Nahshon, is mentioned in Numbers 1: 7 as the leader of the tribe of Judah when the Israelites leave Egypt with Moses. We are being given only part of the lineage of Boaz.
According to ancient tradition (says a commentary) the position of seventh descendant in a genealogy was a special one. So this may have been structured to give prominence to Obed, Ruth's son.
The phrase translated "cared for him" in verse 16 implies some type of long-term arrangement, as a nanny, guardian, foster-mother.
Ruth 4: 18-22, A family line
This, then, is the family line of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David.
Hezron is mentioned in Genesis 46: 12 as traveling with Jacob's descendants to Egypt at the time of Joseph. Nahshon, is mentioned in Numbers 1: 7 as the leader of the tribe of Judah when the Israelites leave Egypt with Moses. We are being given only part of the lineage of Boaz.
According to ancient tradition (says a commentary) the position of seventh descendant in a genealogy was a special one. So this may have been structured to give prominence to Obed, Ruth's son.
This beautiful short story of Ruth ends with a surprise. Ruth, the Moabitess, is the great-grandmother of David! She is mentioned in Matthew 1: 5 in the genealogy of the Messiah, Yeshua.
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