1 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, “Come aside, friend, sit down here.” So he came aside and sat down. 2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. 3 Then he said to the close relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4 And I thought to inform you, saying, ‘Buy it back in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.’” And he said, “I will redeem it.” "Boaz, so fearful of offending in receiving a wife to his bosom, to whom another man had a prior claim; Boaz, so fearful of scandal and reproach, lost no time in receiving her in the manner prescribed by custom and by law. As early in the morning as circumstances would admit, he assembled the elders and the nearer kinsman, that he might honourably purchase the land, and marry the widow of Mahlon. His singular virtue, which had appeared on the preseding night, was now distinguished before the elders of his city by sound policy and superior address." (Joseph Sutcliffe) "Now Boaz went up to the gate"- "We have often had occasion to remark that the gate or entrance to any city or town was the place where the court of justice was ordinarily kept." (Adam Clarke) But especially for an Israelitish city, according to the law-- “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates, which Yahweh your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment. You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. You shall follow what is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which Yahweh your God is giving you." (Deut. 16:18-20) "Boaz sits in the gate and hails the one whom he knew as he passeth by. If Boaz had not called him he would surely have passed by. " (Arno Gaebelein) This was not a contrived ambush. He then found ten men of the elders of the city "Every city was governed by elders (see Deuteronomy 19:12; Judges 8:14). For the number 'ten,' compare Exodus 18:25. Probably the presence of, at least, ten elders was necessary to make a lawful public assembly, as among modern Jews ten (a minyon) are necessary to constitute a synagogue." (Albert Barnes) And they sat down in judgement of the case. "Boaz raised the issue of redeeming Naomi's land first (Ruth 4:3-4). For the first time in the story we learn that Naomi controlled some property... Perhaps someone took control of the property when Naomi's family moved to Moab." (Dr. Thomas B. Constable) "According to the law Leviticus 25:25-28, if any Israelite, through poverty, would sell his possession, the next of kin (the גאל gā'al ) had a right to redeem it by paying the value of the number of years remaining until the jubilee (see the marginal reference). This right Boaz advertises the גאלgā'al of, so as to give him the option which the law secured to him of redeeming 'our brother Elimelech‘s' land, i. e. our kinsman‘s, according to the common use of the term brother, for near relation (see Genesis 13:8; Genesis 24:27; Leviticus 25:25; Numbers 27:4; Judges 9:1)." (Albert Barnes) The unnamed, closer relative said, “I will redeem it.” 5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.” 6 And the close relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.” But alas there is another small detail, friend. Brother Elimelech is dead and his son, Mahlon, is also dead, but alas the son has a wife. "On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, " "that his inheritance might bear his name that is dead." (Geneva Study Bible) He must raise up the name of the dead; "to revive his name, which was lost and buried with his body, by raising up a seed to him, to be called by his name." (Matthew Poole)... for Israel shall be saved in child bearing. (1 Timothy 2:15) “This last carried with it the necessity of taking Ruth to wife, so that a child might be born to inherit, as the son of Mahlon, Mahlon’s inheritance.... The redemption of the land would involve the spending of money, drawn away from the Goel’s own estate; but the land thus acquired would not belong to the Goel himself, but to the son he should have by Ruth, who would yet be, in the eyes of the law, the son of Mahlon. It would, therefore, be like mortgaging one’s own estate, and that for the benefit of another." (C. J. Ellicott) "I can not redeem it" etc. Some say he was already married, but perhaps he merely knew not the virtuous beauty of Ruth the Moabite. "Lest I mar mine own inheritance.- Oh! take heed of that by any means: this is the worldling’s greatest care; he preferreth haram domesticam arae domicae, a swine sty before a sanctuary: and feareth more iacturam regionis quam religionis, the loss of his part in Paris, than of his part in paradise." (John Trapp) "He who was so anxious for the preservation of his own inheritance, is now not even known by name." (J. P. Lange)
7 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging, to confirm anything: one man took off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was a confirmation in Israel. 8 Therefore the close relative said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” So he took off his sandal. "But if the man does not want to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the gate to the elders, and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to raise up a name to his brother in Israel; he will not perform the duty of my husband’s brother.’ Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him. But if he stands firm and says, ‘I do not want to take her,’ then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, spit in his face, and answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who will not build up his brother’s house.’ And his name shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him who had his sandal removed.’" (Deuteronomy 25:7-10) "The shoe symbolized a possession which one actually had, and could tread with his feet, at pleasure. Whoever entered into this possession conjointly with another, put his foot into the same shoe, as in old German law was done by an adopted child and the wife (Grimm, Rechtsalterth. p155). Hence, when in our passage the goel pulled off his shoe and gave it to Boaz, he therewith surrendered to him all claims to the right of possession which would have been his had he fulfilled its conditions. Nor has that use of the shoe, of which the law speaks, in connection with the leviratical institute, any different meaning." (Lange's Commentary) According to the law of Israel, "He who sold land, or surrendered his right to act as a kinsman in buying land, intimated by the symbolical act of taking off his shoe, and handing it to his friend, that he freely gave up his right to walk upon the soil, in favor of the person who had acquired the possession...And the kinsman said to Boaz, 'Acquire for thyself'; and drew off his shoe. On the instant that he said, 'Acquire for thyself,' viz; the land with its living appurtenant, he drew off his shoe and presented it. Josephus... represents Boaz as 'bidding the woman loose the man's shoe and spit in his face.'" (The Pulpit Commentary) But here Ruth desired for Boaz to fulfill this role and there is no such reproof. Moreover, it is likely that the custom in that day was only a shell of Israel's law. Thus the ceremony gradually wore out and was superseded with no vestige of it remaining today. There is no need for Him of whom this is a type has redeemed Israel. 9 And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi. 10 Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.” You are witnesses. I have acquire the right of redemption for all that was Elimelech's. “This declaration by Boaz before the court of the fathers in the gate of the city constituted the legal transfer to Boaz of the right of redemption just renounced by the near kinsman." (Burton Coffman) The land—"moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife," etc.- "a Moabite, but a proselyte: not such as were Solomon’s mistresses of Moab, who caused him to sin, [Nehemiah 13:26] but such as was Jether, by nature an Ishmaelite, [1 Chronicles 2:17] but by his faith and religion an Israelite. [2 Samuel 17:25] ... Neither could he pay too dear for such a purchase, since procul prae unionibus precium eius, 'her price is far above rubies.' [Proverbs 31:10] A good [virtuous] wife was one of the first real and royal gifts bestowed on Adam." (John Trapp) The name of Elimelech would not be cut off "from among his brethren." A son “would be known as ‘Obed ben Mahlon ben Elimelech’ as well as ‘Obed ben Boaz’." (Peter Pett) Moreover the name of Elimelech would not be cutoff "from his position at the gate." "Hence some note that Elimelech had been a man of authority among them, an elder and judge in the gate.’ (Trapp) But "being ‘cut off from the gate of his place’ probably indicates being removed from the permanent genealogical records of the place which was his home city. Where a family died out there would be no purpose in maintaining the records. The city records would probably be held in the gatehouses.” (Peter Pett)
11 And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. The Lord make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. 12 May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the Lord will give you from this young woman.” "We are witnesses. And will be ready to help the truth in necessity. 'A faithful witness will not lie,'" (Trapp) "The Lord make the woman who is coming to your house"— Ruth by name— “like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel."— "both of whom, like Ruth , had joined the Israelites and had entered their land from alien nations that had demonstrated hostility to God's people. Rachel's tomb was near Bethlehem. She and her sister had given Jacob 12 sons directly and through their maids. They had indeed 'built the house of Israel'." (Dr. Thomas B. Constable) “No Hebrew woman could desire a better fortune than to resemble the two wives of Jacob from whom the entire people had sprung." (John Dummelow) "And may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.” ”Ephratah and Bethlehem are both one.” (Geneva Study Bible) “It was on the road to Ephrath that Rachel died while giving birth to Benjamin (Gn 35:16-19). This town was the home of Naomi's family, who identified themselves as Ephrathites (Ru 1:2). Ephrath was the dwelling place of Ruth and Boaz (Ru 4:11), the childhood home of David (1 Sm 17:12), and the announced birthplace of the Messiah (Mi 5:2).” (Tyndale Bible Dictionary) “And may you ‘show thyself a worthy man', as 1 Kings 1:52; do good among thy people, as Ezekiel 18:18; be public spirited, though to private disadvantage, and this way get renown. 'And be famous in Bethlehem.' Fame waiteth upon worth." (Trapp) "May your house be like the house of Perez," etc. “as honourable and numerous as his family was; whom, though he also was born of a stranger, God so far blessed, that his family was one of the five families to which all the tribe of Judah belonged, and the progenitor of the inhabitants of this city.” (Matthew Poole) “There are many parallels between the story of Boaz and Ruth and the story of Perez's parents, Judah and Tamar (Gen. 38). Ruth and Tamar were both foreigners who had married into Israel. The first husbands of both women died leaving them widows. Both women participated in levirate marriages. Tamar seduced Judah under cover of a disguise. [Nevertheless, Judah, when he found himself outwitted by her, acknowledged: 'She is more righteous than I,' (Lange)] but Ruth encouraged Boaz under the cover of night. When Judah and Tamar appeared before a public tribunal they were ashamed..., but when Boaz and Ruth did so they received praise... In both cases the husbands were considerably older than the wives. Both women, however, bore sons in the Davidic messianic line.” (Dr. Thomas B. Constable)
13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. "So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife;" "With this happy event the last shadows disappear from the checkered lives of the two women. The fears of extinction are shown to have been groundless. Sorrow in Moab has been changed into happiness in Israel. The reward of love has begun, and Jehovah mercifully owns the daughter of Moab, who has left home and native land for his people’s sake." (Lange Commentary) — "’and she bore a son.’— "Which was greater joy than to have born a daughter; not only because he was columen familiae, the upholder of the name and family, but especially because they looked for the Messiah of the line of Judah. And this was, indeed, the end wherefore this Book of Ruth was written, to continue and declare the genealogy of Christ, and what patriarchs lived from Judah (to whom Shiloh was promised) to David, to whom that promise was renewed." (John Trapp) 14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be Yahweh, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel! 15 And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.” The daughters of Israel blessed Naomi in Yahweh's name. “Then the women said to Naomi,” etc. “It is one of the peculiar beauties of our narrative that its last words are almost wholly devoted to Naomi (Ruth 4:14-18). And justly so; for it was Naomi who by her exemplary life in Moab had been the instructress of Ruth. For her sake, the noble woman had come to Israel. Upon her, affliction had fallen most severely (Ruth 1:13), bereaving her of both husband and children." (Lange Commentary)— saying. "Blessed be Yahweh, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may His name"— Yahweh— "be famous in Israel!" “And may He be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him." This all sprang from the faith of one woman, which has proven a superior faith to that of many sons of Israel. 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom, and became a nurse to him. “Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom.” In a parable, Jesus said, “So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom.” (Luke 16:22) “The figurative meaning of being in one's bosom is to be in a position of closeness, to be highly regarded. This symbolism is indicated by the ancient practice of having guests at a feast recline on the chest of their neighbors. The place of highest honor would therefore belong to the one seated next to the host, calling to mind the example of John at the Last Supper (John 13:23).” (Bryan T. Huei) And thus as she had nurtured Ruth in the faith, holding her in her own bosom, she also nurtured this son. “And became a nurse to him.” "Naomi became a nurse of Obed (Ruth 4:16) in the sense of becoming his guardian, the meaning of the Hebrew word aman (lit. 'cared for him' or 'one who serves'). Compare 'Obadiah ,' which means 'servant of Yahweh.' She did not become his wet nurse but his nanny. [Bush, p259; Block, p730.]" (Dr. Thomas B Constable) 17 Also the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “There is a son born to Naomi.” And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. 18 Now this is the genealogy of Perez: Perez begot Hezron; 19 Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot Amminadab; 20 Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon;[e] 21 Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed; 22 Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David. The neighbor women— sister in the household of faith— gave him a name, "עובד obed, ‘serving’" (Adam Clarke) for his service was not only within his own household but for the good of Israel-at-large, even in providing a son who might deliver them from the hands of their enemies. Perez was born of Judah and Tamar in a scandalous tale. "Why does the genealogy start with Perez? He was the founder of the branch of Judah's family that took his name, to which Elimelech and Boaz belonged (Numbers 26:20). Perez was the illegitimate son of Judah (1 Chronicles 2:5) who, like Jacob, seized the initiative to stand in the line of messianic promise from his twin brother (Genesis 38:27-30). [Note: Merrill, 'The Book . . .,' p134.] This genealogy emphasizes how God circumvented custom and tradition in providing Israel's great redeemer, David. Like Perez, Boaz was the descendant of an Israelite father, Salmon, and a Canaanite harlot, Rahab ( Matthew 1:5). Both Tamar and Rahab entered Israel because they believed and valued God's promises to Israel, as Ruth did. David himself was the youngest rather than the eldest son of Jesse." (Dr. Thomas B Constable)