Ruth 4
Boaz asks to redeem Ruth
Boaz went to the town square and waited for Ruth’s other redeemer to pass by. When Boaz spotted him, he said,
“Hey you! Come sit with me for a minute.”
The man sat down, and then Boaz had 10 of the city’s elders sit down with them. Then Boaz told the other redeemer,
“Naomi came back from Moab, and now she’s selling the property that belonged to our brother Elimelech. I wanted to inform you and give you the chance to redeem that property here in front of the elders. You are the closest relative, so if you want to redeem it, that’s fine; but if not, let me know because I’m next in line.”
The man said,
“I’ll redeem it.”
But Boaz said,
“Ok, but when you redeem the property from Naomi, you’ll also need to redeem the Moabite widow, Ruth, in order to carry on the name of the deceased on that property.”
The man said,
“I don’t want to redeem it then, because that would mess up my own lineage. You can be the one to redeem it because I don’t want to.”
Boaz allowed to redeem Ruth
In those days, the Israelite custom was for one person to remove his sandal and give it to the other in order to confirm a redemption or sale of land. So Ruth’s closest relative removed his sandal and told Boaz,
“You may go ahead and buy it for yourself.”
Then Boaz shouted so everyone in the square could hear (including the elders),
“You are all witnesses today that I have bought from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon, including Ruth (Mahlon’s Moabite widow). She will be my wife so that I can carry on the name of the deceased on that property. His name won’t be severed from his family or his birth place.
“You are all witnesses today!”
Everyone in the square including the elders said,
“We are witnesses! May the Existing One make Ruth be like Rachel and Leah who both established Israel’s household. May you become rich and famous in Bethlehem. May the Existing One give you and Ruth a lineage like Perez’s (the son of Judah and his wife Tamar).”
Boaz & Ruth marry & have a son
So Boaz took Ruth as his wife. They slept together, and the Existing One allowed her to become pregnant with a son. When the boy was born the women in the town told Naomi,
“The Existing One is blessed! He gave you a redeemer! I hope he becomes famous all throughout Israel, fills you back up with life, and supports you when you are old. Your daughter-in-law loves you and treats you better than 7 sons. We’re so glad she gave birth to him!”
Then Naomi took the child, put him in her lap, and became his nurse. The neighbor women gave him a name, saying,
“Naomi has been given a son!”
So they named him Obed (which means “serving”). He was the father of Jesse who was the father of David.
Related Article: