Ruth 4
Introduction
Ruth 4 brings the book to its conclusion. Everything the story has been building toward — the emptiness that needs filling, the name that needs preserving, the foreigner who needs a home, the redeemer who needs to act — converges at the gate of Bethlehem. Boaz moves swiftly and shrewdly, convening a legal assembly and confronting the unnamed closer redeemer with the full implications of redemption. When the closer kinsman declines, Boaz steps in, acquiring both Elimelech's land and Ruth as his wife. The chapter then accelerates from legal transaction to marriage, from marriage to birth, and from birth to genealogy — ending with the name of David.
The chapter turns on a series of dramatic reversals. Naomi, who declared herself "empty" (Ruth 1:21), now holds a grandson on her lap. Ruth the Moabitess, from a people excluded from the assembly of the LORD (Deuteronomy 23:3), is compared to Rachel and Leah, the mothers of Israel. And the child born to this union will become the grandfather of Israel's greatest king. The women of Bethlehem, who witnessed Naomi's bitter return in Ruth 1:19, now proclaim that Ruth is "better to you than seven sons" — in a culture that prized sons above all, there is no higher praise. The God who seemed silent throughout the book has been orchestrating everything.
Boaz Confronts the Closer Redeemer (vv. 1--6)
1 Meanwhile, Boaz went to the gate and sat down there. Soon the kinsman-redeemer of whom he had spoken came along, and Boaz said, "Come over here, my friend, and sit down." So he went over and sat down. 2 Then Boaz took ten of the elders of the city and said, "Sit here," and they did so. 3 And he said to the kinsman-redeemer, "Naomi, who has returned from the land of Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4 I thought I should inform you that you may buy it back in the presence of those seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you want to redeem it, do so. But if you will not redeem it, tell me so I may know, because there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you." "I will redeem it," he replied. 5 Then Boaz said, "On the day you buy the land from Naomi and also from Ruth the Moabitess, you must also acquire the widow of the deceased in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance." 6 The kinsman-redeemer replied, "I cannot redeem it myself, or I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I cannot redeem it."
1 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there. And just then the redeemer of whom Boaz had spoken came passing by. So Boaz said, "Come aside, friend, and sit down here." And he came aside and sat down. 2 Then Boaz took ten men from the elders of the city and said, "Sit down here." And they sat down. 3 He said to the redeemer, "The piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech is being sold by Naomi, who has returned from the territory of Moab. 4 So I thought I would bring it to your attention and say: Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not, tell me, so that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you." He said, "I will redeem it." 5 Then Boaz said, "On the day you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the dead man, in order to raise up the name of the dead man on his inheritance." 6 The redeemer said, "I am not able to redeem it for myself, or I would damage my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption for yourself, for I am not able to redeem it."
Notes
The city gate (שַׁעַר) was the center of legal, commercial, and civic life in ancient Israelite towns. Elders sat at the gate to adjudicate disputes, witness contracts, and conduct business (see Deuteronomy 21:19, Deuteronomy 22:15, Proverbs 31:23). By going to the gate, Boaz ensures that everything is done publicly and legally — nothing about this redemption will be hidden or questionable.
Boaz addresses the closer redeemer as פְּלֹנִ֤י אַלְמֹנִי֙ — an idiom roughly equivalent to "so-and-so" or "Mr. Such-and-Such." The narrator never gives us this man's name. Whether Boaz actually used this phrase or whether the narrator has suppressed the name is debated, but the literary effect is clear: the man who refused to preserve a dead man's name has had his own name forgotten. The irony is pointed — the very thing the go'el system was designed to prevent (the erasure of a name) happens to the one who refused to participate in it.
Boaz's legal strategy is deliberate. He first presents the case as a simple land transaction: Naomi is selling Elimelech's property, and the closest redeemer has first right of purchase. The man agrees — buying land is a good investment. Then Boaz introduces the complication: acquiring the land also means acquiring Ruth as a wife and raising up offspring in Mahlon's name. This transforms the transaction entirely. Any children born would inherit the land, meaning the redeemer would pay for property that would ultimately pass to another man's lineage — "damaging" (אַשְׁחִית) his own inheritance.
The closer redeemer's concern is pragmatic and, by the legal standards of the day, understandable. He is not condemned by the narrator — he simply calculates that the cost is too high. But the contrast with Boaz is unmistakable. Boaz is willing to absorb the cost of redemption — the land, the marriage, the dilution of his own estate — because his commitment to chesed goes beyond financial calculation. This is the difference between obligation and love.
Verse 5 raises a textual question. The Hebrew Ketiv (written text) reads קָנִיתִי — "I acquire" (first person, Boaz speaking), while the Qere (read text) has קָנִיתָ — "you acquire" (second person, addressed to the redeemer). Some manuscripts spell this as קָנִיתָה with a final he, which is an accepted variant spelling of the 2ms perfect. Most translations follow the Qere, which fits the context better: Boaz is telling the redeemer what his obligations would be.
The Sandal Ceremony and Public Declaration (vv. 7--12)
7 Now in former times in Israel, concerning the redemption or exchange of property, to make any matter legally binding a man would remove his sandal and give it to the other party, and this was a confirmation in Israel. 8 So the kinsman-redeemer removed his sandal and said to Boaz, "Buy it for yourself." 9 At this, Boaz said to the elders and all the people, "You are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon. 10 Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon's widow, as my wife, to raise up the name of the deceased through his inheritance, so that his name will not disappear from among his brothers or from the gate of his home. You are witnesses today." 11 "We are witnesses," said the elders and all the people at the gate. "May the LORD make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you be prosperous in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem. 12 And may your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring the LORD will give you by this young woman."
7 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redemption and exchange: to confirm any transaction, a man would take off his sandal and give it to the other party. This was the method of legal confirmation in Israel. 8 So the redeemer said to Boaz, "Buy it for yourself," and he removed his sandal. 9 Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, "You are witnesses today that I have acquired from Naomi's hand everything that belonged to Elimelech, and everything that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. 10 And I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, as my wife, to raise up the name of the dead man on his inheritance, so that the dead man's name will not be cut off from among his relatives or from the gate of his town. You are witnesses today." 11 All the people at the gate and the elders said, "We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel. May you prosper in Ephrathah and gain renown in Bethlehem. 12 And may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the offspring that the LORD will give you from this young woman."
Notes
The narrator's explanatory aside in verse 7 — "Now this was the custom in former times" — tells us that the sandal ceremony was already archaic by the time the book was written. The author felt the need to explain a practice that had fallen out of use. This is one of the clues that Ruth, though set in the period of the Judges, was composed at a later date. The sandal ritual here is related to, but not identical with, the "shoe ceremony" in Deuteronomy 25:9-10, where a widow publicly shames a brother-in-law who refuses levirate duty by pulling off his sandal and spitting in his face. Here the tone is different — cooperative rather than adversarial. The closer redeemer voluntarily transfers his right.
Boaz's declaration in verses 9--10 is a formal, public legal statement. He repeats "you are witnesses today" twice, creating an unimpeachable record. He names what he is acquiring (the property), from whom (Naomi), and for what purpose (to raise up the dead man's name). The language of "cutting off" a name (וְ/לֹא יִכָּרֵת שֵׁם הַ/מֵּת) reflects the deepest anxiety of ancient Israelite culture — to be forgotten, to have no one carry your name into the future, was a kind of second death.
The people's blessing in verses 11--12 is worth pausing over. They compare Ruth to Rachel and Leah — the two wives of Jacob who, together with their maidservants, bore the twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel. For a Moabite woman to be blessed in the names of Israel's founding mothers is a notable act of inclusion. The community that might have excluded Ruth as a foreigner instead embraces her as a potential matriarch.
The reference to Perez and Tamar (v. 12) is carefully chosen. Perez was the son of Judah and Tamar — another story involving a widow, a failure of levirate duty, and an unconventional act of sexual initiative by a woman (see Genesis 38). Tamar, like Ruth, took matters into her own hands when the men responsible for her future would not act. The parallel is deliberate: both women are foreigners or outsiders (Tamar was likely a Canaanite), both used socially risky means to secure redemption, and both were vindicated. Perez was the ancestor of the clan of Ephrathah in Bethlehem — Boaz's own clan — so this blessing circles back to the very family line being continued.
The blessing "may you prosper in Ephrathah and gain renown in Bethlehem" uses אֶפְרָתָה and בֵּית לֶחֶם as parallel names for the same place (see Genesis 35:19, Micah 5:2). Ephrathah was the older clan name; Bethlehem was the town name. The dual naming lends the blessing a poetic, ancestral weight — connecting Boaz and Ruth to the deep roots of this place and anticipating the greatness that will emerge from it.
The Birth of Obed and the Restoration of Naomi (vv. 13--17)
13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And when he had relations with her, the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, "Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a kinsman-redeemer. May his name become famous in Israel. 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth." 16 And Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and became a nurse to him. 17 The neighbor women said, "A son has been born to Naomi," and they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse, the father of David.
13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. He went in to her, and the LORD granted her conception, and she bore a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, "Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you today without a redeemer! May his name be renowned in Israel! 15 He will be a restorer of life to you and a sustainer in your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you — who is better to you than seven sons — has given birth to him." 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his guardian. 17 And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, "A son has been born to Naomi!" They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
Notes
The statement that "the LORD granted her conception" (וַ/יִּתֵּ֧ן יְהוָ֛ה לָ֖/הּ הֵרָי֑וֹן) is one of the few places in Ruth where God acts directly as a named character. Throughout the book, God's activity has been mediated through human agents — through Ruth's loyalty, Boaz's generosity, Naomi's planning. But conception is something only God can give. The narrator reminds us that behind all the human initiative, it is the LORD who opens and closes the womb (see Genesis 29:31, Genesis 30:22, 1 Samuel 1:19-20).
The women's blessing in verses 14--15 is the theological climax of the book. They declare that the LORD has not left Naomi without a גֹּאֵל — a redeemer. The referent is deliberately ambiguous: it could be Boaz, the child Obed, or even Ruth herself. All three have served as instruments of God's redemption in Naomi's life, and the word embraces them all.
The declaration that Ruth is "better to you than seven sons" (טוֹבָ֤ה לָ/ךְ֙ מִ/שִּׁבְעָ֣ה בָנִ֔ים) carries enormous weight in Israelite culture. Seven is the number of completeness, and sons were considered a family's greatest blessing (Psalm 127:3-5). To say that one Moabite daughter-in-law surpasses seven Israelite sons overturns every social expectation. The outsider has become the insider, the foreigner has become family, the barren has become fruitful.
Naomi's act of taking the child and placing him on her lap (v. 16) may be a symbolic adoption gesture, recognizing the child as belonging to the family line of Elimelech. The verb וַ/תְּהִי ל֖/וֹ לְ/אֹמֶֽנֶת ("became his guardian/nurse") uses a word from the root אמן, from which we get "amen" — faithfulness, trustworthiness. Naomi, who returned to Bethlehem calling herself "bitter" and "empty," is now entrusted with new life. Her emptiness is filled; her bitterness has turned to joy.
The neighbors declare, "A son has been born to Naomi!" — not to Ruth, not to Boaz, but to Naomi. The narrative arc bends toward Naomi's restoration. She who lost her husband and two sons now has a grandson who will carry the family name forward. The child is named עוֹבֵד — meaning "one who serves" or "worshiper." And then the narrator reveals: "He was the father of Jesse, the father of David." The entire story — the famine, the exile, the deaths, the gleaning, the threshing floor, the redemption — has been leading to the royal line of Israel. A Moabite woman's faithfulness is woven into the ancestry of Israel's greatest king.
The Genealogy of David (vv. 18--22)
18 Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, 19 Hezron was the father of Ram, Ram was the father of Amminadab, 20 Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, Nahshon was the father of Salmon, 21 Salmon was the father of Boaz, Boaz was the father of Obed, 22 Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David.
18 Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, 19 Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, 20 Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, 21 Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, 22 Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.
Notes
The genealogy contains ten names from Perez to David — ten being a number of completeness in Hebrew thought. This structured list is not merely a historical appendix; it is the book's final disclosure. The story of Ruth and Boaz, which seemed to be about two individuals in a small Judean town, is revealed to be a chapter in the larger story of God's plan for Israel and — for Christian readers — for the world.
The genealogy begins with תּוֹלְדוֹת — "generations" or "descendants" — the same word used to structure the book of Genesis (Genesis 2:4, Genesis 5:1, Genesis 10:1). By using this formula, the author connects the story of Ruth to the grand narrative of creation, patriarchs, and covenant. The book of Ruth is woven into the backbone of biblical history.
Nahshon (v. 20) was the leader of the tribe of Judah during the wilderness period (Numbers 2:3, Numbers 7:12) and the brother-in-law of Aaron (Exodus 6:23). His presence in the genealogy places Boaz's family among the leading families of Judah.
For Christian readers, this genealogy takes on additional significance through Matthew 1:5-6, where Ruth is explicitly named as an ancestor of Jesus. She is one of only four women mentioned in Matthew's genealogy (alongside Tamar, Rahab, and Bathsheba) — all of them connected to irregular or scandalous circumstances, and several of them Gentiles. The inclusion of Ruth in the messianic line affirms the book's central message: God's covenant love crosses every boundary — ethnic, social, and legal — to bring about His purposes.
Interpretations
The book of Ruth raises several interpretive questions that have been debated across Christian traditions:
The nature of the go'el obligation. The Mosaic law describes the kinsman-redeemer's duty to buy back family land (Leviticus 25:25) and the levirate duty to marry a brother's widow (Deuteronomy 25:5-10) as separate obligations. The book of Ruth appears to combine them — Boaz both redeems the land and marries Ruth. Whether this reflects an actual legal practice not fully described in the Pentateuch, a creative adaptation of existing customs, or a literary idealization remains debated among scholars.
Ruth's inclusion and the Deuteronomic exclusion. Deuteronomy 23:3 prohibits Moabites from entering "the assembly of the LORD" to the tenth generation. Yet Ruth not only enters Israel but becomes an ancestor of David and, in Christian theology, of Christ. Some interpreters argue that the prohibition applied only to males (the Hebrew uses the masculine), others that it applied to communal worship rather than individual conversion, and still others that Ruth's story demonstrates God's sovereign freedom to extend grace beyond legal boundaries. The book may intentionally stand in tension with Deuteronomy, showing that chesed transcends ethnic categories.
Typological readings. Many Christian interpreters read Boaz as a type of Christ — the kinsman-redeemer who pays the full price to redeem His bride (the church) and raise up a heritage for the dead. Ruth, on this reading, represents the Gentile believer who forsakes her old gods and finds refuge under the wings of the God of Israel. While this typology is not stated in the text, the New Testament's inclusion of Ruth in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:5) invites this reading.