Tyndale Open Study NotesRuth 4

• Most legal transactions, like property transfers, happened at the town gate.

• friend: Boaz may have used the man's name, but the author of Ruth did not.

Naomi...is selling the piece of land: Naomi likely did not control Elimelech’s ancestral land, but she had legal ownership. She was selling the right to redeem, or buy back, the land from its current user.

• redeem it: The law required a close relative, known as the family redeemer, to buy land when a landowner needed to sell it (see Leviticus 25:23–34). This practice kept land within the family. The redeemer acted as a caretaker for the land until the struggling landowner could recover financially and buy it back.

• I will redeem it: The relative saw a great opportunity—there was no male heir and no sign there would be one. He could add the land to his own estate while fulfilling his family duty.

On the day you buy the land...you must also acquire the widow of the deceased: In Hebrew manuscripts, the verse reads I buy, but a scribal correction in the margin reads you buy, differing by one letter. The scribe believed you buy was the original text, suggesting an error in the main text. Some think I buy is the original, indicating Boaz and Ruth's marriage was already planned (see study note on Judges 3:11). However, most translators believe you buy is original because:

1. The scribe thought you buy was correct

2. Most ancient translations of Ruth which are older than our Hebrew copies, also read you buy

3. An earlier scribe might have mistakenly used I have acquired from Ruth 4:10 instead of you buy

This ensures Ruth can have children to continue her husband's name and keep the land in the family, drawing from Deuteronomy 25:7. Boaz linked the duties of a family redeemer (see study notes Ruth 2:20; Leviticus 25:25) with those of a brother-in-law (Latin "levir") to provide an heir for a deceased brother (see Deuteronomy 25:5–10 for levirate marriage; compare Genesis 38). There is no exact precedent for Boaz's legal action. The duty of the "levir" in Deuteronomy 25:5–10 did not apply here, as neither Boaz nor the other kinsman was Elimelech’s brother, and Ruth was not Elimelech’s widow. Boaz used the spirit of the law about the go’el (family redeemer) to create a moral, if not legal, duty to act as "levir" and provide an heir to inherit the land (see study note on Leviticus 25:25). Land ownership and providing an heir were closely linked in ancient Israel (compare Numbers 27:1–11). Since Naomi was too old to have children, Ruth, Elimelech’s son's widow, would be the mother of such an heir. This move surprised the other kinsman (Ruth 4:6), but Boaz's argument, though perhaps new, was accepted as valid.

• I cannot redeem it myself: Adding Ruth to the deal changed everything for the other relative.

• I would jeopardize my own inheritance: If he bought the land, married Ruth, and raised an heir for Elimelech, he might invest many resources only to lose control of the new land. He might not have enough to maintain his own land. If he failed to have a second son with Ruth as his own heir, his land would go to Elimelech’s heir, and his own name would disappear. Even if this relative acquired the land without Ruth (see study notes on Ruth 3:11; 4:5), he might still lose his investment to Ruth's heir. By trying to protect his own name, this man became the nameless one who refused to help his close relative.

in former times: The Book of Ruth was not written right after the events happened. By the time it was written, most people had forgotten the custom of removing a sandal and its meaning. The transfer of a sandal symbolized transferring the right to buy and redeem land. See also Deuteronomy 25:9 for a similar, but not identical, custom related to levirate marriage. In both cases, the sandal signified the right of redemption.

Moreover: Boaz planned to have a child for Mahlon, the first son. This child would continue the family name of her deceased husband and inherit his land.

• Rachel and Leah, Jacob’s two wives, were the mothers of Israel.

• Ephrathah: See study note on Ruth 1:2.

Like Ruth, Tamar was a foreigner. She became the mother of Perez and Zerah, who were ancestors of Judah's descendants.

the LORD enabled her: See study note on Ruth 1:6.

This child became the family Naomi lost when her two sons died in Moab. The town's women saw that this child completed Naomi's redemption.

sustain you in your old age (literally cause your old age to be full): With Obed's birth, Naomi's life became full again (compare Ruth 1:21).

The book of Ruth ends with a genealogy of ten generations, from Perez, the son of Judah (Jacob’s son), to David, the grandson of Obed. This story is not only one of the world's great tales but also details the family history of David, Israel’s greatest king. The fact that Ruth and Boaz were ancestors of Israel’s greatest king is a major reason for including this small book in the Old Testament.