Ruth 4:1-12--Boaz Redeems Ruth

Ruth 4:1-12
English Standard Version

Boaz Redeems Ruth
4 Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here.” And he turned 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 redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. 4 So I thought I would tell you of it 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, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem it.” 5 Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.” 6 Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

7 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was the manner of attesting in Israel. 8 So when the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he drew off his sandal. 9 Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. 10 Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.” 11 Then all the people who were 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, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, 12 and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the LORD will give you by this young woman.”

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Some quick background from the book of Deuteronomy before we study this passage as some of the things said and done in here will make more sense if we read this text first:


Deuteronomy 25:5-10
English Standard Version
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Laws Concerning Levirate Marriage
5 “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband's brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. 6 And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. 7 And if the man does not wish to take his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My husband's brother refuses to perpetuate his brother's name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother to me.’ 8 Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he persists, saying, ‘I do not wish to take her,’ 9 then his brother's wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face. And she shall answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother's house.’ 10 And the name of his house shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him who had his sandal pulled off.’

Ruth is waiting for an answer from Boaz, but Boaz must first ask the closest kinsman redeemer if he wishes to exercise his rights under this passage of Scripture that I just quoted to redeem the land that belonged to Elimelech and any property (including the wives) of his two sons Chilion and Mahlon so that family name would be preserved.  The short version is that the kinsman redeemer is happy to acquire the land, but is unwilling to acquire Ruth as part of the deal because she is a Moabite woman and the Law says that any man who marries a Moabite woman is to be cursed and to be kicked out of the congregation, so this man does not want to put his own family and estate at risk by taking someone into his household who might bring a curse on him and his house.  If marrying Ruth was part of the deal for acquiring the land, then he would rather not have the land so that he did not violate that provision of the Law.

In giving up his responsibility as kinsman redeemer, he removes his sandal in front of the witnesses that have been gathered together (see Deut. 5: 10....the elders are already there and there was no need for verse 9 to happen, he just willingly removed his sandal and gave it to Boaz to show that he was giving him the right of being Naomi's and Ruth's redeemer).  This opens the door for Boaz to have the legal right to marry Ruth (though he's still violating the Mosaic Law by doing so (see Deuteronomy 7:3-4).  It's not specifically the fact that she was a Moabite woman as much as she was a foreigner and Israelites were only supposed to marry other Israelites (staying within their own tribes if possible, but definitely within the 12 tribes).  Next time we'll talk about the marriage of Ruth and Boaz and maybe get into the genealogy of David (the future king of Israel) for the author of the book of Ruth seems to want to tell this story to tell us the family history of King David (pointing to the fact that is probably Samuel who also wrote this book for us).