Ruth 2:20

20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, ¹"May he be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken ²the living or the dead!" Naomi also said to her, "The man is a close relative of ours, one of ³our redeemers."

Ruth 2:20 Meaning and Commentary

Ruth 2:20

And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, blessed be he of the
Lord
Or the Lord bless him with all kind of blessings, temporal and spiritual; and as he has blessed him already, may he be blessed more and more:

who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead;
he had been kind to Elimelech and to his sons, who were now dead, and he continued his kindness to the reliefs of them, Naomi and Ruth, who were living, and was kind to them for the sake of the dead; and showing kindness to them expressed his respect to the memory of the dead:

and Naomi said unto her;
continued her speech to her, and added to what she had said:

the man is near of kin to us;
a near relation of ours, meaning by her husband's side: yea,

one of our next kinsmen;
the nearest we have, there was but one nearer than he: the word for kinsman here is "Goel", a redeemer; for to such who were in the degree of kindred as Boaz was, and he that was nearer still than he to them, belonged the right of redemption, and therefore were called by the name of "Goel", a redeemer, as Ben Melech observes; they had a right to avenge the blood of the slain, to redeem their houses and possessions, if sold or mortgaged, and their persons by marrying them, and raising up seed to a deceased brother, or kinsman.

Ruth 2:20 In-Context

18 And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied.

19 And her mother-in-law said to her, "Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you." So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, "The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz."

20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!" Naomi also said to her, "The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers."

21 And Ruth the Moabite said, "Besides, he said to me, 'You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.'"

22 And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, "It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted."

Cross References

• 1. Ruth 3:10; Judges 17:2; 1 Samuel 15:13; 1 Samuel 23:21; 2 Samuel 2:5
• 2. Ruth 1:8
• 3. Ruth 3:9; Ruth 4:14