Ruth 4:3

3 quibus residentibus locutus est ad propinquum partem agri fratris nostri Helimelech vendit Noemi quae reversa est de regione moabitide

Ruth 4:3 Meaning and Commentary

Ruth 4:3

And he said unto the kinsman
That is, Boaz said to the kinsman he called to, and who sat down by him before the ten elders that were present:

Naomi, that is come again out of the land of Moab, selleth a parcel of
land;
meaning, that she was determined upon it, and was about to do it, and would do it quickly, and he had it in commission to propose it to a purchaser:

which was our brother Elimelech's;
not in a strict sense, but being akin to the kinsman and himself, and having been a neighbour of them all, and an inhabitant of the place, he is called their brother; though some Jewish writers ^F6 say, that he was in a strict sense a brother of Boaz and this kinsman, and that Tob, Elimelech, and Boaz, were brethren, and so Tob was reckoned the nearest kinsman, and had the first right to redeem, because he was the elder brother but this does not seem likely; (See Gill on Ruth 3:13).

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 Midrash Ruth, fol. 34. 2.

Ruth 4:3 In-Context

1 ascendit ergo Booz ad portam et sedit ibi cumque vidisset propinquum praeterire de quo prius sermo habitus est dixit ad eum declina paulisper et sede hic vocans eum nomine suo qui devertit et sedit

2 tollens autem Booz decem viros de senioribus civitatis dixit ad eos sedete hic

3 quibus residentibus locutus est ad propinquum partem agri fratris nostri Helimelech vendit Noemi quae reversa est de regione moabitide

4 quod audire te volui et tibi dicere coram cunctis sedentibus et maioribus natu de populo meo si vis possidere iure propinquitatis eme et posside sin autem tibi displicet hoc ipsum indica mihi ut sciam quid facere debeam nullus est enim propinquus excepto te qui prior es et me qui secundus sum at ille respondit ego agrum emam

5 cui dixit Booz quando emeris agrum de manu mulieris Ruth quoque Moabitidem quae uxor defuncti fuit debes accipere ut suscites nomen propinqui tui in hereditate sua