Ruth 4:1

Boaz Redeems Ruth

1 Meanwhile, Boaz went to the gate and sat down there. Soon the kinsman-redeemer ^[a] 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.

Ruth 4:1 Meaning and Commentary

Ruth 4:1

Then went Boaz up to the gate
In the middle of the day, as Josephus ^F4 says, to the gate of the city, where people were continually passing and repassing to and from the country, and where he was most likely to meet with the person he wanted to see and converse with, and where courts of judicature were usually held, and where it was proper to call one to determine the affair he had in hand; so the Targum,

``and Boaz went up to the gate of the house of judgment of the sanhedrim:''

and set him down there;
waiting for the person or persons passing by, with whom be chose to speak:

and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by;
the kinsman that was nearer than he, of whom he had spoke to Ruth, that if he would not redeem her, he would; a "behold" is prefixed to this, to observe the providence of God that ordered it so, that he should come that way just at the time Boaz was sitting there, and waiting for him; who perhaps was going into his field to look after his threshers and winnowers, as Boaz had been:

unto whom he said, ho, such an one;
calling him by his name, though it is not expressed; which the writer of this history might not know, or, if he did, thought it not material to give it, some have been of opinion that it is purposely concealed, as a just retaliation to him, that as he chose not to raise up seed to his kinsman, to perpetuate his name, so his own is buried in oblivion; though it might be done in his favour, that his name might not be known, and lie under disgrace, for refusing to act the part he ought according to the law to have done; hence the plucking off the shoe, and spitting in his face, were done to such an one by way of contempt and reproach. The words are "peloni almoni", words used by the Hebrews of persons and places, whose names they either could not, or did not choose to mention, which two words are contracted into "palmoni" in ( Daniel 8:13 ) . The name of this man was "Tob" or "Tobias", according to some Jewish writers, (See Gill on Ruth 3:13), to him Boaz said,

turn aside, and sit down here; and he turned aside, and sat down;
instead of going right forward, as he intended, about his business, he turned on one side as he was desired, and sat down by Boaz.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 9. sect. 4.

Ruth 4:1 In-Context

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.”

Footnotes

• [a]. The Hebrew word for kinsman-redeemer or guardian-redeemer is a legal term for the kinsman who redeems or vindicates a relative; also in verses 3, 6, 8, and 14; see Leviticus 25:25–55.