Ruth 4:4

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 ^[a] 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.

Ruth 4:4 Meaning and Commentary

Ruth 4:4

And I thought to advertise thee
To give him notice of it; or "I said" ^F7; he said in his heart and mind, purposing to do it; or he said it to Ruth, promising her that he would do it:

saying, buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my
people;
or before those that sat there, even the elders, as witnesses of the purchase:

if thou wilt redeem it, redeem it:
for it was redeemable by a near kinsman according to the law, even when said to another, in ( Leviticus 25:25 ) ,

but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know;
what to do in this affair, whether to redeem it or not:

for there is none to redeem it besides thee, and I am after thee;
he was the first, and Boaz was the next near kinsman, to whom the right of redemption belonged:

and he said, I will redeem it:
he chose to make the purchase, he liked the land, which he probably full well knew, and it might lie near his own, and make a good addition to it; and as the widow was determined, and under a necessity to sell, he might expect to have it at a cheap rate; all which might induce him at once to agree to be the purchaser.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 (ytrma ynaw) "et ego dixi", Pagninus, Montanus

Ruth 4:4 In-Context

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.”

6 The kinsman-redeemer replied, “I cannot redeem it myself, or I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I cannot redeem it.”

Footnotes

• [a]. Many Hebrew manuscripts, LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts he