Ruth 2:20

20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed by the Lord, who has not forsaken his^[a] kindness to the living or the dead." Naomi continued, "The man is a close relative. He is one of our family 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 She picked up [the grain] and went into the city, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. Then she brought out what she had left over from her meal and gave [it] to her.

19 Then her mother-in-law said to her, "Where did you gather [barley] today, and where did you work? May [the Lord] bless the man who noticed you." Ruth told her mother-in-law about the men she had worked [with] and said, "The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz."

20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed by the Lord, who has not forsaken his kindness to the living or the dead." Naomi continued, "The man is a close relative. He is one of our family redeemers."

21 Ruth the Moabitess said, "He also told me, 'Stay with my young men until they have finished all of my harvest.' "

22 So Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, "My daughter, it is good for you to work with his young women, so that nothing will happen to you in another field."

Footnotes

• [a]. Or His