Boaz

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Easton's Bible Dictionary - Boaz

Boaz [N] [H] [S]

alacrity.

  • The husband of Ruth, a wealthy Bethlehemite. By the "levirate law" the duty devolved on him of marrying Ruth the Moabitess ( Ruth 4:1-13 ). He was a kinsman of Mahlon, her first husband.

  • The name given (for what reason is unknown) to one of the two (the other was called Jachin) brazen pillars which Solomon erected in the court of the temple ( 1 Kings 7:21 ; 2 Chr 3:17 ). These pillars were broken up and carried to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar.

    These dictionary topics are from
    M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition,
    published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain, copy freely.
    [N] indicates this entry was also found in Nave's Topical Bible
    [H] indicates this entry was also found in Hitchcock's Bible Names
    [S] indicates this entry was also found in Smith's Bible Dictionary
    Bibliography Information

    Easton, Matthew George. "Entry for Boaz". "Easton's Bible Dictionary". .

    • Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary - Boaz

    Boaz [N] [E] [S]

    or Booz
    Hitchcock's Dictionary of Bible Names. Public Domain. Copy freely.
    [N] indicates this entry was also found in Nave's Topical Bible
    [E] indicates this entry was also found in Easton's Bible Dictionary
    [S] indicates this entry was also found in Smith's Bible Dictionary
    Bibliography Information

    Hitchcock, Roswell D. "Entry for 'Boaz'". "An Interpreting Dictionary of Scripture Proper Names". . New York, N.Y., 1869.

    Smith's Bible Dictionary - Boaz

    Boaz [N] [E] [H]

    (fleetness ).

    1. A wealthy Bethlehemite kinsman to Elimelech the husband of Naomi. He married Ruth, and redeemed the estates of her deceased husband Mahlon. ( Ruth 4:1 ) Boaz is mentioned in the genealogy of Christ, ( Matthew 1:5 ) (B.C. 1250, but there is great difficulty in assigning his date.)
    2. The name of one of Solomons brazen pillars erected in the temple porch. [JACHIN] It stood on the left, and was eighteen cubits high. ( 1 Kings 7:15 ; 21 ; 2 Chronicles 3:15 ; Jeremiah 52:21 )
    [N] indicates this entry was also found in Nave's Topical Bible
    [E] indicates this entry was also found in Easton's Bible Dictionary
    [H] indicates this entry was also found in Hitchcock's Bible Names
    Bibliography Information

    Smith, William, Dr. "Entry for 'Boaz'". "Smith's Bible Dictionary". . 1901.

    International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Boaz

    BOAZ

    bo'-az (bo`az; Booz; "quickness" (?) Ruth 2-4; 1 Chronicles 2:11,12; Matthew 1:5; Luke 3:32):

    (1) A resident of Bethlehem and kinsman of Elimelech, Naomi's husband. In Ruth 2:1 he is described as a gibbor chayil, a phrase which can mean either "a mighty man of valor" or else "a man of position and wealth." The latter is probably the sense in which the phrase is applied to Boaz (compare 1 Samuel 9:1). He had fields outside the town, and to them Ru went to glean. Boaz noticed her and extended special kindness and protection to her, bidding her remain with his female workers, and charging the men not to illtreat her, and also giving her of the reapers' food at mealtime. Boaz awoke one night and found Ru lying at his feet. He praised her virtue, and promised to take charge of her if her dead husband's next-of-kin failed to do so. He laid her case before the next-of-kin, and finally redeemed the family property himself and bought as well the right to take Ru in marriage. The son of Boaz and Ru was Obed, father of Jesse, and grandfather of David. 1 Chronicles 2:11,12 makes Boaz a descendant of Hezron, and so probably a chief of the Hezronite clan in Bethlehem. Jewish tradition identifies Boaz with Ibzan (Judges 12:8-10).

    Boaz "is set before us as a model of piety, generosity and chastity" (H. P. Smith, Old Testament History, 398). He found virtue and rewarded it. HPM, sections 501-8, gives a picture of the life of "a well-to-do landed proprietor of central Palestine," much of which could aptly be taken as a description of Boaz.

    (2) The name of one of the two bronze pillars erected in front of Solomon's temple, the other being Jachin (1 Kings 7:21; 2 Chronicles 3:17).

    See JACHIN AND BOAZ; TEMPLE.

    David Francis Roberts

    Copyright Statement
    These files are public domain.

    Bibliography Information
    Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'BOAZ'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.