Ruth 4:10

10 Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Machlon, have I purchased to be my wife, lahakim (to raise up, resurrect) the shem hamet (name of the dead man) upon his nachalah, that the shem of the dead man be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the sha’ar of his place; ye are edim (witnesses) HaYom.

Ruth 4:10 Meaning and Commentary

Ruth 4:10

Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I
purchased to be my wife
Which was the condition on which the purchase of the land was, that whoever bought that should take her for his wife; nor did Boaz do evil in marrying her, though a Moabitess. Moab was not one of the nations with whom marriage was forbidden; and though it was a Heathenish and idolatrous nation, and so on that account it was not fit and proper to marry with such, yet Ruth was become a proselytess; nor was this contrary to the law in ( Deuteronomy 23:3 ) , since, according to the sense the Jews give of it, it respects men, and not women, and such men who otherwise were capable of bearing offices in the congregation;

``an Ammonite, and a Moabite (they say ^F14) are forbidden, and their prohibition is a perpetual one, but their women are free immediately:''

to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance;
the name of Mahlon, Ruth's former husband, to whom the inheritance would have come had he lived; the raising up of his name is not upon a son of hers by Boaz, for her firstborn was called Obed, and not Mahlon, and is always spoken of as the son of Boaz, and not of Mahlon, but upon his inheritance, having bought his wife along with it, which the register of the purchase would show, and so cause his name to be remembered; and, as Jarchi says, when Ruth went in and out upon the estate or inheritance, they would say, this was the wife of Mahlon, and so through her his name would be made mention of:

that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and
from the gate of this place;
might not be quite forgotten both in the city and in the court, and be remembered no more:

ye are witnesses this day;
this is repeated, that they might answer to it, as they do in the next verse.

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 Misn. Yebamot, c. 8. sect. 3.

Ruth 4:10 In-Context

8 Therefore the Go’el said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his sandal.

9 And Boaz said unto the zekenim, and unto kol haAm, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Kilyon’s and Machlon’s, of the hand of Naomi.

10 Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Machlon, have I purchased to be my wife, lahakim (to raise up, resurrect) the shem hamet (name of the dead man) upon his nachalah, that the shem of the dead man be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the sha’ar of his place; ye are edim (witnesses) HaYom.

11 And kol HaAm that were in the sha’ar, and the zekenim, said, We are edim. Hashem make the isha haba’ah (the woman coming, see Gn 3:15; Isa 7:14) into thine bais [i.e. Bais Dovid] like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the Bais Yisroel; and do thou worthily in Ephrat, and be famous in Beit-Lechem;

12 And let thy bais be like the bais of Peretz, whom Tamar bore unto Yehudah, of the zera (Bereshis 22:18; Ga 3:16) which Hashem shall give thee of this na’arah.