Ruth 4

Ruth 4
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A handwritten scroll of Book of Ruth by the scribe Elihu Shannon of Kibbutz Saad, Israel (c. 2005).
Book	Book of Ruth
Category	Ketuvim
Christian Bible part	Old Testament
Order in the Christian part	8

Ruth 4 is the fourth (and the last) chapter of the Book of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This chapter contains the story of how Boaz goeth up to the gate, calleth his kinsman; inquires whether he would redeem and marry Ruth, Ruth 4:1-5. He refuseth, Ruth 4:6-8. Boaz, the people witnessing and congratulating, buyeth the inheritance, and marrieth Ruth, Ruth 4:9-12. She beareth Obed the grandfather of David, Ruth 4:13-17. The genealogy from Pharez unto David, Ruth 4:18-22. It is a part of the Ketuvim ("Writings").

Text

• The original text is written in Hebrew language.
• This chapter is divided into 22 verses.

Textual versions

Some most ancient manuscripts containing this chapter in Hebrew language:

• Masoretic Text (10th century)
• Dead Sea Scrolls: (2nd century BC)
  • 2Q16 (2QRuth^a): extant: verses 3‑4

Ancient translations in Koine Greek:

• Septuagint (3rd century BC)
• Theodotion version (~AD 180)

Structure

This chapter can be grouped into:

• Ruth 4:1–12 = Boaz Redeems Ruth
• Ruth 4:13–22 = Descendants of Boaz and Ruth

Verse 1

Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there:

and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said,

Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here.

And he turned aside, and sat down.

• "The gate": It is the place of concourse, of business, and of justice in Oriental cities (see Judges 19:15 note; Genesis 34:20; Deuteronomy 16:18). In the middle of the day, as Josephus 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."
• "Ho, such a one!" (Hebrew: פלני אלמני peloni almoni): 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. Its use here may indicate that the name of the kinsman was either unknown or purposely concealed 1 Samuel 21:2; 2 Kings 6:8. The name of this man was "Tob" or "Tobias", according to some Jewish writers; see notes on Ruth 3:13. The phrase "such a one," or "so and so," is a purely idiomatic English equivalent for the purely idiomatic Hebrew phrase peloni almoni. A literal translation is impossible. The Latin N.N. corresponds.

Verse 2

And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said,

Sit ye down here.

And they sat down.

• "He took ten men of the elders of the city": as witnesses. In ordinary circumstances, two or three were sufficient to attest a bargain; but in cases of importance, such as matrimony, divorce, conveyancing of property, it was the Jewish practice to have ten (1 Kings 21:8). Every city was governed by elders (Deuteronomy 19:12; Judges 8:14). For the number "ten," compare Exodus 18:25. Probably the presence of, at least, ten elders was necessary to make a lawful public assembly, as among modern Jews ten (a minyon) are necessary to constitute a synagogue. The Jews gather, that the blessing of the bride and bridegroom at their marriage is not to be done by less than ten persons.

Verse 7

Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing,

for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour:

and this was a testimony in Israel.

• "This was the manner ... concerning redeeming and concerning changing": It is a custom, and not a law, that seems here referred to, when an estate was bought and sold; not the law in Leviticus 25:25, though that respects the redemption of an estate by a near kinsman, yet no such manner was enjoined as here practised afterwards, made mention of; nor the law in Deuteronomy 25:5 which does not concern the redemption of estates, nor a kinsman's marrying the widow of a deceased kinsman, but a brother's marrying the widow of a deceased brother, and the rites and ceremonies there enjoined upon refusal are different from those here used; though Josephus is express for it, that the law is here referred to; but this is not only concerning purchase of estates, but "concerning changing" also one field for another as Aben Ezra interprets it: "for to confirm all things"; the following custom was observed for the confirmation of any bargain whatever, whether by sale or barter, and where there was no marriage in the case.
• "In former time in Israel": Showing that the custom was obsolete in the writer's days. The letter of the law was not strictly followed. It was thought sufficient for the man to pull off his own shoe and give it to the man to whom he ceded his right, in the presence of the elders of his city.

Verse 10

Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.

• "Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife": This 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 Ruth is 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 are forbidden, and their prohibition is a perpetual one, but their women are free immediately:"

Verse 11

And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said,

We are witnesses.

The Lord make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah,

which two did build the house of Israel:

and do thou worthily in Ephratah,

and be famous in Bethlehem:

• "All the people and the elders, said, We are witnesses": A multitude, doubtless from curiosity or interest, were present on the occasion. There was no signing of deeds; yet was the transfer made, and complete security given, by the public manner in which the whole matter was carried on and concluded.
• "Like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel": The two wives of Jacob; the Targum adds, "with twelve tribes"; for though some of the tribes sprung from their maids, which they gave to Jacob, yet the children born of them were reckoned theirs by a moral estimation, as some express it. Rachel is set before Leah, though the youngest, and had the fewest children, because she was his first wife in his intention, and according to the covenant made with her father, though imposed upon and deceived; and she was his more lawful wife, and his most beloved one. By the children of these two, and their maidens, the house or family of Israel was built up, and became a great nation, consisting of twelve tribes, very numerous.

Verse 12

And let thy house be like the house of Pharez,

whom Tamar bare unto Judah,

of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman.

• "The house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah": Of whose tribe the Bethlehemites were, and were also of the house or family of Pharez, as appears from Ruth 4:18, etc. who was born to Judah of Tamar, one of another nation (from Canaan), as Ruth was (from Moab), and from whom sprung a very numerous family, one of the five families of Judah; and they wish that the family of Boaz, by Ruth, might be as numerous.
• "Of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman": by which it is plain Ruth was present, for they do, as it were, point to her, and that she was a young woman, though a widow. The Jews say she was forty years of age, as observed in Ruth 3:10 and the elders wish and pray he might have a numerous family of the children the Lord would give him by her; and this might be the rather expected of her, as being a young woman, yet only as the gift of God, as children are, Psalm 127:3.

See also

• Amminadab
• Boaz
• David
• Elimelech
• Hezron
• Jesse
• Judah
• Chilion
• Goel
• Leah
• Levirate marriage (Yibbum)

• Mahlon
• Nahshon
• Naomi
• Obed
• Perez
• Rachel
• Ram
• Ruth
• Salmon
• Tamar

• Related Bible parts: Deuteronomy 25, Ruth 2, Ruth 3, Matthew 1, Luke 3

External links

Jewish

• Ruth 4 Original Hebrew with Parallel English
• Ruth 4 Hebrew with Rashi's Commentary

Christian

• Ruth 4 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate