Upon the refusal of the nearer kinsman, Booz marries Ruth, who brings forth Obed, the grandfather of David.

¹ Then Boaz went up to the gate, and he sat there. And when he had seen the kinsman passing by, whom he had previously discussed, he spoke to him, calling him by his name, “Pause for a little while, and sit down here.” He turned aside and sat down.

² But Boaz, calling aside ten men among the elders of the city, said to them, “Sit down here.”¹

1. 4:2Boaz’s word carries weight with the people of this city, even the elders.(Conte)

³ They settled down, and he spoke to the kinsman, “Naomi, who has returned from the region of the Moabites, is selling part of a field of our brother Elimelech.

⁴ I wanted you to hear this, and to tell you in front of everyone sitting here, including the eldest of my people. If you will take possession of it by the right of kinship, buy it and possess it. But if it displeases you, you should reveal this to me, so that I will know what I have to do. For there is no near kinsman besides you, who is before me, and I am after you.” But he answered, “I will buy the field.”

⁵ And Boaz said to him, “When buying the field, you are likewise obliged to accept the hand of the woman Ruth, the Moabite, who was the wife of the deceased, so that you may raise up the name of your near kinsman through his posterity.”

⁶ He answered, “I yield my right of kinship, for I am obliged not to cut off the posterity of my own family. You may make use of my privilege, which I freely declare I will forego.”

⁷ Yet it was the custom between kinsmen in this former time in Israel, that if at any time one yielded his right to another, so as to confirm his permission, the man took off his shoe and gave it to his neighbor. This was a testimony of concession in Israel.¹

1. 4:7This last sentence of explanation is needed either to explain, to the Jews of one time period, a practice no longer used in Israel, or to explain to the non-Hebrew the custom of the Jews. This text may have been a later addition to the book.(Conte)

⁸ And so Boaz said to his kinsman, “Take off your shoe.” And immediately he released it from his foot.

⁹ And he said to the eldest and to all the people, “You are witnesses this day, that I have taken possession of all that belonged to Elimelech and Chilion and Mahlon, and was bequeathed to Naomi.

¹⁰ And Ruth, the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, I have taken in marriage so as to raise up the name of the deceased in his posterity, so that his name will not be cut off from among his family and his brethren and his people. You, I say, are witnesses of this thing.”

¹¹ All the people who were at the gate, along with the eldest, answered, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make this woman, who enters into your house, like Rachel, and Leah, who built up the house of Israel, so that she may be an example of virtue in Ephrathah, and so that her name may be honored in Bethlehem.¹

1. 4:11Ephrata: Another name of Bethlehem.(Challoner)

¹² And may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, of the offspring which the Lord will give to you from this young woman.”

¹³ And so Boaz took Ruth, and received her as his wife, and he went in to her, and the Lord granted to her to conceive and bear a son.

¹⁴ And the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not permitted your family to be without a successor, and may his name be called upon in Israel.¹

1. 4:14These are the women contemporaneous with Ruth. They formerly treated her as an outsider, but now they accept her as one of their own.(Conte)

¹⁵ And now you may have someone to comfort your soul and to care for you in old age, for he is born of your daughter-in-law, who loves you, and this is much better for you, than if you had seven sons.”

¹⁶ And taking up the boy, Naomi placed him on her bosom, and she took on the duties of carrying him and nursing him.¹

1. 4:16Naomi was not very old, despite her protests in Ruth 1:12, for she was still able to nurse this child. The word nutricis has a meaning more like nursing a child, and less like nursing a patient.(Conte)

¹⁷ And the women of the near future were congratulating her and saying, “There was a son born to Naomi. They called his name Obed. Here is the father of Jesse, the father of David.”¹

1. 4:17The word vicinae means nearby and usually means nearby in place. However, in this context, the women nearby in place could not have known that Obed would grow up to be the father of Jesse, and he the father of David. Thus, the meaning is nearby in time, that is, the women of the near future.(Conte)

¹⁸ These are the generations of Perez: Perez conceived Hezron,

¹⁹ Hezron conceived Aram, Aram conceived Amminadab,

²⁰ Amminadab conceived Nahshon, Nahshon conceived Salmon,

²¹ Salmon conceived Boaz, Boaz conceived Obed,

The Book of Ruth

²² Obed conceived Jesse, Jesse conceived David.