# Ruth 04 📖: Boaz Redeems Ruth [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Ruth Overview]] | [[Ruth 03]] | [[1 Samuel 01]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] [[-Ruth Overview]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) ## Boaz Marries Ruth [[#Verse 01.]] Now Boaz went up to the village gate and sat there. Then along came the guardian whom Boaz had mentioned to Ruth. Boaz said, “Come here, what’s-your-name, and sit down.” So he came and sat down. [[#Verse 02.]] Boaz chose 10 of the village leaders and said, “Sit down here!” So they sat down. [[#Verse 03.]] Then Boaz said to the guardian, “Naomi, who has returned from the region of Moab, is selling the portion of land that belongs to our relative Elimelech. [[#Verse 04.]] So I am legally informing you: Acquire it before those sitting here and before the leaders of my people. If you want to exercise your right to redeem it, then do so. But if not, then tell me so I will know. For you possess the first option to redeem it; I am next in line after you.” He replied, “I will redeem it.” [[#Verse 05.]] Then Boaz said, “When you acquire the field from Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the wife of our deceased relative, in order to preserve his family name by raising up a descendant who will inherit his property.” [[#Verse 06.]] The guardian said, “Then I am unable to redeem it, for I would ruin my own inheritance in that case. You may exercise my redemption option, for I am unable to redeem it.” [[#Verse 07.]] (Now this used to be the customary way to finalize a transaction involving redemption in Israel: A man would remove his sandal and give it to the other party. This was a legally binding act in Israel.) [[#Verse 08.]] So the guardian said to Boaz, “You may acquire it,” and he removed his sandal. [[#Verse 09.]] Then Boaz said to the leaders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have acquired from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon. [[#Verse 10.]] I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, as my wife to raise up a descendant who will inherit his property so the name of the deceased might not disappear from among his relatives and from his village. You are witnesses today.” [[#Verse 11.]] All the people who were at the gate and the elders replied, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is entering your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built up the house of Israel! May you prosper in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem. [[#Verse 12.]] May your family become like the family of Perez—whom Tamar bore to Judah—through the descendants the Lord gives you by this young woman.” ## The Descendants of Boaz [[#Verse 13.]] So Boaz married Ruth and slept with her. The Lord enabled her to conceive and she gave birth to a son. [[#Verse 14.]] The village women said to Naomi, “May the Lord be praised because he has not left you without a guardian today! May he become famous in Israel! [[#Verse 15.]] He will encourage you and provide for you when you are old, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, has given him birth. She is better to you than seven sons!” [[#Verse 16.]] Naomi took the child and placed him on her lap; she became his caregiver. [[#Verse 17.]] The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. Now he became the father of Jesse—David’s father. [[#Verse 18.]] These are the descendants of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, [[#Verse 19.]] Hezron was the father of Ram, Ram was the father of Amminadab, [[#Verse 20.]] Amminadab was the father of Nachshon, Nachshon was the father of Salmah, [[#Verse 21.]] Salmon was the father of [[M0009- Boaz]], Boaz was the father of Obed, [[#Verse 22.]] Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David. [[M0012- King David]] ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. **Verse 1-12- The Legal Situation.** At this point, Naomi and Ruth have to trust Boaz with their hopes. Only the heads of the families conducted business at the city gates. They needed Boaz to speak for them about the issue and resolve it. Thankfully, God had placed Boaz in the right place to do all that was required. He was willing to do what was right, even if that meant not buying the land. However, he would be sure it was done with integrity in front of witnesses. ###### Verse 01. - "Town Gate"- The town gate was where all official business was conducted. It would be the same as a city square. - "Come over here and sit down, ***friend***." Boaz would have known the name of this close relative, but the author chooses to keep his name private. There are multiple possible reasons for this. - One, it is intended to save his family from embarrassment. - Two, it was intended to spare unnecessary details. - Three, it was intended to show that he had no name because he had no character. ###### Verse 02. - "Boaz called ten leaders." Ten leaders were the number to make the transaction legal before witnesses. ###### Verse 03. - "selling the land"- This has been left out of the story until now. We were unaware that Naomi was trying to do something with her late husband's land. This tells us that one of two things was happening: - She owned the land but could not do anything with it, so she sold it and provided for herself. - She is selling the rights to have it redeemed. ###### Verse 04. - This would have caused the early readers to gasp. It seems as though all their plans have been ruined. ###### Verse 05. - It is unclear why doing this will endanger his estate other than the concern of having to then care for others. This will put an additional strain on his finances. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. - Judging by how it is worded, it sounds like this custom was already dying off and gone by the time Ruth was written, just a few years later. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. - Boaz seals the deal. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. - The town leaders bless this union and say that, out of all this hardship, let blessings flow. ###### Verse 12. **Verse 13-17. The Results of Faithfulness** This is the culmination of the whole story. Time has passed, at least 9 months. ###### Verse 13. - It appears that Ruth was barren for ten years with her previous husband. Now, the Lord has enabled her to have a child. ###### Verse 14. - The town's women celebrate that Naomi has a family again. This young boy can work her family's land and provide a legacy for her. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. - Obed is a short form of Obadiah, meaning "servant of the Lord." ###### Verse 17. **Verse 18-22. Zooming Out.** This is the big reveal at the end of the story. This would have been the part that no one saw coming. The narrator leaves the audience with their mouths open, saying, "Oh! So now I know why you told us this story. These simple people, doing their best to honor Yahweh in the middle of nowhere, were part of a much bigger story." ###### Verse 18. - Perez- the more famous son of the levirate situation between Tamar and Judah. - Nahshon- leader in Judah. - Boaz- his name appears seventh in the list. This is reserved for a position of honor. - Obed is the grandfather of the greatest king in Israel's history, David. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary This chapter is the summary of the whole book. It is the climax. The story technically ends with verse 17. Verse 18-22 is the narrator zooming out to see that so much more was going on than they realized. Anything Apologetic to point out? - God is providentially working in ways we will never see in our lifetimes. We are part of a big plan He is working out on a massive scale. We may think we are important, but we are just a brick in the wall He is building. That should be a good thing. The world does not depend on us. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the Redeemer who pays the price to bring us into His family. Boaz buys back what was lost and gives Ruth a name and a future (4:9-10), and his family line leads to David and to Jesus (Matthew 1:5-6). ## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application - 📌 God fights for us when we cannot fight for ourselves. - 📌 God can bless us even though we experience bad things. - 📌 God is always doing more than we can currently see… or ever will see. **Today, I can apply this chapter by:** - ✅ Trust God is able to fight for us. - ✅ Trust that God is doing something, even if we never see it. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. The closer relative would not redeem because it could endanger his own inheritance (4:6). What does redemption cost, and why was Boaz willing to pay it? 2. The women say Ruth is better to Naomi than seven sons (4:15). How has God used unexpected people to bless you? 3. The genealogy shows ordinary faithfulness becoming part of God's big story (4:18-22). How does that change the way you see your everyday obedience? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verses 9-10: Boaz publicly redeems the land and takes Ruth as his wife before witnesses. - 📖 verses 14-15: The women praise the Lord for providing a guardian and say Ruth is better than seven sons. - 📖 verse 17: Obed is born. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts 1. The city gate was where elders met to settle legal matters (Deuteronomy 21:19). 2. The closer relative is never named. The narrator uses a Hebrew phrase that means something like "so-and-so." 3. Removing a sandal confirmed the transfer of rights (4:7-8). A related sandal custom appears in Deuteronomy 25:9. 4. Ten elders served as witnesses (4:2). Ten men later became the number needed for a public prayer gathering in Jewish tradition. 5. The people bless Ruth to be like Rachel and Leah, who built the house of Israel (4:11). 6. The elders mention Perez, the son of Judah and Tamar (4:12), another story involving a foreign woman and a family line in danger (Genesis 38). 7. This chapter is one of only two places where the narrator says the Lord acted directly: He enabled Ruth to conceive (4:13). The other is 1:6. 8. The genealogy in 4:18-22 lists ten generations from Perez to David. 9. Ruth is one of only a few women named in Jesus' genealogy in Matthew 1, alongside Tamar, Rahab, and Mary. 10. Matthew 1:5 identifies Boaz's mother as Rahab, the woman from Jericho. ## 🔗 Related Passages - 🔗 [[Leviticus 25#Verse 25.|Leviticus 25:25]] - Redeeming family land. - 🔗 [[Deuteronomy 25#Verse 05.|Deuteronomy 25:5-10]] - Raising up a name for the dead. - 🔗 [[Genesis 38]] - The story of Judah and Tamar. - 🔗 [[1 Samuel 16#Verse 01.|1 Samuel 16:1]] - God chooses a king from Jesse's family. - 🔗 [[Matthew 01#Verse 05.|Matthew 1:5-6]] - Boaz, Ruth, Obed, and Jesse in Jesus' family line. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Ruth 04 - SOAP|Faithfulness Brings a Lasting Legacy]] ## 📂 Internal Notes