Ruth 4:19-22

4:19 Hezron was the father of Ram, Ram was the father of Amminadab, 4:20 Amminadab was the father of Nachshon, Nachshon was the father of Salmah, 4:21 Salmon ¹  was the father of Boaz, Boaz was the father of Obed, 4:22 Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David. ² 

Ruth 4:18

Epilogue: Obed in the Genealogy of David

4:18 These are the descendants ³  of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron,

Ruth 4:12-13

4:12 May your family ⁴  become like the family of Perez ⁵  – whom Tamar bore to Judah – through the descendants ⁶  the Lord gives you by this young woman.”

A Grandson is Born to Naomi

4:13 So Boaz married Ruth and had sexual relations with her. ⁷  The Lord enabled her to conceive ⁸  and she gave birth to a son.

Ruth 4:15

4:15 He will encourage you and provide for you when you are old, ⁹  for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, has given him birth. She ¹⁰  is better to you than seven sons!”

Ruth 4:17

4:17 The neighbor women named him, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. ¹¹  Now he became the father of Jesse – David’s father!

Ruth 1:12

1:12 Go back home, my daughters! For I am too old to get married again. ¹²  Even if I thought that there was hope that I could get married tonight and conceive sons, ¹³ 

[4:21]  ¹ sn Salmon appears to be an alternate spelling of Salmah in the preceding line.

[4:22]  ¹ sn The theological message of the Book of Ruth may be summarized as follows: God cares for needy people like Naomi and Ruth; he is their ally in this chaotic world. He richly rewards people like Ruth and Boaz who demonstrate sacrificial love and in so doing become his instruments in helping the needy. God’s rewards for those who sacrificially love others sometimes exceed their wildest imagination and transcend their lifetime.

[4:18]  ¹ tn Or “generations” (so KJV, NASB); NIV, NLT “family line.”

[4:12]  ¹ tn Heb “your house” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[4:12]  ² tn Heb “and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, from the offspring whom the Lord gives to you from this young woman.”

[4:12]  ³ tn Heb “from the seed” (KJV, ASV both similar); NASB, NIV “through the offspring”; NRSV “through the children.”

[4:13]  ¹ tn Heb “and Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife and he went in to her.” Here the phrase “went in to her” (so NASB) is a euphemism for having sexual relations (cf. NCV); NLT “When he slept with her.”

[4:13]  ² tn Heb “gave her conception” (so KJV); NRSV “made her conceive”; NLT “enabled her to become pregnant.”

[4:15]  ¹ tn Heb “and he will become for you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age” (NASB similar).

[4:15]  ² tn Heb “who, she”; KJV “which is better to thee.”

[4:17]  ¹ tn The name “Obed” means “one who serves,” perhaps anticipating how he would help Naomi (see v. 15).

[1:12]  ¹ sn Too old to get married again. Naomi may be exaggerating for the sake of emphasis. Her point is clear, though: It is too late to roll back the clock.

[1:12]  ² tn Verse 12b contains the protasis (“if” clause) of a conditional sentence, which is completed by the rhetorical questions in v. 13. For a detailed syntactical analysis, see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 78-79.