Ruth 4:5-22

4:5 Then Boaz said, “When ¹  you acquire the field ²  from Naomi, ³  you must also ⁴  acquire Ruth the Moabite, ⁵  the wife of our deceased relative, ⁶  in order to preserve his family name by raising up a descendant who will inherit his property.” ⁷  4:6 The guardian said, “Then I am unable to redeem it, for I would ruin my own inheritance ⁸  in that case. You may exercise my redemption option, for I am unable to redeem it.” ⁹  4:7 (Now this used to be the customary way to finalize a transaction involving redemption in Israel: ¹⁰  A man would remove his sandal and give it to the other party. ¹¹  This was a legally binding act ¹²  in Israel.) 4:8 So the guardian said to Boaz, “You may acquire it,” and he removed his sandal. ¹³  4:9 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. 4:10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, as my wife to raise up a descendant who will inherit his property ¹⁴  so the name of the deceased might not disappear ¹⁵  from among his relatives and from his village. ¹⁶  You are witnesses today.” 4:11 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 ¹⁷  you prosper ¹⁸  in Ephrathah and become famous ¹⁹  in Bethlehem. ²⁰  4:12 May your family ²¹  become like the family of Perez ²²  – whom Tamar bore to Judah – through the descendants ²³  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. ²⁴  The Lord enabled her to conceive ²⁵  and she gave birth to a son. 4:14 The village women said to Naomi, “May the Lord be praised because he has not left you without a guardian ²⁶  today! May he ²⁷  become famous in Israel! ²⁸  4:15 He will encourage you and provide for you when you are old, ²⁹  for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, has given him birth. She ³⁰  is better to you than seven sons!” 4:16 Naomi took the child and placed him on her lap; ³¹  she became his caregiver. ³²  4:17 The neighbor women named him, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. ³³  Now he became the father of Jesse – David’s father!

Epilogue: Obed in the Genealogy of David

4:18 These are the descendants ³⁴  of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, 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 ³⁵  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. ³⁶ 

[4:5]  ¹ tn Heb “in the day”; NASB, NIV “On the day.”

[4:5]  ² sn Acquire the field. This probably refers to the right to redeem and use the field. See the note on the word “selling” in v. 3.

[4:5]  ³ tn Heb “from the hand of Naomi” (so NASB, NRSV).

[4:5]  ⁴ tc The MT וּמֵאֵת (ume’et) may be understood in two ways: (1) “and from” (vav conjunction “and,” plus preposition מִן [min] “from,” plus definite direct object marker אֵת) parallel to the preceding מִיַד (miyyad, “from [the hand of]”), suggesting the field would be purchased from Naomi and from Ruth; or (2) “and” (vav [ו] conjunction “and,” plus enclitic mem [ם], plus direct object marker [אֵת]) introducing the second part of the acquisition: the nearest kinsman would be acquiring the field and Ruth (for discussion see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 202). However, the BHS editors suggest reading גם את־ (“as well as…”; emphatic particle גם [“also”] and the definite direct object marker אֵת) introducing the second part of the acquisition: He would be acquiring the field and Ruth. This alternate reading is reflected in the Vulgate reading quoque (“and also”) and supported by parallel usage in v. 9, “I am acquiring the field from Naomi, and also (גָּם אֵת־, gam ’et) Ruth the Moabitess the wife of the deceased.”

[4:5]  ⁵ tc The MT (Kethib) reads קָנִיתִי (qaniti, “I acquire,” Qal perfect 1st person common singular): “When you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, I acquire Ruth the Moabitess…” However, the marginal reading (Qere) is קָנִיתָה (qanitah, “you acquire,” Qal perfect 2nd person masculine singular, reflected in 2nd person masculine singular forms in Greek, Latin, Aramaic, and Syriac): “When you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess…” The Qere is probably original because the Kethib is too difficult syntactically and contextually, while the Qere makes perfect sense: (1) Boaz stated in 3:13 that the nearest kinsman had the first right to acquire Ruth if he wanted to do so, and only the Qere reading here presents him with that option; and (2) Boaz announces in 4:9-10 that he was acquiring the field and Ruth as a package deal in 4:9-10, and only the Qere reading here presents the nearest kinsman with the same package deal. The Kethib probably arose by a scribe trying to harmonize 4:5 with the 1st person common singular form in 4:9-10 without fully understanding the ploy of Boaz in 4:5. See F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 216-17.

[4:5]  ⁶ tc The presence of two difficult textual problems in this line (see two preceding notes) has produced a combination of four different ways in which this line can be rendered: (1) “When you acquire the field from Naomi, you must acquire [it] from Ruth the Moabitess the wife of the deceased” (KJV, NKJV); (2) “When you acquire the field from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabitess, you must acquire the wife of the deceased” (JPS, NJPS, NIV); (3) “When you acquire the field from Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess the wife of the deceased” (NASB, NCV, TEV, RSV, NRSV, NLT); and (4) “When you acquire the field from Naomi, then I acquire Ruth the Moabitess the wife of the deceased” (REB). The third option is adopted here.

[4:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “in order to raise up the name of the deceased over his inheritance” (NASB similar); NRSV “to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance.”

[4:6]  ⁸ sn I would ruin my own inheritance. It is not entirely clear how acquiring Ruth and raising up an heir for the deceased Elimelech would ruin this individual’s inheritance. Perhaps this means that the inheritance of his other children would be diminished. See R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 245-46.

[4:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “redeem for yourself, you, my right of redemption for I am unable to redeem.”

[4:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and this formerly in Israel concerning redemption and concerning a transfer to ratify every matter.”

[4:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a man removed his sandal and gave [it] to his companion”; NASB “gave it to another”; NIV, NRSV, CEV “to the other.”

[4:7]  ¹² tn Heb “the legal witness”; KJV “a testimony”; ASV, NASB “the manner (form NAB) of attestation.”

[4:8]  ¹³ tc The LXX adds “and gave it to him” (cf. TEV, CEV), which presupposes the reading ויתן לו. This seems to be a clarifying addition (see v. 7), but it is possible the scribe’s eye jumped from the final vav (ו) on נַעֲלוֹ (na’alo, “his sandal”) to the final vav (ו) on לוֹ (lo, “to him”), accidentally omitting the intervening letters.

[4:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in order to raise up the name of the deceased over his inheritance” (NASB similar).

[4:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “be cut off” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB “may not perish.”

[4:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and from the gate of his place” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “from the court of his birth place”; NIV “from the town records.”

[4:11]  ¹⁷ tn Following the jussive, the imperative with prefixed vav indicates purpose or result.

[4:11]  ¹⁸ tn The phrase וַעֲשֵׂה־חַיִל (va’aseh-khayil, literally, “do strength”) has been variously translated: (1) financial prosperity: “may you become rich” (TEV), “may you be a rich man” (CEV), “may you achieve wealth” (NASB), “may you prosper” (NKJV, NJPS); (2) social prominence: “may you become powerful” (NCV), “may you have standing” (NIV), “may you be great” (NLT), “may you do well” (NAB); (3) reproductive fertility: “may you produce children” (NRSV); and (4) social activity: “may you do a worthy deed” (REB).

[4:11]  ¹⁹ tc Heb “and call a name.” This statement appears to be elliptical. Usually the person named and the name itself follow this expression. Perhaps וּקְרָא־שֵׁם (uqÿra’-shem) should be emended to וְיִקָּרֵא־שֵׁם (vÿyiqqare’-shem), “and your name will be called out,” that is, “perpetuated” (see Gen 48:16, cf. also Ruth 4:14b). The omission of the suffix with “name” could be explained as virtual haplography (note the letter bet [ב], which is similar to kaf [כ], at the beginning of the next word). The same explanation could account for the omission of the prefixed yod (י) on the verb “call” (yod [י] and vav [ו] are similar in appearance). Whether one reads the imperative (the form in the MT) or the jussive (the emended form), the construction indicates purpose or result following the earlier jussive “may he make.”

[4:11]  ²⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[4:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “your house” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[4:12]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Heb “from the seed” (KJV, ASV both similar); NASB, NIV “through the offspring”; NRSV “through the children.”

[4:13]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ tn Heb “gave her conception” (so KJV); NRSV “made her conceive”; NLT “enabled her to become pregnant.”

[4:14]  ²⁶ tn Or “redeemer.” See the note on the phrase “guardian of the family interests” in 3:9. As the following context indicates, the child is referred to here.

[4:14]  ²⁷ tn The “guardian” is the subject of the verb, as the next verse makes clear.

[4:14]  ²⁸ tn Heb “may his name be called [i.e., “perpetuated”; see Gen 48:16] in Israel.”

[4:15]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and he will become for you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age” (NASB similar).

[4:15]  ³⁰ tn Heb “who, she”; KJV “which is better to thee.”

[4:16]  ³¹ tn Or “breast”; KJV, NRSV “in her bosom.”

[4:16]  ³² tn Heb “his nurse,” but this refers to a dry nurse, not a medical attendant. Cf. NIV “and cared for him”; TEV “and took (+ good CEV) care of him.”

[4:17]  ³³ tn The name “Obed” means “one who serves,” perhaps anticipating how he would help Naomi (see v. 15).

[4:18]  ³⁴ tn Or “generations” (so KJV, NASB); NIV, NLT “family line.”

[4:21]  ³⁵ sn Salmon appears to be an alternate spelling of Salmah in the preceding line.

[4:22]  ³⁶ 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.