Old Testament · History

Ruth chapter 4

Meanwhile, Boaz went up to the and sat down there. Sure enough, the family redeemer he’d mentioned came walking by. Boaz called out, “Hey, — come sit down here.” So he came over and sat down.Boaz gathered and said, “Sit down here.” They sat down.Then he said to the family redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is that belonged to our relative Elimelek.”“I thought I should bring this to your attention and say: Buy it in the presence of these witnesses and the elders of my people. If you’re going to it, redeem it. But if you won’t, tell me, so I know — because no one has the right to redeem it except you, and I’m next in line.” The man said, “I’ll redeem it.”Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the dead man’s widow — to .”The redeemer said, “Then I can’t redeem it — it would . You take my right of redemption. I can’t do it.”Now in earlier times in Israel, to finalize any transaction involving redemption or exchange, one person would and hand it to the other. This was how agreements were made official in Israel.So when the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it yourself,” he took off his sandal.Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelek, Kilion, and Mahlon.”“I am also Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife — to continue the dead man’s name with his property, so that his name won’t disappear from his family or from the records of his town. You are witnesses today.”All the people at the gate, along with the elders, said, “We are witnesses! May Yahweh make the woman coming into your home like , who together built up the house of Israel. May you prosper in and be famous in Bethlehem.”“May your house be like the house of , whom bore to Judah — through the children Yahweh gives you by this young woman.”So Boaz married Ruth, and she became his wife. When they came together, , and she gave birth to a son.The women said to Naomi, “! He hasn’t left you without a today. May this child become famous in Israel!”“He will and sustain you in your old age. Your daughter-in-law, who loves you — and who is — has given birth to him.”Naomi took the child, held him close, and became his caretaker.The neighborhood women said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him . He became the father of Jesse, who was the father of .This is the family line of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron.Hezron was the father of Ram, and Ram was the father of Amminadab.Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon was the father of Salmon.Salmon was the father of , and Boaz was the father of Obed.Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of .