Ruth 4

Ruth 4 is the final chapter of the Book of Ruth. It continues the narrative of chapter 3, in which Ruth, at the threshing floor, asked Boaz to take up the responsibility of a kinsman-redeemer, and Boaz, noting that there was a kinsman nearer than he, promised to settle the matter.

Outline

• Verses 1–6 Boaz sits at the city gate, has the nearer kinsman-redeemer and ten elders of the town sit down with him, and raises the matter of Elimelech's field. The man at first agrees to redeem the field. When he hears, however, that he must also take Ruth and raise up the name of the dead, he relinquishes the right, fearing that it would harm his own inheritance.
• Verses 7–10 The transaction is confirmed by the ancient custom of removing and handing over a sandal. Boaz calls the elders and the people as witnesses that he has acquired the property of Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon and has taken Ruth as his wife.
• Verses 11–12 The people and the elders bless Boaz, invoking Rachel and Leah and the house of Perez.
• Verses 13–17 Ruth bears a son. The women congratulate Naomi and name the child Obed. Obed is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
• Verses 18–22 A genealogy of ten names runs from Perez to David.

Key Verses

• Ruth 4:10 "to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance" — This verse states that the purpose of the transaction is to preserve the family line of the dead. The passage is treated separately in the article Ruth 4:4–10.
• Ruth 4:14 "which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman" — This verse shows the restoration of Naomi, who in chapter 1 lamented that she had returned empty.
• Ruth 4:17 "he is the father of Jesse, the father of David" — This verse links the story of one family to the origins of the royal house of David.

Characters and Places

• Boaz, Ruth, Naomi
• The unnamed kinsman-redeemer: a relative more closely related than Boaz. In the text he is called only "such a one."
• Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon: Naomi's husband and two sons, all already deceased. Mahlon was Ruth's husband.
• Obed: the son of Boaz and Ruth.
• Perez: the son of Judah and Tamar (Genesis 38).
• Rachel and Leah, Jesse, David
• Bethlehem (Ephrathah), Moab

Points for Reflection

• This chapter interweaves the redemption of land by the kinsman-redeemer (Leviticus 25) with the marriage law for preserving the name of a deceased brother (Deuteronomy 25). In Deuteronomy the widow removes the man's sandal, whereas here the kinsman removes his own sandal. Interpretations differ on how the two institutions relate to each other.
• The fact that a Moabite woman becomes an ancestor of the house of David is frequently cited as a theme of this chapter. Its relationship to Deuteronomy 23:3, which bars Moabites from entering the congregation, has been explained in various ways.
• The genealogy in Matthew 1 names Ruth and records that Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab. The story of Rahab does not appear in the text of Ruth.
• Christian tradition sometimes reads Boaz, who pays the price to redeem, as a type of Christ. This is an interpretive tradition rather than something the text itself states.
• Some scholars regard the genealogy in verses 18–22 as a later addition, while others see it as the book's original conclusion.

In the Korean Church

Sermons in Korean churches commonly use Boaz to explain the meaning of "kinsman-redeemer" and connect it with the redemption accomplished by Christ. The relationship between Ruth and Naomi is also addressed in sermons on the family.