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Ruth Chapter 4 (ASV)

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Ruth Chapter 4
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1 Now Boaz went up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the near kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down.

2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.

3 And he said unto the near kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth the parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's:

4 And I thought to disclose it unto thee, saying, Buy it before them that sit here, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is none to redeem it besides thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it.

5 Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.

6 And the near kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: take thou my right of redemption on thee; for I cannot redeem it.

7 Now this was `the custom' in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning exchanging, to confirm all things: a man drew off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor; and this was the `manner of' attestation in Israel.

8 So the near kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thyself. And he drew off his shoe.

9 And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi.

10 Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.

11 And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. Jehovah make the woman that is come into thy house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephrathah, and be famous in Bethlehem:

12 and let thy house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which Jehovah shall give thee of this young woman.

13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and he went in unto her, and Jehovah gave her conception, and she bare a son.

14 And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be Jehovah, who hath not left thee this day without a near kinsman; and let his name be famous in Israel.

15 And he shall be unto thee a restorer of life, and a nourisher of thine old age, for thy daughter-in-law, who loveth thee, who is better to thee than seven sons, hath borne him.

16 And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it.

17 And the women her neighbors gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

18 Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez begat Hezron,

19 and Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab,

20 and Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon,

21 and Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed,

22 and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Boaz resolve the kinsman-redeemer question from Ruth 3?
Boaz meets the nearer kinsman at the city gate before ten elders; when that man declines to redeem Elimelech's land because it would endanger his own inheritance, Boaz agrees to redeem it and marry Ruth himself (v.1-10), fulfilling the plan Naomi laid out in Ruth 3.
What is the significance of the shoe custom in verse 7?
The text explains that removing a sandal and handing it to another party was the customary way of confirming a transaction like a redemption in Israel at that time (v.7-8).
Why does the book of Ruth end with a genealogy to David?
Ruth and Boaz have a son, Obed, who becomes the father of Jesse and grandfather of David (v.17-22), placing a Moabite widow directly in the ancestral line of Israel's greatest king. Boaz himself is praised as an example of the kind of man described in Proverbs 31:23, known and respected at the city gate.

Today's Verse

For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do that which is evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.

Deuteronomy 31:29 | ASV

Verse Of The Day

The elders bless the marriage by comparing Ruth to Rachel and Leah, and Boaz's public integrity in the transaction reflects the kind of praiseworthy husband cross-referenced at Proverbs 31:23. The chapter's closing genealogy, tracing Obed's line to Jesse and David, quietly reveals that this small family story ends up inside Israel's royal history.