"Ruth the Moabitess." These words scared the near kinsman right out of the transaction. "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." but, since he had no heirs, it would have remained in the near kinsman's possession! It is not hard to see that Boaz was handling this situation with masterful skill and discernment. Naomi was a poor widow and probably could not command a very high price for the land and besides that, in the year of Jubilee, which might not have been very far away, it would revert, theoretically, to Elimelech's heirs. "I will redeem it." Why not? Indeed, this would have been quite a windfall. However, the prominence, wealth and age of Boaz had endowed him with a patriarchal status that did not pertain to the near kinsman. "My people." Some have expressed wonder at this, because the Bethlehemites were, in a sense, as much the people of the near-kinsman, as they were of Boaz. "And before the elders of my people." "Others besides the official ten witnesses had also assembled," out of curiosity, no doubt, and to learn the news of what might be taking place. saying." "This is a primitive expression denoting internal resolution, such as, `I said to myself.'" If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me for there is none to redeem it besides thee and I am after thee. "And I thought to disclose it unto thee, saying Buy it before them that sit here, and before the elders of my people. "Our brother Elimelech's." The term `brother' is used here in the sense of `brother Israelite,' as frequently in the Bible. Thus, what Naomi was selling really amounted to the use of the land for that unspecified number of years. In that event, the land would have reverted to Elimelech's heirs in the year of Jubilee. Matthew Henry supposed that Elimelech had been compelled to mortgage the parcel during the famine that drove the family to Moab. We do not know how Naomi came to possess this land, but the probability is that she was acting as an agent for her deceased sons in whom the land title was probably vested. the land." This is the first intimation that Naomi had any land, and it indicates that there had been far more extensive contact between Boaz, Naomi, and Ruth than had been mentioned thus far in the narrative. "And he said unto the near kinsman, Naomi that is come out of the country of Moab, selleth the parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's. "Ho, you"! And, as we might say to a close acquaintance, "Hi, fellow! We may be sure that Boaz addressed him by name, but the author of the Book of Ruth was either ignorant of his name or simply did not wish to mention it, which is the more likely. "Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down." These are the words with which Boaz greeted that near kinsmen as he came along, probably on the way to his field. The purpose of Boaz' appearance there was to fulfill his promise to Ruth, which he certainly did, promptly and effectively. The city gate, in those times, was the place where the city's business was conducted it was the equivalent of the modern city hall. The words "go up to the gate" were used in the same sense that Israel always referred to "going up" to Jerusalem. To us, therefore, it appears that Boaz' going "up to the gate" is a reference to the high authority invested in the elders and magistrates who assembled at the gate in ancient cities. However, if there was a hill of higher elevation than the city, that would have been a better place to catch the breeze for the winnowing. "Boaz went up to the gate." Morris thought that the threshing-floor was at a lower altitude than the city and it might have been. "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. Such is the importance of this chapter that we shall examine it one verse at a time. THE MARRIAGE OF RUTH AND BOAZ AND BIRTH OF OBED
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