And now, truly I am one that has the right of redemption, yet there is one that has the right of redemption who is nearer than I.
Boaz answers Ruth's appeal by owning what she has claimed. He does have the right of redemption. But he also names the one thing in the way: another man holds a closer claim. Commentators read that obstacle as the key to the whole book.
Boaz does not hesitate over Ruth, and he does not brush aside the man with the prior right either. Where the ESV says "redeemer," older translations say "kinsman," and the writers quoted here use that older word. One reads both halves of Boaz's answer together:
Boaz is perfectly willing to do the kinsman-redeemer's part, but the nearer kinsman has a prior claim, and Boaz, in righteousness, respects it. … Boaz is beyond doubt a picture of Christ. The nearest kinsman, with his prior claim, stands for the law. Jesus came to save and bless the sinner, but the law with its righteous claims was standing in the way.
One writer turns the picture on the reader. Many have already had dealings with this nearer kinsman and tried to satisfy him:
Yes, there is a kinsman very near, and some of you have had very close dealings with him. You have tried to please him, tried to satisfy his claims, tried to meet his requirements. "Yes," you say, "I have tried to keep the law." You are right, there is the nearer kinsman, but can the law redeem? Can the law do a kinsman's part? No; the law can only condemn, can only prove you guilty; it cannot redeem.
The order matters. Boaz must let the nearer man answer first. One writer explains why that sequence is no accident:
So we see the redeemer who is not Boaz, but the redeemer who cannot redeem. The law is indeed the nearest kinsman that man has. Apart from the teaching of divine grace, man naturally turns to it. One reason for the delay in Christ's coming was that the law should be tried first. That trial only tests man's righteousness. And so in the history of a saved soul, the law's claim must first be set aside. Then Christ is not to that soul "one of our redeemers," but the only Redeemer possible, the Boaz "in whom is strength."
Commentators differ on who the nearer kinsman pictures. Most read him as the law. One writer objects that a redeemer had to be related by birth, and reads the man as our fellow man instead:
Many teach that the kinsman nearest of kin to Naomi is a picture of the law, but this raises many difficulties. The main one is that a kinsman-redeemer had to be related by birth. How can the law be said to be related to man in that way? … The kinsman redeemer who could claim a closer relationship than Boaz was certainly willing to redeem (see ch. 4:4). But his willingness was limited by his ability. While he could say, "I will redeem it," he had to admit twice, "I cannot redeem it." … Since the nearer kinsman was more closely related to Naomi than Boaz, he seems to picture our fellow man rather than the law. Man has no nearer kinsman than those in his own family.
The nearer claim is real, and Boaz treats it as real. One writer sees the grace of Boaz most clearly here:
The grace of the Kinsman is a great sight to see as well. There were hindrances in the way. A nearer kinsman had his claims, and Boaz has to own them and answer them. Just so, in the reality this pictures, sin stands against the purposes of love — the guilt of man stands in the way of his blessing from One who is holy, as He is gracious. But He has found a way to vindicate righteousness and set aside sin. At the same time He satisfies His own love and answers every claim that faith makes upon grace.
Ruth cannot settle the question herself. Her place is to wait:
Ruth has the privilege of continuing to lie down at Boaz's feet until morning. This will be the portion of the remnant and it is also ours. As long as the night lasts we can rest at His feet.
- Claim owned. Boaz confirms he holds the right of redemption — the relationship Ruth appealed to is real, not imagined.
- Claim rivalled. A nearer kinsman has the prior right. Boaz respects it instead of pushing past it.
- Claim tried. The law is the nearest kinsman man has, and man naturally turns to it. Its claim must be settled first. Then Christ is not one redeemer among several, but the only one.
- Claim failed. The nearer kinsman was willing, but his ability failed him. His "I cannot" clears the way.
- Claim answered. Boaz owns the hindrance and answers it. In the same way God vindicates righteousness and still satisfies His love. Ruth's part is to rest at Boaz's feet until morning.
Stay over to-night, and it shall be in the morning, if he will redeem thee, well -- let him redeem; but if he like not to redeem thee, then will I redeem thee, [as] Jehovah liveth. Lie down until the morning.
Boaz answers Ruth's plea with a promise, not yet a wedding. Another man holds a prior claim, and the night must pass before Boaz can act.
Boaz does not hide the legal difficulty from Ruth. He binds himself with an oath — "as the LORD lives" — and he guards the good name her bold approach might have cost her.
Boaz appreciated her faith. Yet he was anxious about one thing. Her bold faith must not put at risk even the smallest part of what had won her the confidence of all who loved Jehovah's name. He was careful that no breath of suspicion should harm such a woman. So he gives her directions as carefully as her mother-in-law had. And he does not hide from her the difficulty the law placed in the way. So the woman rests with complete confidence in the Lord who had been at work in His servant Boaz.
The delay has nothing to do with Boaz's willingness.
Boaz is perfectly willing to do the kinsman-redeemer's part, but the nearer kinsman has a prior claim, and Boaz, in righteousness, respects it.
That order was not optional.
He was not the nearest kinsman, and so he could use his right to redeem only after the one who could claim a closer relationship had either refused, or proved unable, to fill that office.
Who is this nearer kinsman? Commentators see the law in him.
So we see the redeemer who is not Boaz — the redeemer who cannot redeem. The law is indeed the nearest kinsman a man has, and the one he naturally turns to unless divine grace teaches him otherwise. One reason for the delay in Christ's coming was that the law should first be tried, for that is simply the testing of man's righteousness. And so in the history of a saved soul, the law's claim must first be set aside. Then Christ is not one redeemer among others, but the only Redeemer possible — the Boaz "in whom is strength."
The night is not wasted time. Ruth spends it in the very place she came to — at the feet of the man who has pledged himself to her.
Ruth has the privilege of continuing to lie down at Boaz's feet until morning. This will be the portion of the remnant, and it is ours too. As long as the night lasts we can rest at His feet. Isn't this a blessed place — at His feet? There we enjoy His approval as to our walk. There we receive His promises. We are certain that He has heard us, and that all the toil of this miserable life will soon end. It will give place to the public showing of our relationship with Him, and to the possession of the glorious fruit of His work.
The pledge comes at night. The settlement comes with the morning.
It is night and dark when Ruth hears of the nearer kinsman's claim. And if law is to have its way, it is dark, dark, DARK for the sinner. But morning comes, and with it the full settlement of the difficulty.
Another writer names the morning our rest depends on.
Notice that the only way to find rest is to seek it at the feet of the Redeemer-kinsman, as we see in chapter 3. We must know Him as the Redeemer-Bridegroom. Ruth took that place at the feet of Boaz while he slept, a picture of the death of Christ. There was another relative ahead of Boaz, and Ruth had to wait until the morning. Yes, we must be brought to the death of the cross of Christ. But note that it is not there that we find rest — the rest of redemption. If the morning of the resurrection of Christ had never broken the silence of the tomb, we could never have found eternal rest. He must rise again, or there can be no redeemed bride.
- Night — Ruth's plea does not settle the case at once. The promise comes at night, and she waits it out at the redeemer's feet.
- Oath — Boaz swears by the living God. A legal obstacle stands, yet he leaves Ruth with a promise, not a doubt.
- Order — Boaz is willing, but he will not step over the man with a prior claim. Grace moves in step with righteousness.
- Obstacle — Commentators see the law in the nearer kinsman. Man turns to it first, and it must step aside before Christ becomes the only Redeemer possible.
- Morning — Ruth's rest came with the morning. Without the resurrection of Christ, a pledge never becomes a settled redemption.