And Boaz said to the elders and 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;
Ruth 4:9 is the moment the deal is closed. In the gate of Bethlehem, before the elders and the whole town, Boaz names what he has bought back — everything that belonged to Naomi's dead husband and his two sons.
Boaz did not settle this privately with Naomi. He took it to the place where the town handled its legal business, in front of everyone.
With the promptness and energy of a heart fully engaged, Boaz goes up to "the gate." This was the place of rule, where people settled all matters and made all transfers. It would match the courts of today, where people complete all their legal business. In the matter he was handling, nothing was to be done "in a corner." Everyone concerned had to agree, and men with legal authority to approve it had to witness it in the light of open day.
The verse names three dead men — Elimelech, Chilion, Mahlon. Boaz was buying back the whole holding of a family that had died out. Two widows gained by it.
The account of what happened in the gate of Bethlehem shows that the redemption had two parts. First, he bought from Naomi everything that belonged to her husband and her two sons; all three men had died in the land of Moab. Second, he "bought" Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be his own wife. So both widows gained by the deal. Naomi received from Boaz the value of the inheritance to live on. She had depended on what Ruth gathered in the barley fields, and now, by comparison, she was "rich and increased with goods." And Ruth the "stranger" became the wife of Boaz of Bethlehem, the "mighty man of wealth." Boaz had admitted that he was a "brother" to the dead Elimelech, in the broad sense of a near relative. So he took on a brother's duty under the law (Deut. 25:5-10): to marry the widowed Ruth and raise up children to carry on Elimelech's name and inheritance in the tribe of Judah and the land of Israel.
This was more than charity for two poor women. Behind the sale stood a landowner with a prior claim.
In fact, this involved more than supporting the impoverished widows. The inheritance was Jehovah's gift to this family, and for that reason it had to be recovered and made secure to them. In the days of Joshua, Elimelech's ancestors received this piece of ground by lot, to hold for themselves and their heirs for all time. Jehovah was the landowner: "the land is mine" (Lev. 25:23). Any question affecting the line of succession or a change of occupant had to be settled on a righteous basis in the eyes of Jehovah. Redemption was a sacred transaction, and not a mere matter of human bargaining.
Someone held a claim on this land, and Boaz met it with money.
Boaz, however, redeemed the inheritance by paying for it, not by force. He was wealthy enough to pay what was asked to get it back. We are not told the price, but it fully met every righteous claim of the creditor. And the New Testament reveals this: by the immeasurable value and effect of His sacrificial offering, Christ Jesus "obtained eternal redemption" (Heb. 9:12).
Ruth came from Moab, a nation Israel's law kept at a distance. The same law provided the door she walked through.
In this way the law of Israel was kept perfectly. Ruth was a Moabite, and the law forbade accepting a Moabite to the tenth generation. Yet Israel welcomed her in, because Israel's law had also made provision for a related redeemer to do exactly that. In the same way, the law shut ungodly Gentiles out of Israel. But the law still bore witness to the coming of the Lord Jesus, whose great sacrifice has brought redemption for the ungodly.
Commentators see this call for witnesses as a picture of an announcement still to come for Israel.
Boaz calls the elders and all the people to witness that he has bought the whole forfeited inheritance and the Gentile widow Ruth. In the same way, our Lord will call everyone to witness His redemption of His desolate people. "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned" (Isa. 40:1-2).
Ruth had been picking up leftovers in those fields. After this announcement, they belonged to her husband — and so to her.
For Ruth, the result was that Boaz became not only her redeemer but her bridegroom. The fields where she gleaned became hers too. She got the inheritance. Our true Boaz, our Kinsman, Redeemer and Bridegroom, will share with us His wide fields, His glorious inheritance. The saints are "heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ."
- Price — Boaz bought the land back instead of seizing it, and the price met every righteous claim.
- Right — the land was God's gift to that family, so the transfer had to be righteous, not a private bargain.
- Public — he took it to the gate, so nothing was done in a corner and the whole town could confirm it.
- Reach — the law itself provided a redeeming relative, so a woman from Moab came into Israel with no rule bent.
- Inheritance — her redeemer married her, so the field she once gleaned in became hers.
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.
At Bethlehem's gate Boaz says out loud what he has bought and why: a dead man's name must not vanish from his own town. Two things in that announcement surprise a modern reader — a woman is "bought," and the buyer never mentions his own gain.
Boaz's announcement covers a field and a marriage in one deal.
The redemption had two parts. First, Boaz bought from Naomi everything that had belonged to her husband and her two sons; all three men had died in Moab. Second, he "bought" Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, to be his wife. So both widows gained by the transaction. Naomi received from Boaz the value of the inheritance to live on. She had depended on Ruth's gleanings in the barley fields, and now she was well off. And Ruth the "stranger" became the wife of Boaz the Bethlehemite, the mighty man of wealth. Boaz had owned himself a "brother" — a near relative of the dead Elimelech. So he took up a brother's duty under the law in Deuteronomy 25:5-10. He was to marry the widowed Ruth and raise up offspring. In that way Elimelech's name and inheritance would continue in the tribe of Judah and the land of Israel.
At the very moment she becomes a wife, she is still called by the name of the foreign nation she came from.
In the presence of the same ten men who had witnessed the first kinsman's refusal to buy the inheritance, he buys everything — the inheritance, and Ruth too, the Moabitess, as she is called to remind us of the grace of the transaction.
That title carried a legal barrier, and writers point out that the same law which shut Moab out also opened the door.
Ruth was a Moabitess, yet Israel welcomed her into its community. The law forbade accepting a Moabite until the tenth generation. That was possible because Israel's law had also made provision for a related redeemer to bring such a person in.
The nearer relative had the first legal right, and he refused it.
No, the law certainly cannot raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance. Only the power of God in grace can meet the need pictured here. The kinsman hands over his shoe — the sign of entering into possession — to the one in whom there is power. The law testifies and yields its rights to Christ, and He is declared the only possible Redeemer.
That man stands for the law itself.
Like this man, the law had prior rights over Israel. The law demands; it takes, and it gives nothing. It would no longer be the law if it could take on the work of grace… It is a minister of death and cannot give life to the dead.
The record never names the price Boaz paid, only the result.
The price that Boaz paid we are not told, but the property and the person he wanted both became his. Redemption gave him the title to claim Ruth as his bride… "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field" (Matthew 13:44). The field is the world. The hidden treasure means the souls in it that are precious to the Saviour's heart. For their sake He sells all that He has and gives up everything… For the sake of the treasure — "His own" — He buys all.
One writer dwells on what that day meant for Ruth herself.
What a day of gladness for poor Ruth! What a perfect work Boaz finished for her that day — what a complete change for her, what perfect rest! She is no longer the poor, sorrowing, outcast Moabitess. No more gleaning and beating out grain. No more coming and going. No more enjoying blessing with Boaz one hour and being away from him, desolate, the next. The stranger gleaner is now one with him forever… You had nothing to bring to him. Boaz had everything to give for you.
The two purchases, land and person, point beyond Bethlehem.
He buys the inheritance, and it becomes his. He also takes Ruth for himself, named the Moabitess here for the last time. Israel's land is yet to be known as Immanuel's, for indeed He has bought it at its full value. The people, also, are the purchased of His love. In Ruth's case the picture must fall short… "For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called" (Isaiah 54:5).
- Demand — the law had the prior claim, but it takes and gives nothing. It cannot give life to the dead, so it steps aside and hands its right to the One who has power.
- Purchase — Boaz buys the field and the widow in one act; the price is never named, only the result — both became his.
- Grace — she is still "the Moabitess" on her wedding day. The barrier was real, and a related redeemer removed it.
- Rest — the gleaner had nothing to bring. The day Boaz bought her ends her coming and going for good.
- Name — the purchase keeps a dead man's name alive on his own land; Israel's land and people will yet be known as Immanuel's.
And all the people that were in the gate and the elders said, [We are] witnesses. Jehovah make the woman that cometh into thy house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel; and acquire power in Ephratah, and make thyself a name in Bethlehem;
Boaz has just told the town he has bought Elimelech's land and taken Ruth as his wife. The people at the gate answer with a blessing — but why do they name Rachel and Leah?
The blessing is not a private wish. Every Israelite town had elders who handled its public business, and a redemption needed them as witnesses.
Every city had elders. As the responsible members of the community, they could act in all matters of the common good, and people could call on them in any emergency… To confirm the redemption of an inheritance, the elders were called together to be witnesses. Ruth 4:1-12.
Nothing here is done in secret. One writer sees a larger picture in that open dealing:
Nothing is "done in a corner." No righteous demand is ignored, and no necessary claim is set aside. The same law that testified against the nation which turned away from God will also testify to the righteousness of Him who, on the basis of grace, restores to Himself the remnant who repent and believe.
To build a house means to have children. Rachel and Leah were the wives of Jacob, and eight of Israel's tribes came from their sons.
Their desire for the childless young widow was that she might now be fruitful like Rachel and Leah. From their sons came the eight principal tribes of the nation of Israel. Rachel was the much-loved wife of Jacob and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin. She died in childbirth, and her grave was near "Ephrath, which is Bethlehem" (Gen. 35:19). That may be why the citizens of Bethlehem named her before her elder sister, Leah.
Another writer explains the order of the names differently:
The history of the people will begin once again, so to speak, with this poor Moabite. It will start again on the basis of grace. Here it is not Leah but Rachel, the beloved wife, the wife of Jacob's free choice, the one for whom he had served so long, who comes first. In every respect and detail the Book of Ruth fixes our gaze on grace.
Ruth came from Moab, a people Israel counted unclean and rejected.
Though the daughter of an unclean and rejected people, she is given a place equal to the chief mothers in Israel. Like Rahab before her, the Hope of the nation comes through her, according to the flesh (Matt. 1:5); and she is given a standing equal in dignity with that of Rachel herself. Ruth 4:11. She had no natural kinship with Israel; but, through grace, she is grafted into Israel.
The men at the gate went beyond what the law of Sinai demanded:
But all the elders and the people in the gate rose above the harshness of the law of Sinai. In their wedding blessing they sought the peace and the prosperity of the new household, naming first the poor woman from Moab and then the wealthy man of Bethlehem. It was indeed a glimpse of that true Light which, coming into the world, would give light to every man, Israelite and Gentile alike (John 1:9).
Ephrathah is the older name of Bethlehem. The two names belong to one town — the town where Rachel was buried. The crowd's wish for Boaz was answered far beyond what they asked.
They desired for Boaz that he, already a man of wealth, might gain further power through the redeemed inheritance and have an even more famous name in Bethlehem. God answered this prayerful hope in full and glorious measure. By this marriage Boaz became the ancestor of Israel's Messiah, Who in due time was born in Bethlehem, small though it was "among the thousands of Judah" (Micah 5:2).
(Some translations say "acquire power in Ephrathah." The ESV says "act worthily in Ephrathah.")
Their prayer that a house be "built" reaches past Boaz's own family:
The elders and people (Ruth 4:11) pronounce a blessing upon Boaz, but the Spirit of God leads them to use words which can only be fulfilled when Messiah comes. "Build the house of Israel." Their Messiah is our Lord Jesus. He will build their house and in the future day do infinitely more than restore the glory of Solomon.
- Witnessed. The gate was the town's court. The elders stood as witnesses to the redemption, so nothing was done in secret.
- Blessed. The people asked God to make the new wife fruitful like Rachel and Leah, the mothers from whose sons the nation grew.
- Widened. Grace grafts an outsider in: a woman from a rejected people now stands beside Rachel.
- Named. God answered the wish for power in Ephrathah and a name in Bethlehem when the Messiah was born in that small town.
- Built. "Build the house of Israel" reaches past Boaz to Christ. He will do more for Israel than Solomon's glory ever showed.
and let thy house become like the house of Pherez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, of the seed which Jehovah shall give thee of this young woman.
The witnesses at the city gate end their blessing on Boaz by reaching far back into Judah's family history. It is a strange page of the past to choose as a model, and the closing words hand the whole future over to the LORD, who gives the children.
The name would have carried an obvious meaning for people in Bethlehem.
The record always puts Perez, the son of Judah and Tamar, before his twin brother Zerah, so he held the right of the firstborn. In David's reign the family of Perez held the highest rank in the tribe of Judah, and it seems to have stood out for its fruitfulness and vigour. This rapid growth explains why the people spoke of "the house of Perez" at the marriage of Boaz.
The wish for Boaz was that his standing would grow through what he had just redeemed. The answer went far past anything the crowd at the gate had in mind.
Boaz was already a man of substance. They wanted him to gain further power through the redeemed inheritance, and to hold a still more famous and honoured name in Bethlehem. This prayerful hope received a glorious and supreme answer. By this marriage Boaz became the ancestor of Israel's Messiah. In due time He was born in Bethlehem, small though it was "among the clans of Judah" (Micah 5:2).
Ordinary townspeople speak, but their words carry a weight they could not measure. They ask that Boaz's line be settled like Perez's — by God's choosing, not by merit.
The Holy Spirit places prophetic words in their mouths… The history of the people will begin once again, so to speak, with this poor Moabite woman. It will start over on the basis of grace… May Boaz's offspring, like Perez, be established according to the election of grace!
The blessing skips Judah, the great tribal father, and lands on Tamar's son. That choice runs against every human instinct.
Why not begin with his father, Judah? His was the greatest of the tribes of Israel. But it was through Perez, son of Tamar, that the promised blessing had to come. God led His line of promise through the base things of the world, and took up those whom men would spurn. This was to magnify His grace and exalt His name. How unlike man, who thinks the greater the aim, the better the means must be. Not so with God. He uses base things, and things that are not, as His instruments or channels to carry out His word.
Boaz and Ruth receive the same favour, without the shame of the older story.
They also refer to Tamar and her children. Looking back at that history, we find it a sadly blotted page. Sin seems written all over it, yet there is a faith that desires the blessing and, like Jacob, will get it by scheming. Here is the blessing without the stain, but still reminding us of grace shown to a sinful and unworthy people.
The law of Sinai was severe, and Ruth was a Moabite. The people at the gate name her first and the wealthy landowner second.
But all the elders and the people in the gate rose above the severity of the law of Sinai. In their wedding blessing they sought the peace and prosperity of the new household, naming first the poor Moabite woman and then the wealthy Bethlehemite… The words of the people of Bethlehem meant more than they knew. They held a hidden prophecy of "Jesus who is called Christ." His genealogy from Abraham stands at the beginning of the New Testament in forty-two generations, and the tenth name recorded is "Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth."
Tamar's name is not hidden. The people speak it aloud at a wedding, and it stands later in the family line of Christ.
The history of Tamar shows us, in God's own marvellous way, how Christ comes into connection with Judah. So her name appears in the Lord's genealogy in the Gospel of Matthew. Hers is the first of four women's names there, and their presence shows the grace that has stooped to take up men… With Tamar it is her sin that stands out, as with Rahab it is her faith. For Ruth to come in, the sentence of the law has to be set aside. And Bathsheba shows us grace triumphing even over a believer's sin.
- Grace chooses. The blessing asks that Boaz's house be like Perez's — a household settled by God's choice, not by any claim of its own.
- Grace stoops. God ran the line of promise through Perez, not Judah. He took up what men would spurn, to magnify His grace and exalt His name.
- Grace widens. The people rose above the law's severity toward Moab. They named the foreign widow first in their blessing.
- Grace cleanses. Tamar's story is a blotted page. Boaz and Ruth receive the same grace without the stain.
- Grace ends in Christ. The wish for a famous name in Bethlehem came true beyond measure. Boaz became an ancestor of the Messiah, born in that same town.
And Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and he went in unto her, and Jehovah gave her conception, and she bore a son.
A story that began with famine, death, and a widow calling herself bitter ends with a marriage and a son. The verse credits that son not to nature but to the LORD — and through him a dead man's name reaches the line of David.
The last line of Ruth's story answers the first. She left Moab with nothing, and here she is a wife in Israel.
"So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife." What an unexpected, bright, happy ending to a path that began in sorrow and loneliness! With firm purpose of heart she had turned her back on Moab and its gods, to go to Israel's land and to trust Israel's God.
At the town gate the people and the elders had spoken blessings over this couple. Here God Himself makes those blessings good.
reason: cuts full re-quote of featured verse in non-ESV wording; adds the line to David
Boaz had bought back a dead man's land. Without a child, buying it back would have left the family name buried.
Naomi, the widow of Elimelech, was the "seller." So she had the main interest in the redemption of her husband's inheritance in Bethlehem. Boaz said as much in front of everyone when he arranged to buy it (4:5). Once the property had passed to Boaz, she longed to see with her own eyes an heir born to Boaz and Ruth. Then her husband's name would live on in his tribe, and the redemption would reach its main goal... The LORD granted Naomi's desire for a family heir, and rewarded her faith in Him with the gift of a grandson.
Naomi herself had argued that no rescue was possible.
No woman's situation looked more disastrous — even hopeless — than Naomi's, as she admitted herself. Her appeal to Orpah and Ruth rested on one thing: humanly speaking, no rescue could come, and no one could raise up the name of the dead on the inheritance. But impossibility is a word never to be named with God... It is a good thing that we should feel our utter weakness; it is intolerable that we should ever limit Him.
One writer finds a wider picture in Naomi's empty years. He also notes the order: union first, then fruit.
Naomi was now a widow, desolate, fruitless, and without resources of her own... She is a striking picture of the Jewish nation, which lost God as its king and husband, and is now widowed and desolate. But a feeble remnant — the meek and lowly Ruth — clings to Naomi, and in effect takes shelter under the wings of the God of Israel... But "fruit for God," notice, is the result of our union with "him who has been raised from the dead." (See Rom. 7:1-4)
The women of the town speak of the newborn as though the right of redemption now rests on him.
"And the LORD gave [Ruth] conception." Now that grace has given this heir, the women again take up the people's prophetic line of thought... They transfer the right of redemption that Boaz had used to the head of his son. So they look ahead to the future redemption that the man born of Ruth will accomplish. In Him, they add, the old age of the people will find a nourisher, their weakness will find a restorer.
One writer looks past this wedding to a greater one still ahead.
The day of the marriage of the Lamb will be the great answer to the work of redemption. The glory is the answer to the cross. In that day the Bride will be infinitely blessed, but the Lamb will gain power and fame. All the glory will be His.
- Redemption first. Boaz bought the field and married Ruth before any child came. The marriage completes a rescue, not just a love story.
- God gives. The people and the elders spoke blessings at the gate; the verse says the LORD gave conception. What they asked for, He gave.
- Fruit follows. The son comes only after the marriage. One writer ties this to Romans 7: fruit for God grows out of union with the risen Christ.
- Nothing is impossible. Naomi had reasoned that no heir could ever come. Feeling our weakness is healthy; limiting God is not.
- The line runs on. The child keeps a dead man's name alive and takes his place in the family line. From that line came David, and out of Bethlehem the Ruler of Israel.