Who was Boaz in the Bible?
Answered from the commentary of William J. Hocking, Morrish Bible Dictionary, Hamilton Smith and 4 others
Boaz was a wealthy and respected man of Bethlehem, of the family of Elimelech. He was a near kinsman of Naomi’s family and a kinsman-redeemer, with the right and means to redeem their inheritance. He redeemed it and married Ruth, raising up an heir whose line led to David. Through his kindness to Ruth and his care for the poor, he was a godly, generous man. He is also presented as a type of Christ, the Redeemer.
The above is AI generated summary based on the writers below.
What the commentators say
The passages the answer is drawn from, the most direct first, with the words that bear on the question marked.
A wealthy Bethlehemite of the tribe of Judah, who married Ruth the Moabitess and was great grandfather of David. Ruth 2 - 4; 1 Chr. 2:11-12; Matt. 1:5; Luke 3:32. Boaz is a type of Christ who in a future day will raise up the name of the dead in Israel through the returned but desolate remnant.
Now Naomi had rich kinsmen of her husband's, who apparently did not emigrate from Bethlehem on account of the famine as she had done. They stayed at home, were preserved, and had prospered. One especially, named Boaz, had risen to eminence in Bethlehem. "And Naomi had a relation of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz" (Ruth 2:1). But Naomi, though badly in want, had not solicited any favours from her relatives, not even from Boaz. The poor often cling to their pride to the very last.
Who was this Boaz, and what has he to do with the story? He was of the kindred of Elimelech. In other words, he was a relation by birth of that one who departed from Bethlehem-Judah for a strange country, but whilst he was indeed a kinsman by birth, yet he was in no way linked with Elimelech in his disastrous choice to go down to Moab. Boaz did not depart from the land, he remained in it and kept his inheritance complete, whilst Elimelech forfeited his. These two characteristics were the essential qualifications of a Kinsman-redeemer according to the law of the Lord. He had:
In the time of barley harvest Ruth went to glean in the field of Boaz, a near kinsman of Elimelech and a rich man. Boaz observed and was gracious to her. She continued thus during the barley and wheat harvests. On the barley being winnowed, Boaz, after eating and drinking, lay down in a barn; and Ruth, instructed by Naomi, went and lay down at his feet. On his awaking, she declared that he was a near kinsman. He owned to this, but said there was one nearer than himself. On the circumstances being made known to the latter, and on his declining to redeem the inheritance, Boaz redeemed all that had belonged to Elimelech and his two sons, and took Ruth to be his wife. She bare a son named Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David.
Naomi's relation's name, Boaz, signifies "a pillar," or "strength is in him." One of the two pillars or supports in the porch of Solomon's temple was called "Boaz" (1 Kings 7:21). Boaz, the strong man of Bethlehem, is described also as "a mighty man of wealth" (2:1). The same phrase is applied to Gideon and to Jephthah, but in these instances it is translated "a mighty man of valour" (Judges 6:12; Judges11:1), courage and leadership being necessary qualities in their service for God. Here, in reference to Boaz, "wealth" is used as it is in Deut. 8:17-18, where it signifies God-given personal possessions in the land, such as the goodly houses, herds and flocks, silver and gold, mentioned in vers. 12, 13. For the godly Israelite "wealth" was a mark of the blessing of Jehovah which "makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it" (Prov. 10:22).
Boaz, then, was a godly man of substance and standing in Bethlehem, whose moral and spiritual character had been strengthened rather than spoiled by His riches. He was courteous, considerate, and generous to the poor. His recorded words and actions both witness to his deep-rooted faith in God; and therein lay the secret of his strength. "And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem; and he said to the reapers, Jehovah be with you! And they said to him, Jehovah bless thee!" (Ruth 2:4).
Boaz comes now upon the scene. His name means "in Him is strength." He is called "a mighty man of wealth." As the kinsman-redeemer he is a beautiful type of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one in whom there is strength, the rich one. Ruth knows at first little of him and the coming relationship with the wealthy one. Boaz is related to Elimelech, whose name "my God is king" is typical of Israel's faith. Through Elimelech only Naomi (the nation Israel) has a claim on Boaz. And she can only lay claim through Ruth. Even so Israel has a claim on the blessings promised to her through the remnant which returns to Him in the beginning of the harvest, the end of the age; that remnant, as stated before, is represented in Ruth.
Personally Boaz is represented as "a kinsman" and a "mighty man of wealth." The word "kinsman" used so many times in the Book of Ruth, is elsewhere translated "redeemer", a word that gives the true import of the kinsman's service. The kinsman had the right, and the power, to redeem his brother and his brother's inheritance, if either had passed into the hands of a stranger.
(1) First, we are made to know, though Ruth yet knows not, of Boaz and the relationship of Naomi to him. Boaz means "in him is strength," and he is spoken of as a mighty man of valor, — not of wealth, as in the common version, though the word may mean "wealth"; but not so probably in the connection in which it stands. It is the same expression which is used of the deliverers in the book of Judges, and has a good reason for its place in this sense here. The wealth which Christ has for the needy has indeed been attained by conflict; for though He was "rich" from eternity who "for our sakes became poor," yet the "riches of His grace" had to be acquired before they could be bestowed. It is fit that we should be reminded here, first of all, of that accomplished warfare into the fruits of which we enter, though this be not the subject of the book. Thus "in Him is strength" for our redemption.
And Boaz ("in him is strength"), a mighty man of wealth, is a type of the Lord Jesus. He by grace encourages Ruth in such a way that eventually, because he is a "kinsman - redeemer", she is brought happily into the commonwealth of Israel by marriage to him. And Naomi too shares the joy and blessing of the results of this.
All know the story of Ruth and Naomi. Ruth was a Moabitess who had no claim to the blessing, but she came with Naomi to the land of Judah. There was one person in that land in whom she might have hope. The mighty man of wealth—Boaz. All her hope was in Boaz, and he undertook to do a kinsman’s part. Remember redemption involves carrying things out judicially and according to certain rights. There was one before Boaz, but he refused to do a kinsman’s part so Boaz undertook to do it. Now for us there was none other than the true Boaz the Lord Jesus, come of the line of Boaz and Ruth according to the flesh. He undertook the whole question of redemption—price and power, persons and property. For Ruth, the result was, not only did Boaz become her redeemer, but he became her bridegroom, and the fields in which 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 joint-heirs with Christ.”
Verses
- Ruth 2:1And Naomi had a relation of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz.
- Ruth 2:4And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem; and he said to the reapers, Jehovah be with you! And they said to him, Jehovah bless thee!
- Ruth 2:8And Boaz said to Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from here, but keep here with my maidens.
- Ruth 2:14And Boaz said to her at mealtime, Come hither and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers; and he reached her parched corn, and she ate and was sufficed, and reserved [some].
- Ruth 2:20And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of Jehovah, who has not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead! And Naomi said to her, The man is near of kin to us, one of those who have the right of our redemption.
- Ruth 3:1–21And Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? 2And now, is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he is winnowing barley in the threshing-floor to-night.
- Ruth 3:7–137And Boaz ate and drank, and his heart was merry, and he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn. Then she went softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid herself down. 8And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was startled, and turned himself; and behold, a woman lay at his feet. 9And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth, thy handmaid spread thy skirt over thy handmaid; for thou hast the right of redemption. 10And he said, Blessed be thou of Jehovah, my daughter! Thou hast shewn more kindness at the end than at the first, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich. 11And now, my daughter, fear not all that thou sayest will I do to thee; for all the gate of my people knows that thou art a woman of worth. 12And 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. 13Stay 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.