1:11 Have I yet sons. Naomi’s talk of raising up sons to replace the missing husbands only exaggerates her loss. The idea itself may refer to the law of levirate marriage. According to this law, if a man died leaving a widow, his brother was obliged to marry the widow, taking his place and preserving the family lines (Deut. 25:5, 6). There was also a custom that when someone died a close relative (or “redeemer”) was supposed to buy (or “redeem”) the deceased’s estate. Just how these customs functioned in the history of Ruth and Boaz is a matter of continuing debate (2:20 note).