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Chapter 4

Boaz Marries Ruth. Boaz went to the gate[a] and took a seat there. Along came the other redeemer(A) of whom he had spoken. Boaz called to him by name, “Come, sit here.” And he did so. Then Boaz picked out ten of the elders[b] of the town and asked them to sit nearby. When they had done this, he said to the other redeemer: “Naomi, who has come back from the plateau of Moab, is putting up for sale the piece of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech.

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Footnotes

  1. 4:1 The gate of an Israelite town was the place where commercial and other legal matters were dealt with in publicly witnessed fashion.
  2. 4:2 Ten of the elders: to serve as judges in legal matters as well as witnesses of the settlement of business affairs; cf. Dt 25:7–9.

Boaz Marries Ruth

Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate(A) and sat down there just as the guardian-redeemer[a](B) he had mentioned(C) came along. Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.

Boaz took ten of the elders(D) of the town and said, “Sit here,” and they did so.(E) Then he said to the guardian-redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelek.(F)

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Footnotes

  1. Ruth 4:1 The Hebrew word for guardian-redeemer is a legal term for one who has the obligation to redeem a relative in serious difficulty (see Lev. 25:25-55); also in verses 3, 6, 8 and 14.