Ruth 4:7-8
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
7 (A)Now it used to be the custom in Israel that, to make binding a contract of redemption or exchange, one party would take off a sandal[a] and give it to the other. This was the form of attestation in Israel. 8 So the other redeemer, in saying to Boaz, “Acquire it for yourself,” drew off his sandal.
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- 4:7 Take off a sandal: the legislation in Dt 25:8–10 provides that if a “redeemer” refuses to carry out the obligation of marrying his brother’s wife, the woman shall strip off his sandal as a gesture of insult. In later years, when the obligation of carrying out this function of the “redeemer” was no longer keenly felt, the removal of the sandal may have become a formalized way of renouncing the rights/obligations of the “redeemer,” as in this text.
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