Date: 2025-09-19
Yesterday we left Ruth and Naomi waiting through the night (see 9-18-2025 notes) while Boaz promised to settle the matter “first thing in the morning.” Chapter 4 opens with that promise kept.
In the ancient towns of Israel the city gate was the courtroom, the council chamber, and the newspaper all in one. Archaeologists have uncovered stone benches at places like Tel Dan and Beersheba, showing where elders sat to judge and to witness contracts. Boaz takes his seat there, gathers ten elders, and invites the closer relative to sit (4:1-2). The stage is set for a legal drama carried out in broad daylight.
Cross-reference: Proverbs 31:23; Amos 5:15 – justice “at the gate.”
Boaz speaks of redeeming Naomi’s field. The Hebrew word is גֹּאֵל (goʾel) – “kinsman-redeemer,” a family member who buys back land or freedom that has been lost (Leviticus 25:25, 47-49). The verb carries overtones of rescue and restoration; Isaiah will later use it of the Lord Himself (Isaiah 54:5).
Western readers may trip over the switch from land to marriage. In Israelite law two strands are woven together:
Boaz links the two: field and widow come as one package. The nearer relative is willing until he learns marriage is required; then he withdraws, fearing he will “endanger” (literally, “corrupt”) his own inheritance.
The transfer is sealed by handing over a sandal (4:7-8). Removing the shoe says, “I give up my walk on this soil; you may tread here in my place.” Tablets from Nuzi (15th-century BC) record a similar act: a party places his foot on the land to claim it. Scripture, archaeology, and custom lock together.
Literary note: The Hebrew narrator builds gentle irony. The nearer kinsman’s name is never supplied—he is simply “So-and-so” (4:1). The man who refuses to preserve a name loses his own.
The elders answer with a threefold blessing:
Note the string of unexpected women: Tamar, Rahab (in earlier genealogy), Ruth. Matthew 1:1-6 will echo this list, pointing to another surprising woman—Mary—through whom the final Redeemer comes.
Song suggestion: “There Is a Redeemer” (Melody Green, 1982). The refrain “Thank You, O my Father, for giving us Your Son” mirrors the elders’ words, “May the LORD make the woman….”
Boaz “takes” (Hebrew לָקַח, laqach) Ruth; a verb of covenant receiving, not raw possession. God grants conception, and a son is born. The women of Bethlehem now speak to Naomi—whose lament once filled chapter 1. They name the child Obed (“servant”), saying, “He will renew your life and sustain your old age.” Naomi, once “empty,” now cradles fullness.
Themes we have traced the last three days come to harvest:
• Providence hidden in daily choices.
• The outsider welcomed inside.
• Loyal love (חֶסֶד, ḥesed) circling through Boaz, Ruth, the women, and
God Himself.
Spurgeon wrote, “When we cannot trace God’s hand we can trust His heart; in Ruth we both trace and trust.”
The book closes with a genealogy—ten names echoing the ten elders (structure!)—rising from Perez to David. The quiet romance of Boaz and Ruth becomes the royal line of Israel. Matthew will stretch the line one step further—to Jesus Christ, the final Goʾel.
Augustine saw here the mystery of Christ and His Church: “The Redeemer from Judah takes the foreign bride, gathers her into covenant, and from her brings the King who will shepherd the nations.”
• גֹּאֵל (goʾel) – noun of kinship, duty, mercy.
• חֶסֶד (ḥesed) – covenant kindness; used in 3:10 and lived out in
4:13-17.
• Literary artistry: The book opens with death of three men and closes
with birth of one; the arc moves from famine to harvest, bitter
emptiness to overflowing blessing—a chiastic reversal.
Further reading: Psalm 107 (redeemed out of trouble); 1 Peter 1:18-19 (redeemed with the precious blood of Christ).
Redeeming God,
You walk our streets and sit in our gates.
You see lands lost, hopes bruised, names in danger of fading away.
Thank You for sending the true Goʾel, Jesus, who took our debt, bore our
shame, and planted us in Your everlasting family.
Give us eyes to notice the Ruths and Naomis near us, hearts to extend
ḥesed, and courage to act before the watching world.
May our ordinary choices open extraordinary doors for Your
kingdom.
In the name of our Lord Jesus, Amen.