Ruth 4

1 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there. Behold, the near kinsman of whom Boaz spoke came by. Boaz said to him, “Come over here, friend, and sit down!” He came over, and sat down.

2 Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here,” and they sat down.

3 He said to the near kinsman, “Naomi, who has come back out of the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech’s.

4 I thought I should tell you, saying, ‘Buy it before those who sit here, and before the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know. For there is no one to redeem it besides you; and I am after you.” He said, “I will redeem it.”

5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must buy it also from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance.”

6 The near kinsman said, “I can’t redeem it for myself, lest I endanger my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption for yourself; for I can’t redeem it.”

7 Now this was the custom in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning exchanging, to confirm all things: a man took off his sandal, and gave it to his neighbor; and this was the way of formalizing transactions in Israel.

8 So the near kinsman said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” then he took off his sandal.

9 Boaz said to the elders and to all the people, “You are witnesses today, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi.

10 Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, I have purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses today.”

11 All the people who were in the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who has come into your house like Rachel and like Leah, which both built the house of Israel; and treat you worthily in Ephrathah, and be famous in Bethlehem.

12 Let your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, of the offspring which the LORD will give you by this young woman.”

13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and he went in to her, and the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she bore a son.

14 The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you today without a near kinsman. Let his name be famous in Israel.

15 He shall be to you a restorer of life and sustain you in your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”

16 Naomi took the child, laid him in her bosom, and became nurse to him.

17 The women, her neighbors, gave him a name, saying, “A son is born to Naomi”. They named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

18 Now this is the history of the generations of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron,

19 and Hezron became the father of Ram, and Ram became the father of Amminadab,

20 and Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon became the father of Salmon,

21 and Salmon became the father of Boaz, and Boaz became the father of Obed,

22 and Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David.

Around Ruth 4

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

Ruth 4 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

Boaz goes up to the city gate and sits down. When the nearer kinsman passes, he calls him over and gathers ten elders as witnesses. He says Naomi is selling the land that was Elimelech’s, and offers the man first right to redeem it. The man says he will. Then Boaz adds that whoever buys the field must also take Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the dead, to raise up his name. The man answers that he cannot, lest he endanger his own inheritance, and passes the right to Boaz, taking off his sandal to seal it, as the writer explains was the custom.

Boaz declares to the elders that he has bought it all, and that he has taken Ruth as his wife. The people say they are witnesses and bless the house. Ruth bears a son. The women tell Naomi that her daughter-in-law is better to her than seven sons. They name the child Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Background

The book ends with the town gate, where legal matters were settled before elders, and with a genealogy. Obed is the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David. That places a Moabite woman in the line of Israel's greatest king, and Matthew 1 names Ruth in the line of Jesus. The scene of the sandal is explained by the writer, which suggests the custom was no longer practiced when the book was written. Many scholars think the book was set down well after the events.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 28 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes