Ruth 4

¹ And Boaz went up to the gate, and sat there; and behold, the relative passed by, of whom Boaz spake: and Boaz said to him, Turn aside, sit down here, ^[1]such a one: and he turned aside and sat down. ² And Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye here; and they sat down.

³ And Boaz said to the relative, The matter regardeth the portion of the field which ^[2]was our brother Elimelech’s which was given to Noemin, now returning out of the land of Moab; ⁴ and I said, I will ^[3]inform thee, saying, Buy it before those that sit, and before the elders of my people: if thou wilt redeem it, redeem it, but if thou wilt not redeem it, tell me, and I shall know; for there is no one besides thee to do the office of a kinsman, and I am after thee: and he said, ^[4]I am here, I will redeem it. ⁵ And Boaz said, In the day of thy buying the field of the hand of Noemin and of Ruth the Moabitess the wife of the deceased, thou must also buy her, so as to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. ⁶ And the kinsman said, I shall not be able to redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance; do thou redeem my right for thyself, for I shall not be able to redeem it.

⁷ And this was in former time the ordinance in Israel for redemption, and for a bargain, to confirm every word: A man loosed his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour that redeemed his right; and this was a testimony in Israel. ⁸ And the kinsman said to Boaz, Buy my right for thyself: and he took off his shoe and gave it to him.

⁹ And Boaz said to the elders and to all the people, Ye are this day witnesses, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that ^[5]belonged to Chelaion and Maalon, of the hand of Noemin. ¹⁰ Moreover I have bought for myself for a wife Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Maalon, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance; so the name of the dead shall not be destroyed from among his brethren, and from the tribe of his people: ye are this day witnesses.

¹¹ And all the people who were in the gate said, We are witnesses: and the elders said, The Lord ^[6]make thy wife who goeth into thy house, as Rachel and as Lia, who both together built the house of Israel, and wrought mightily in Ephratha, and there shall be a name to thee in Bethlehem. ¹² And let thy house be as the house of Phares, whom Thamar bare to Judah, of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this handmaid.

¹³ And Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her; and the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son. ¹⁴ And the women said to Noemin, Blessed is the Lord, who hath not suffered a redeemer to fail thee this day, even to make thy name famous in Israel. ¹⁵ And he shall be to thee a restorer of thy soul, and one to cherish thine old age; for thy daughter-in-law which hath loved thee, who is better to thee than seven sons, hath borne him. ¹⁶ And Noemin took the child and laid it in her bosom, and became a nurse to it.

¹⁷ And the neighbours gave it a name, saying, A son hath been born to Noemin; and they called his name Obed; this is the father of Jesse the father of David. ¹⁸ And these are the generations of Phares: Phares begat Esrom: ¹⁹ Esrom begat Aram; and Aram begat Aminadab. ²⁰ And Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon. ²¹ And Salmon begat Boaz; and Boaz begat Obed. ²² And Obed begat Jesse; and Jesse begat David.

Notes

4:1 such a one: lit. secret one ↩
4:3 was our brother: Gr. is our brother ↩
4:4 inform: Gr. open or uncover thine ear ↩
4:4 I am here: ἐγώ εἰμι, this phrase seems at one time to signify I am here, at another to represent only ἐγώ with emphasis, at another to imply Divinity, as when used by our Lord. According to Lambert Bos in the preface to his edition, the second use of ἐγώ εἰμι where εἰμι is redundant is peculiar to Judges, Ruth, and Kingdoms. ↩
4:9 belonged: Gr. belong ↩
4:11 make: Gr. give ↩