Ruth 4:1-6

Boaz Redeems Ruth

1 Now Boaz had gone up to x the gate and sat down there. And behold, y the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, "Turn aside, friend; sit down here." And he turned aside and sat down. 2 And he took ten men z of the elders of the city and said, "Sit down here." So they sat down. 3 Then he said to the redeemer, "Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. 4 So I thought I would tell you of it and say, a 'Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.' If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you 1 will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you." And he said, "I will redeem it." 5 Then Boaz said, "The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth 2 the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order b to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance." 6 c Then the redeemer said, "I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it."

  1. Cross References
    2 Samuel 15:2
    And Absalom used to rise early and stand beside...
    2 Samuel 18:4
    The king said to them, "Whatever seems best to ...
    2 Samuel 18:24
    Now David was sitting between the two gates, an...
    2 Samuel 18:33
    And the king was deeply moved and went up to th...
    2 Samuel 19:8
    Then the king arose and took his seat in the ga...
    Psalms 127:5
    Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with th...
  2. Cross References
    Ruth 2:20
    And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!" Naomi also said to her, "The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.
  3. Cross References
    1 Kings 21:8
    So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to the elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in his city.
    Proverbs 31:23
    Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land.
  4. Cross References
    Leviticus 25:25
    If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, then his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his brother has sold.
    Jeremiah 32:7 - 8
    Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, 'Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.
  5. Cross References
    Ruth 4:10
    Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.
    Ruth 3:13
    Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.
    Deuteronomy 25:5 - 6
    If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband's brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her.
  6. Cross References
    Ruth 3:12 - 13
    And now it is true that I am a redeemer. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.