Ruth 3:9

spread therefore thy skirt over thy handmaid This symbolic act denoted that the kinsman claimed the widow as his wife. Cf. Ezekiel 16:8. The custom prevailed among the early Arabs; a good illustration is given in Ṭabarî"s commentary on the Koran (Sura 4:23, forbidding men to -inherit women against their will"): -In the Jâhilîya, when a man's father or brother or son died and left a widow, the dead man's heir, if he came at once and threw his garment over her, had the right to marry her under the dowry of [i.e. already paid by] her [deceased] lord, or to give her in marriage and take her dowry. But if she anticipated him and went off to her own people, then the disposal of her hand belonged to herself"; Robertson Smith, Kinshipetc., p. 87. See also Sale's translation of the Koran (Warne & Co.), p. 56 and note.

a near kinsman The primary meaning of the Hebr. go'elis -one who enforces a claim" which has lapsed; so -one who re-claims" or -re-vindicates." Hence the verb is used of redeeminga house or field after it has been sold, or an Israelite who has been obliged to sell himself as a slave (Leviticus 25:25 ff., Leviticus 25:47 ff.), or something which has been vowed to Jehovah; in the expression go'el had-dâm, -the avenger of blood," Deuteronomy 19:6; Deuteronomy 19:12 etc., it denotes -one who vindicates the rights of the murdered man;" see Driver in loc. But since a man was not as a rule able himself to redeema right which had lapsed, the duty fell upon his family and more particularly upon his nearest relative; in this way go'elcame to mean -the next of kin." Boaz, however, was not the nearest relative (Ruth 3:12), so he could not act unless the next of kin declined; nor did the Pentatenchal law require the go'elto marry the widow of the deceased in addition to redeeming his property, though custom sanctioned the marriage. Hence Ruth's appeal to the generosity of Boaz.