Ruth 4:1-22
1 Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down.
2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.
3 And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's:
4 And I thoughta to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it.
5 Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.
6 And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it.
7 Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour: and this was a testimony in Israel.
8 Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe.
9 And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi.
10 Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.
11 And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem:
12 And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman.
13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son.
14 And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, which hath not leftb thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.
15 And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.
16 And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it.
17 And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
18 Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron,
19 And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab,
20 And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon,c
21 And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed,
22 And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.
There is a *Redeemer
Book of Ruth
Gordon Churchyard
Words in boxes are notes on the Bible text.Chapter 4
v1 Boaz went to the gate of the town and he sat down there. Then the other *redeemer came past him, the one that Boaz had talked about. Boaz said, ‘Come here, sir, and sit down.’ So the man went over and he sat down. v2 Boaz had found 10 important men from the town. He said to them, ‘Sit down here’ and they sat down. v3 Boaz said to the other *redeemer, ‘Our brother Elimelech had part of the field. Naomi, who has returned from Moab, wants to sell it. v4 I thought that I ought to tell you about it. I suggest that you buy it. Buy it in front of all the people who are sitting here and in front of our people’s leaders. If you will *redeem it, then *redeem it. But if you will not *redeem it then tell me. Then I will know. There is nobody else to *redeem it except you first and me second.’ ‘Yes, I will *redeem it’, the other *redeemer said. v5 Boaz said, ‘On the day that you buy the field from Naomi you also buy it from Ruth. She is the woman from Moab, the *widow of the dead man. You must take her also to continue the dead man’s name on his land.’ v6 The other *redeemer replied, ‘I cannot *redeem it. If I did, I might put my own land in danger. You *redeem it in my place. I cannot do it.’v7 Now they finished selling or *redeeming anything long ago in Israel like this: A man took off his shoe and he gave it to the other man. This was the proper way in Israel. v8 He said to Boaz, ‘You buy it.’ And he took off his shoe. v9 Then Boaz said to the important men and all the people, ‘Today you saw what I did. I bought from Naomi all that Elimelech, Mahlon and Kilion had. v10 Ruth, the woman from Moab, was the wife of Mahlon. She also is now mine. This means that everyone will remember him. And they will remember where his land was. His family will not forget him, and the people from his village will not forget him. You have all seen this today.’ v11 The most important people and everyone else said, ‘We have seen it. This woman is coming into your home. And we pray that she will be like Rachel and like Leah. Those two women built up the house of Israel. We want you to be important in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem. v12 We pray that your family will be like the family of Perez, the son of Tamar and Judah. We pray that this will happen because of your child. We pray that the *LORD will give you a child by this young woman.’
v13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. He loved her. Then she was going to have a baby. The *LORD gave her a baby son. v14 The women said to Naomi, ‘The *LORD is good. Today he has given you a *redeemer. We pray that his name will be famous in all Israel! v15 He will give you a new life. He will give you help when you become old. Your son’s wife loves you. She is better to you than 7 sons. She is boy’s mother.’
v16 Naomi held the boy in her arms. She fed him and she kept him safe. v17 The women that lived there said, ‘Naomi has a son.’ They called him Obed. He was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David.
v18-22 This is the *family tree of Perez:
• Perez was the father of Hezron.
• Hezron was the father of Ram.
• Ram was the father of Amminadab.
• Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.
• Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
• Salmon was the father of Boaz.
• Boaz was the father of Obed.
• Obed was the father of Jesse.
• Jesse was the father of David.
Verse 1 Old towns had walls round them. You went in through a gate. This gate was an important place. The leaders would meet there to decide what the town should do. The words ‘my friend’ in *Hebrew are ‘Oh, Mr So-and-So!’
Verse 2 We think that the 10 important men were the leaders in the town. Boaz wanted them to know that he was doing the right thing.
Verse 4 Later the people would remember what Boaz said and did. There might be a problem. But then they could say what had happened. We call them ‘*witnesses’.
Verse 5 ‘To continue the dead man’s name’ means that Elimelech and Mahlon would have *descendants.
Verse 6 The other *redeemer would have to give the land to Ruth’s son when the son grew up. He did not want to do this.
Verse 7 This was an old custom in Israel. A custom is something that people always do. Boaz and the other man did it in front of the *witnesses of verse 3.
Verse 10 This is another strange part of the story. When Obed was born, they did not call him the son of Mahlon. This tells us that there was no *levirate marriage between Boaz and Ruth.
Verse 11 Rachel and Leah had many children and they became famous. Everyone wanted this to happen to Ruth.
Verse 12 Bethlehem was in that part of the country where the family of Judah lived.
The family became so big that we call it a tribe.
Verses 13–17 Ruth had the baby, but the women in Bethlehem said, ‘Naomi has a son.’ That was because, in the Bible, ‘son’ often means ‘grandson’.
Verses 18–22 A ‘family tree’ is a list of the people in your family. It includes the ones before you (ancestors) and after you (*descendants). Because Jesus was a descendant of King David, Jesus was also a descendant of Ruth. Both these famous *Jews were *descendants of a person who came from Moab. Some *Jews believe that Ruth was a *princess in Moab. They believe that her father was Eglon, King of Moab.
This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level A (1200 words)
redeemer ~ a name for God. It means that he pays the price of our sin. This happened when Jesus died on the cross.sin ~ when we do not obey God’s rules.
redeemer ~ a name for God. It means that he pays the price of our sin. This happened when Jesus died on the cross.
sin ~ when we do not obey God’s rules.
redeem ~ buy back again.
widow ~ woman when husband has died.
lord ~ someone who rules or is a master; someone with authority.
LORD ~ a special name for God that his people use. It is the covenant name of God.
covenant ~ when people agree something together; when God and a person or people agree to a special thing.
descendants ~ children and their children and so on.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
Jew ~ someone that was born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
witness ~ someone who sees what happens.
descendants ~ children and their children and so on.
levirate ~ a law about marrying. See the notes at the beginning.
law ~ the rules of a country.
Jew ~ someone that was born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
princess ~ the daughter of a king.
Ruth Obeys God And Finds Love
Ruth
Hazel Rea and Chris Gladwell
Chapter 4
v1 Boaz went to the gate of the town. He sat down there. Then the other *redeemer came past him. He was the one that Boaz had talked about. Boaz said, ‘My friend, come here and sit down.’ So the man went over and sat down. v2 Boaz had found 10 important men from the town. He said to them, ‘Sit down here’ and they sat down. v3 Boaz said to the other *redeemer, ‘Our brother Elimelech had part of the field. Naomi, who has returned from Moab, wants to sell it. v4 I thought that I ought to tell you about it. I suggest that you buy it. Buy it in front of all the people who are sitting here and in front of our people’s leaders. If you will *redeem it, then *redeem it. But if you will not *redeem it then tell me. Then I will know. There is nobody else to *redeem it except you first and me second.’ ‘Yes, I will *redeem it’, the other man said. v5 Boaz said, ‘On the day that you buy the field from Naomi you also buy it from Ruth. She is the woman from Moab. She is the widow of the dead man. You must take her also to continue the dead man’s name on his land.’ v6 The other *redeemer replied, ‘I cannot *redeem it. If I did, I might put my own land in danger. You *redeem it in my place. I cannot do it.’
Verses 1-6 Boaz arranged a public meeting with this man. There were 10 witnesses. They met at the city’s gate. Men arranged matters there. And they decided what was fair there. It was necessary for men who were not in the same family to witness the arrangements. We do not know this other man’s name. Boaz said that Naomi had land to sell. Boaz had to offer the land to him first because he was a closer relative of Elimelech.
The man was glad to buy the land, so that it would still belong to Elimelech’s relatives. However, Boaz said that he must also marry Ruth. And he must make her son the owner of the land. He must be the one to give Elimelech an *heir. That *heir would have a right to Naomi’s land. This changed everything. The man could not risk his own family’s future. He would have to provide for Ruth’s child or children until they became adults. So, he would have less money to give to his other children. And perhaps, when he died, some of his own land would also belong to Ruth’s child. So again, there would be less land for his other children to own. For these reasons, this man gave Boaz his right to the land and to Ruth.
v7 Now this is how they finished selling or *redeeming anything in earlier times in Israel. A man took off his shoe and gave it to the other man. This was the proper way in Israel. v8 He said to Boaz, ‘You buy it.’ And he took off his shoe. v9 Then Boaz said to the important men and to all the people, ‘Today you saw what I did. I bought from Naomi all that Elimelech, Mahlon and Kilion had. v10 Ruth, the woman from Moab, was the wife of Mahlon. She also is now mine. This means that everyone will remember him. And they will remember where his land was. His family will not forget him and the people from his village will not forget him. You have all seen this today.’ v11 The most important people and everyone else said, ‘We have seen it. We pray that the woman coming into your home will be like Rachel and Leah. These two women built up the house of Israel. We want you to be important in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem. v12 We pray that your family will be like the family of Perez, the son of Tamar and Judah. We pray that this will happen because of your child. We pray that the *LORD will give you a child by this young woman.’
Verses 7-10 The man took off his shoe. This was the custom to show that he agreed to give up his rights to the property. He agreed to pass them to another man. Boaz took the shoe from him to make the arrangement final. Then Boaz said that he would take Ruth to be his wife.
Verses 11-12 The agreement was now legal. There were witnesses to it. The witnesses were happy with what had happened. They blessed Boaz. The witnesses prayed that Ruth would be like Rachel and Leah. And they prayed that she would be the mother of a great family. Rachel and Leah were the wives of Jacob, and they were important in the history of God’s people. The 12 family groups of Israel came from these two women. The witnesses also prayed that Boaz would do many good things. They prayed that he would be famous for all these good things.
v13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. He had sex with her. Then she was going to have a baby. The *LORD gave her a baby son. v14 The women said to Naomi, ‘The *LORD is good. Today he has given you a *redeemer. We pray that his name will be famous in all Israel! v15 He will give you a new life. He will give you help when you become old. Your son’s wife loves you. She is better to you than 7 sons. She is the boy’s mother.’ v16 Naomi held the boy in her arms. She took great care of him. v17 The women that lived there said, ‘Naomi has had a son.’ They called him Obed. He was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David.
Verse 13 Ruth and Boaz became husband and wife, and God gave them a son. All through this story, we see God giving good gifts to his people who are true to him.
Verses 14-17 Now Naomi had a child to make her happy, too. Her friends praised God for the baby. And they prayed that the baby would have a good life. Naomi had returned to Bethlehem feeling bitter and empty. Now she again had a child to look after. She was hopeful for the future. Everyone shared her joy. Her name was still Naomi. (They did not call her Mara!) The baby’s name was Obed, which means ‘servant’. Like Boaz and Ruth, he served God.
v18-22 This is the *family tree of Perez:
• Perez was the father of Hezron.
• Hezron was the father of Ram.
• Ram was the father of Amminadab.
• Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.
• Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
• Salmon was the father of Boaz.
• Boaz was the father of Obed.
• Obed was the father of Jesse.
• Jesse was the father of David.
Verses 18-22 Perez was the son of Judah by his *daughter-in-law Tamar, who was also a widow. (See Genesis chapter 38.) Judah’s family gained God’s promise in Genesis 49:8-10. From this family came Boaz and, later, great King David. Jesus, the greatest of all kings, came from Bethlehem from the same family. Jesus was the son of Mary. Like Ruth, she obeyed God and always trusted him. There is no special book in the Bible about Mary, but God has given us this lovely book about Ruth. In this book, we read about ordinary people. They are living as members of God’s family because they respect and obey him. It gives us a pattern for our own lives.
redeemer ~ a name for God. It means that he pays the price of our *sin. This happened when Jesus died on the cross.redeem ~ to pay another person’s debts and to protect them when they cannot help themselves. In the New Testament, we learn that Jesus redeems his people (see Galatians 3:13-14 and1 Peter 1:18). He pays the price for what they have done wrong.
New Testament ~ the second part of the Bible. The writers wrote it after Jesus had lived on the earth.
heir ~ the person who receives land or money after his father or family member dies.
lord ~ one who rules or is a master.
LORD ~ a special name for God that his people use.
'family tree ~ a list of your parents, grandparents and so on.'daughter-in-law ~ son’s wife.