Catholic Commentary on Ruth 4

"Boaz announced to the elders and all the people: Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon's widow, as my wife." (Ruth 4:9-10)

The Redemption Completed

Boaz goes to the town gate, the place of legal proceedings, and waits for the nearer kinsman-redeemer. He comes; Boaz assembles ten elders as witnesses. He explains the situation: Naomi is selling Elimelech's land, and the redeemer's duty requires purchase. The man says he will redeem it. Then Boaz adds: on the day you buy the land from Naomi you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the dead man's widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property. The nearer kinsman says: I cannot redeem it, because it might endanger my own estate. He removes his sandal and gives it to Boaz: buy it yourself. Boaz announced to the elders and all the people: Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon's widow, as my wife.

Boaz and Ruth marry. She bears a son named Obed. The women of Bethlehem rejoice with Naomi: your daughter-in-law who loves you is better to you than seven sons. The genealogy closes the book: Obed is the father of Jesse and Jesse is the father of David. Ruth the Moabitess, who declared your God will be my God, becomes the great-grandmother of Israel's greatest king and an ancestor of Jesus Christ. The Catechism identifies Ruth as a figure in the Messianic lineage, the faithful foreigner whose covenant love was woven into the fabric of salvation history (CCC 64).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, the book of Ruth begins with three deaths and ends with a birth. The entire movement is from emptiness to fullness, from no one to carry the name to a line that carries it to David and to Christ. No situation of loss is beyond the providential work of a God who sends a gleaner into the right field. The Obed hidden in your Naomi situation is being prepared.

Prayer

Lord God, you wove Ruth's faithful love into the genealogy of your Son. Weave our ordinary acts of faithful love into purposes we cannot yet see. And let every Naomi who returned empty find fullness in your providential care. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

4
Boaz Redeems Ruth
1 Meanwhile, Boaz went to the gate and sat down there. Soon the kinsman-redeemer * 4:1 The Hebrew word for kinsman-redeemer or guardian-redeemer is a legal term for the kinsman who redeems or vindicates a relative; also in verses 3, 6, 8, and 14; see Leviticus 25:25-55. of whom he had spoken came along, and Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.
 
2 Then Boaz took ten of the elders of the city and said, “Sit here,” and they did so.
 
3 And he said to the kinsman-redeemer, “Naomi, who has returned from the land of Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4 I thought I should inform you that you may buy it back in the presence of those seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you want to redeem it, do so. But if you † 4:4 Many Hebrew manuscripts, LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts he will not redeem it, tell me so I may know, because there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.”
 
“I will redeem it,” he replied.
 
5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi and also from Ruth the Moabitess, you must also acquire the widow of the deceased in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.”
 
6 The kinsman-redeemer replied, “I cannot redeem it myself, or I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I cannot redeem it.”
 
7 Now in former times in Israel, concerning the redemption or exchange of property, to make any matter legally binding a man would remove his sandal and give it to the other party, and this was a confirmation in Israel. 8 So the kinsman-redeemer removed his sandal and said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.”
 
9 At this, Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon. 10 Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to raise up the name of the deceased through his inheritance, so that his name will not disappear from among his brothers or from the gate of his home. You are witnesses today.”
 
11 “We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the people at the gate. “May the LORD make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you be prosperous in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem. 12 And may your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring the LORD will give you by this young woman.”
Boaz Marries Ruth
 
13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And when he had relations with her, the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.
 
14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a kinsman-redeemer. May his name become famous in Israel. 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”
 
16 And Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and became a nurse to him. 17 The neighbor women said, “A son has been born to Naomi,” and they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse, the father of David.
The Line of David
(Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38)
 
18 Now these are the generations of Perez:
 
Perez was the father of Hezron,
 
19 Hezron was the father of Ram,
 
Ram was the father of Amminadab,
 
20 Amminadab was the father of Nahshon,
 
Nahshon was the father of Salmon,‡ 4:20 A few Hebrew manuscripts, some LXX manuscripts, and Vulgate (see also verse 21 and LXX of 1 Chronicles 2:11); most Hebrew manuscripts Salma
 
21 Salmon was the father of Boaz,
 
Boaz was the father of Obed,
 
22 Obed was the father of Jesse,
 
and Jesse was the father of David.

*4:1 4:1 The Hebrew word for kinsman-redeemer or guardian-redeemer is a legal term for the kinsman who redeems or vindicates a relative; also in verses 3, 6, 8, and 14; see Leviticus 25:25-55.

†4:4 4:4 Many Hebrew manuscripts, LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts he

‡4:20 4:20 A few Hebrew manuscripts, some LXX manuscripts, and Vulgate (see also verse 21 and LXX of 1 Chronicles 2:11); most Hebrew manuscripts Salma

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