Decisions, judgments, and administration in Israel took place at the gates of the cities, Judges 19:15 / Genesis 34:20 / Deuteronomy 16:18, and this is where people went to consult with the elders, Deuteronomy 19:12 / Judges 8:14.
Boaz goes up to the town gate and sits down just as the guardian-redeemer he had mentioned came along and so Boaz invites him to sit with him, and he did so, Ruth 4:1. He also invites ten elders of town, Exodus 18:25, to sit down too, and they did so, Ruth 4:2.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The fact that those thus bidden promptly obeyed Boaz is an indication of his power and influence in the city, due no doubt to his age, wealth, and reputation in Bethlehem. There may not be anything very special about the number 10, although it was understood to be a perfect number, and was the minimum number (quorum) of resident Jews in a city during later times that was required for the erection of a synagogue. It might also have been the usual number required to witness any important transaction.’
Boaz was somewhat crafty in his approach to gain the right to marry Ruth, as he first informed the guardian-redeemer that there was a field of land that he had the right to buy, Ruth 4:3-4 / Leviticus 25:25-28.
After hearing of the land, the guardian-redeemer agreed to buy the land, Ruth 4:4, but then, Boaz said that there were obligations that came with claiming the land.
When informed that Ruth came with the land, Ruth 4:5, the guardian kinsman decided that he wouldn’t buy the land just in case he endangered his own inheritance, Ruth 4:6.
The land would eventually go to the sons of Ruth, and not to the heirs of the guardian-redeemer. His investment would be lost once the possible sons of Ruth assumed the rights of inheritance, and so, the guardian-redeemer would then have to relinquish his right to both the land and Ruth.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following, concerning the guardian-redeemer’s words, ‘I cannot do it’, Ruth 4:6.
‘These words mean, simply, ‘I cannot afford it.’ There are two reasons that entered into this refusal. 1. The increased financial burden inherent in rearing another family, and 2. The stigma that popular prejudice fastened upon marriage to a foreigner, especially a Moabitess.’
Because the readers of this book had to be informed concerning this custom indicates that the events that transpired here took place many years before the writing of the book, Ruth 4:7.
Henry, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Here the drawing off of the shoe was no disgrace but the confirmation of the surrender (or transfer) of the right of redemption.’
The guardian-redeemer tells Boaz to buy it himself, and notice he removed his sandal, Ruth 4:8. When the shoe, or sandal, was given to Boaz by the guardian-redeemer in the presence of witnesses, Ruth 4:9-10, the land transaction was sealed. Boaz not only had a right to redeem the land, but also the right to take Ruth as a wife, Ruth 4:10.
Morris, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This magnanimous and unselfish action on the part of Boaz tells us something about God: 1. God must feel at least as compassionate toward all the Ruths of Moab and Babylon and of every other land as His creature Boaz felt towards Ruth, and 2. God must actually be a God of redemption, with the desire and the power to redeem all outcasts into fellowship with Himself.’
The elders and all the people agree that they are witnesses and bless Boaz in a prayer. They ask God to make Ruth, who is coming into his home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel, Ruth 4:11. They ask God that Boaz have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem, Ruth 4:11.
Since Boaz and Ruth were the forefathers of David, and in the lineage of the Messiah, what is stated here certainly came to pass. In reference to the Messiah, His birthplace in Bethlehem brought fame to this insignificant village of Palestine, as well as to the family of Boaz and Ruth, Micah 5:2.
They continue and say that through the offspring God gives him by this young woman, may his family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, Ruth 4:12 / Genesis 38:29-30 / 1 Chronicles 2:4 / Matthew 1:3 / Matthew 1:5. Judah was the family through which came the existence of the village of Bethlehem, Genesis 38:29.
Boaz and Ruth now get married, and with God’s help they have a son, Ruth 4:13. The women now praise God for not leaving Naomi without a guardian-redeemer and ask that he becomes famous throughout Israel, Ruth 4:14. He will renew her life and sustain her in her old age because Ruth, who loves her and who is better to her than seven sons, has given him birth, Ruth 4:15.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Until the birth of this grandson, the prospect of an old age for Naomi in those times and environment was bleak and threatening indeed, but the birth of Ruth’s child had changed all that dramatically.’
Naomi takes the child in her arms and cared for him, Ruth 4:16, and the women living there announce that Naomi has a son and they named him Obed, Ruth 4:17.
He was the father of Jesse, the father of David, Ruth 4:17. The birth of Obed was the guarantee that the family of Naomi would continue and in Bible times the children took care of the aged parents.
This brief genealogy reveals the purpose of the writing of the book. Perez was the father of Hezron, Ruth 4:14 / Matthew 1:3. Perez was the son of Judah by Tamar, Genesis 38:29-30 / 1 Chronicles 2:4, and David came from the lineage of Perez.
Hezron, the father of Ram, Ruth 4:19. Ram, the father of Amminadab, Ruth 4:19 / 1 Chronicles 2:10 / Matthew 1:4. Amminadab, the father of Nahshon, Ruth 4:20 / Matthew 1:4.
It’s stated here that ‘Nahshon was the father of Salmon’, Ruth 4:20 / Matthew 1:4, covering a period of more than two hundred and fifty years, the time between the death of Moses, Deuteronomy 34:1-12, and the time of Gideon, Judges 6-8. This is too great a time for only two generations.
Salmon, the father of Boaz, Ruth 4:21 / Matthew 1:5. In the genealogy of the Messiah, the wife of Salmon was Rahab, Matthew 1:6 / Luke 3:32 / James 2:25. But as the genealogy is here stated, Boaz wasn’t the immediate son of Salmon and Rahab, though they were in the genealogy of Boaz.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It is possible that the circumstance that the mother of Boaz was a Canaanite may have made him less indisposed to marry Ruth the Moabitess.’
Boaz, the father of Obed, Ruth 4:21 / Ruth 4:13-17 / Matthew 1:5. Obed, the father of Jesse, Ruth 4:22 / 1 Chronicles 2:12 / Matthew 1:5 / Luke 3:32. Jesse, the father of David, Ruth 4:22 / 1 Samuel 17:12-58 / Matthew 1:6.
Though the ones who first received the book didn’t know the reason for this brief genealogy, we today understand it because of the mention of David, Ruth 4:22, through whom God promised that the Messiah was to be born into the world, Matthew 1:5 / Matthew 1:16 / Luke 3:23 / Luke 3:32.
In the genealogy that is here in Ruth, we must assume the customary recording of Jewish genealogies wherein only the main personalities of the genealogies were included, while some generations were left out.
What a wonderful love story this book has revealed to us. Faithfulness, godliness, selflessness, and a desire to do what is right to everyone around, but foremost to do what is right for God’s sake.
We can only be encouraged by the story to do likewise in our own lives. Let us trust God to take care of our tomorrows, even when tomorrow seems uncertain to us at times.