Boaz takes the matter to the city gate — the courtroom of the ancient town — and lays it before the nearer kinsman in front of ten elders. There is land for sale; will you redeem it? “I will redeem it,” the man says — until Boaz adds that the field comes with Ruth, and a duty to raise up the dead man’s name. Then the answer changes: I cannot redeem it, lest I mar mine own inheritance. He pulls off his shoe, and Boaz buys everything.
A study in Ruth 4 · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 8 min read
Then Went Boaz Up To The Gate
“Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there… And he took ten men of the elders of the city… If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me… And he said, I will redeem it.”
Ruth 4:1-4
The gate was where a town did its legal business, with elders as witnesses. Boaz does everything in the open. He offers the nearer kinsman the first right — the land that belonged to Elimelech — and the man says yes at once. A parcel of good ground, added to his estate, at no cost to his name. Redeeming land is a bargain.
I Cannot Redeem It, Lest I Mar Mine Own Inheritance
“Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess… to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance… for I cannot redeem it.”
Ruth 4:5-6
Boaz adds the part the man had not counted on: the field comes with a widow, and any son born to her will carry the dead man’s name and inherit the dead man’s land — so the money spent buys nothing that stays in the redeemer’s own family. Now the answer flips: I cannot redeem it. He could, legally. He will not, because the cost is real and the gain is not his to keep. He wanted the asset without the obligation, the field without the widow. A redeemer who counts the cost that way is no redeemer at all.
So He Drew Off His Shoe
“Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing… a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour… Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe.”
Ruth 4:7-8
The shoe changing hands was the old way of making a transfer legally binding and public — a witnessed sign that the right had passed from one man to another. The nearer kinsman formally renounces his claim. Only when the prior right is cleared out of the way is Boaz free to redeem. The one who had first place steps aside so the one who is willing can act.
Ye Are Witnesses This Day, That I Have Bought All
“Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s… Moreover Ruth the Moabitess… have I purchased to be my wife… So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife… and she bare a son.”
Ruth 4:9-13
Boaz buys it all — land and widow together, the whole ruined estate — and does it at a price, in public, with the town as witness. The people bless the marriage with the names of Rachel, Leah and Tamar; a son, Obed, is born; the women tell Naomi “there is a son born to Naomi” (Ruth 4:17). The woman who came home empty holds a grandchild in her lap. And the last five names of the chapter walk the reader from Obed to Jesse to David.
