Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

Ruth 4

• About the Title: Boaz a Jew and Ruth a Gentile.

Boaz Redeems Ruth

Ruth 4:¹ Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, “Come aside, friend (Heb. peloni almoni, lit. so and so), sit down here.” So he came aside and sat down.

Ruth 4:² And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down.

Ruth 4:³ Then he said to the close relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech.

Ruth 4:⁴ And I thought to inform you (Lit. uncover your ear), saying, ‘Buy it back in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you (he) will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.’ ”

And he said, “I will redeem it.”

Ruth 4:⁵ Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate (Lit. raise up) the name of the dead through his inheritance.”

Ruth 4:⁶ And the close relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

Ruth 4:⁷ Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging, to confirm anything: one man took off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was a confirmation in Israel.

Ruth 4:⁸ Therefore the close relative said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” So he took off his sandal.

Ruth 4:⁹ And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi.

Ruth 4:¹⁰ Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate (Probably his civic office). You are witnesses this day.”

Ruth 4:¹¹ And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. The Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.

• See Topic: Jacob’s Two Wives (Jews and Gentiles) and their symbolic implications:

• The parallels between the Jews and Gentiles with Rachel (representing the Jews) and Leah (representing the Gentiles) are pregnant with symbolism.
  
• See Topic: The Rich Man and Lazarus (Jews and Gentiles) and their symbolic implications:
• The parallels between the Jews and Gentiles continue. The Rich man are the Jews who have the blessings of a Rich man; The promises of land, Kingship, The law, Prophets, and the Messiah.

• God has two agendas: one for the Jews and one for the Gentiles. When Jesus was teaching and healing He said “These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. ⁶ But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷ And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Note: the kingdom of heaven on earth is for the Jews only, the kingdom of God is for the Jews and the Gentiles.” Matthew 10:⁵ 
• AND …
• But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matthew 15:24)
• But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” (Matthew 15:26-27)
• During the Millennium The Jews will have an exalted position in the kingdom of Heaven serving God and Gentiles:
• 
• To be a “servant” is to refer to the highest position in the kingdom of heaven on earth.
  
  • John 13:14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
  • Mark 9:35 And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”
  • Luke 22:26 But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves.

• The kingdom of heaven is the physical kingdom on earth during Jesus’ reign (the millennium). It is the time when the promises to the Jews are fulfilled. The kingdom of God includes both the Jews and the Gentiles. The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom.
  
  

Ruth 4:¹² May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) will give you from this young woman.”

• The Messiah Lineage comes through Perez only because of Tamar, not through Judah’s “legitimate” sons.

Descendants of Boaz and Ruth

Ruth 4:¹³ So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) gave her conception, and she bore a son.

Ruth 4:¹⁴ Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ), who has not left you this day without a close relative (redeemer, Heb. Goel); and may his name be famous in Israel!

• The Messiah comes from the line of Boaz (a Jew) and Ruth (a Gentile). Another prophetic event indicating the Gentiles will be part of God’s kingdom.
  
• Ruth rose from deprivation, like Lazarus who sat at the gate of the Rich man in Jesus’ parable. The Rich man is symbolic of the Jews in whom God gave a banquet table of blessings, but the gentile Lazarus was like the gentiles (dogs) who beg for crumbs at the table. (Luke 16:21)
  
• See Topic: The Rich Man and Lazarus
  
• Like Lazarus, Ruth was enveloped and welcomed into Abraham’s bosom, which, in this case, is the Jewish culture and family.
  
• Like the church age which is mainly gentile, God raised Ruth from deprivation to a high and elevated position.

Ruth 4:¹⁵ And may he (the child, a son) be to you (Naomi) a restorer of life and a nourisher (sustainer) of your old age; for your daughter-in-law (Ruth), who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.”

• Jesse, The father of King David had seven sons. There is something about seven sons that is sacred. In the NT book of Acts, Sceva, a chief priest, also had seven sons. The family was merely religious, but they did not have a relationship with God. When they tried to cast out demons, the demons beat them badly, ripping off their clothes until they ran for their lives.
  
  • Acts 19:^{14 NIV} Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. ¹⁵ One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” ¹⁶ Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

Ruth 4:¹⁶ Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom, and became a nurse to him.

Ruth 4:¹⁷ Also the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “There is a son born to Naomi.” And they called his name Obed (meaning “worshipper”). He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Ruth 4:¹⁸ Now this is the genealogy of Perez: Perez begot Hezron;

Ruth 4:¹⁹ Hezron begot Ram (aka Aram), and Ram begot Amminadab;

Ruth 4:²⁰ Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon (Heb. Salmah);

Ruth 4:²¹ Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed;

Ruth 4:²² Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David.