Ruth: Lesson Seven
Boaz at the City Gate (Ruth 4:1-12)
No sooner had Boaz gone up to the gate and sat down there than the next-of-kin, of whom Boaz had spoken, came passing by. So Boaz said, “Come over, friend; sit down here.” And he went over and sat down. Then Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here”; so they sat down. He then said to the next-of-kin, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech. So I thought I would tell you of it, and say: Buy it in the presence of those sitting here, and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not, tell me, so that I may know; for there is no one prior to you to redeem it, and I come after you.” So he said, “I will redeem it.” Then Boaz said, “The day you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, you are also acquiring Rutha the Moabite, the widow of the dead man, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance.” At this, the next-of-kin said, “I cannot redeem it for myself without damaging my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”
Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one took off a sandal and gave it to the other; this was the manner of attesting in Israel. So when the next-of-kin said to Boaz, “Acquire it for yourself,” he took off his sandal. Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have acquired from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance, in order that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his kindred and from the gate of his native place; today you are witnesses.” Then all the people who were at the gate, along with the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you produce children in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem; and, through the children that the LORD will give you by this young woman, may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”
On the previous night, Ruth courageously and boldly proposed marriage to Boaz for the sake of Naomi and the house of Elimelech. Boaz accepted the proposal and vowed to honor his role as kinsman-redeemer. But another has the first right of refusal, and, consequently, Boaz immediately goes to the city gate to settle the matter. Who will redeem the house of Elimelech by purchasing the land, caring for Naomi, marrying Ruth, and providing that house with a heritage of children? The two kinsmen will negotiate a resolution before the city elders at the gate.
Boaz Honors First-Right of Refusal
The city gate is communal space. At many gates, benches were carved into or attached to the walls. There the city elders would sit, bear witness to transactions, hear disputes, and adjudicate cases as needed. Ten elders, in later Jewish tradition, was a necessary number to establish a quorum for synagogue meetings or starting a synagogue. This number apparently legitimated the action, and this is probably why Boaz gathers ten elders to witness what he is about to do.
Arriving at the gate, Boaz sees the other potential kinsman-redeemer and gathers the elders together. Interestingly but significantly, the other kinsman-redeemer remains unnamed. In fact, though translations often represent Boaz as calling him a “friend” (NRSV; 4:1), the Hebrew is indefinite and literally means “a certain one.” The narrator deliberately omits his name. It is the name of Boaz that will be remembered, and not this “certain” kinsmen-redeemer.
When they sat down at the gate with the elders, Boaz names what most probably was already rather well-known to the community. The town is well-aware of Naomi’s situation, and they knew about Elimelech; his kinsmen especially knew. But no one had acted to help Naomi as a kinsman-redeemer, or perhaps were unaware of her desire to sell Elimelech’s land. Boaz is now going to force the issue. How will the community respond to Naomi? More particularly, will a kinsman-redeemer step up and take responsibility.
The first issue Boaz raises is land. In Israel, Yahweh owned all the land. It was distributed to clans and families as an inheritance to steward and use, but it belonged to Yahweh. At the same time, so that there would be no poor in the land, the land would belong to the clans and families in perpetuity. Due to famine or dire circumstances (like Naomi’s), the land could be sold. A kinsman-redeemer could buy the land to keep it in the clan, but ultimately if it were sold outside the clan, it would return to the clan in the Year of Jubilee (which is every 50 years).
In essence, this land belongs to Elimelech, not Naomi. Widows did not inherit in Israel (or in most nations until the last couple of centuries). Selling the land would provide some security for Naomi, but without land there is no lasting security in ancient Israel. Perhaps the land was unfallowed and unkept due to the absence of the family who went to Moab. But land is valuable, and it is more valuable when it is worked to produce crops. Apparently, the land was barren and unkept.
Boaz says, the land is available for purchase. And the primary kinsman-redeemer has the right of first refusal.
Our no-name kinsman-redeemer is excited to purchase the land. It would enlarge his holdings and increase his profit. Moreover, there is no obligation to marry Naomi because she is beyond child-birthing years. In essence, the no-name kinsman-redeemer could enrich himself without the danger of the land disappearing into the hands of Naomi’s heir since both of her sons were dead. While the land would remain in the clan (a kinsman), Elimelech’s name would disappear even as the no-name kinsman-redeemer grew wealthier by the acquisition of more land.
But there is a catch!
When one buys the land, one assumes responsibility for the house of Elimelech, which includes Ruth the Moabitess. [The grammar of the Hebrew has the possibility of Boaz saying, “I have decided to marry Ruth,” which is also problematic if Ruth bears a son in the marriage.] This is a problem. If he marries Ruth, and she bears a son, then the inheritance of the land he just purchased would go to the son. In other words, he would lose money on this deal since he will have expended the funds to buy the land but only to give the land to the son. It would spoil his own inheritance. Moreover, marrying another woman and bearing children with her might create some trouble in his own house. It is better, he concludes, to refuse the offer and let Boaz redeem the land (along with Naomi and Ruth). He is not condemned for this action; it might have been the most prudent thing to do given his circumstances. And the clan responsibility would be fulfilled by Boaz.
Boaz Redeems Elimelech’s House
Boaz is willing to redeem Elimelech’s land and family.
The transaction between the no-name relative and Boaz is symbolized by one taking off his sandal and giving it to the other. This seems like a strange custom for modern Westerners. But feet and shoes are highly symbolic in ancient Near East and still are in much of the present Middle East. To remove the shoe, some suggest, is to acknowledge ownership.
There is evidence in the ancient Nuzi texts that when one transferred property to a new owner that the seller would lift his foot off the land and place the buyer’s foot on the land. “To set foot” on the land is an ownership claim (cf. Deuteronomy 11:24; Joshua 14:9). In Psalm 60:8, Yahweh says he will “cast my shoe” upon Edom, that is, he will take ownership. For example, Moses took off his shoes as did Joshua in the presence of Yahweh which recognized they were standing of ground God owned. Whatever the exact meaning of the symbolism, clearly the right of redemption transferred from the one who is not named to Boaz. This concrete, public act ratified the transaction.
By this transaction, Boaz acquired “from the hand of Naomi” everything that belong to Elimelech and his two sons. This included not only their land and all the inheritance that pertained to it, but also the right to marry Ruth as a kinsman-redeemer. While the kinsman-redeemer law was specifically aimed at brothers (like in the story of Tamar and the sons of Judah), the spirit of the law is that relatives redeem the widows in their clans or families. This is Boaz’s intent since he specifically names Mahlon, the dead husband of Ruth, as the one whose inheritance he will maintain. Boaz will preserve the name of Ruth’s first husband, the son of Elimelech and Naomi.
The City Blesses Boaz
The whole city—“all the people who were at the gate”—witnessed this, honored it, and blessed the arrangement.
The city offers three blessings.
- May Yahweh make Ruth like Rachel and Leah who built up the house of Israel through their birthing of children.
- May Yahweh bless Boaz with children and bestow a name in Bethlehem.
- May Yahweh bless the house of Boaz as he did Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.
These blessings connect the story of Ruth and Boaz with the history of Israel, particularly in Genesis. Rachel and Leah (along with their maidservants) are the mothers of the twelve sons of Jacob. The “name” attached to Bethlehem of Ephrathah will link Abraham to David whose own birth prefigures the birth of the Messiah (cf. Micah 5:2-4); Boaz will have a name, but the other kinsman-redeemer remains unamed. Naming Tamar reminds us that Ruth is not the only non-Israelite in this heritage. Her son Perez was born to Judah after his two sons failed to give Tamar a child. In other words, the people bless Boaz to be more like Judah than his two sons as he takes a Moabite bride just as Judah fathered a child from a Canaanite woman.
Through these blessings, Ruth is fully integrated into the story of Israel. She is no longer and outsider but included, blessed, and honored. Boaz has redeemed the family.
Remember, however, it was Naomi’s initiative and Ruth’s boldness along with Boaz’s hesed (loyalty) that brought this moment to fruition. And, yet it was God’s hidden footsteps that guided this from Moab to the fields of Boaz to the city gates. Yahweh’s blessing had never forsaken the family of Elimelech, his wife, and his daughter-in-law.