Chapter 4

Boaz contacts the nearer kinsman, who refuses to buy Elimelech's property, lest he mar his own inheritance.  In the custom of the time, to make his proposal to the nearer kinsman, Boaz also invites ten elders of the city as witnesses.  With the formalites in place, Boaz confronts the nearer kinsman.  In this setting, that kinsman must answer, once and for all, as to his intentions.  So the way it worked was that if the kinsman redeemed Elimelech's land by buying it, then he also had to marry Ruth, the widow of Elimelech's son.  And their child would inherit the land so that it stayed in Elimelech's family, but further, this child would also receive inheritance of land the kinsman already owned.  A share of it, not all of it.  The note in MSB adds that Naomi was trying to sell this land so that she could use the money to support herself.  In the year of Jubilee, it would be returned to her, and presumable she could sell it again, and continue to survive in this manner.  It also says that marrying Ruth was not strictly required by the Levirate laws.  MSB says perhaps Boaz was looking at the law's intention, rather than just it's letter, and so made the proposal to the kinsman in this way.  Further, MSB says it is likely that the kinsman was either Boaz's brother or cousin.  It may also have been that local custom in Jerusalem was to marry the widowed daughter if you redeemed the land.  We really cannot be sure why the marriage is presented as a "requirement" instead of as an option, as we would expect. 

But Boaz redeems the land, and takes Ruth for his wife.  She has a son, who is named Obed, who is the father of Jesse, who is the father of David.

9/29/24 - The ref to Tamar and Judah is also interesting.  Wasn't Perez the result of Judah mistaking his daughter-in-law for a prostitute?  How does that fit in here?

Why does Perez, born to Tamar and that whole sordid story, end up being in the main line of succession, instead of Shelah, Judah's earlier born third son of his Canaanite wife?  I see nothing that says Tamar wasn't Canaanite also.  It does say Judah was elsewhere when Shelah was born.  Some doubt about him maybe?