Ruth 4:10
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Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to raise up the name of the deceased through his inheritance, so that his name will not disappear from among his brothers or from the gate of his home. You are witnesses today.”
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
Boaz Marries Ruth - Ruth 4 To redeem the promise he had given to Ruth, Boaz went the next morning to the gate of the city, and calling to the nearer redeemer as he passed by, asked him, before the elders of the city, to redeem the piece of land which belonged to Elimelech and had been sold by Naomi; and if he did this, at the same time to marry Ruth, to establish the name of the deceased upon his inheritance (Rut 4:1-5). But as he renounced the right of redemption on account of the condition attached to the redemption of the field, Boaz undertook the redemption before the assembled people, together with the obligation to marry Ruth (Rut 4:6-12). The marriage was blessed with a son, who became the father of Jesse, the father of David (Rut 4:13-17). The book closes with a genealogical proof of the descent of David from Perez (Rut 4:18-22).
Open source ↗In this chapter we have the wedding between Boaz and Ruth, in the circumstances of which there was something uncommon, which is kept upon record for the illustration, not only of the law concerning the marrying of a brother's widow (Deu 25:5, etc.), for cases help to expound laws, but of the gospel too, for from this marriage descended David, and the Son of David, whose espousals to the Gentile church were hereby typified. We are here told, I. How Boaz got clear of his rival, and fairly shook him off (Rut 4:1-8). II. How his marriage with Ruth was publicly solemnized, and attended with the good wishes of his neighbours (Rut 4:9-12). III. The happy issue that descended from this marriage, Obed, the grandfather of David (Rut 4:13-17). And so the book concludes with the pedigree of David (Rut 4:18-22). Perhaps it was to oblige him that the blessed Spirit directed the inserting of this story in the sacred canon, he being desirous that the virtues of his great-grandmother Ruth, together with her Gentile extraction and the singular providences that attended her, should be transmitted to posterity.
Open source ↗4:10 And with the land (literally And besides): Boaz intended to raise an heir for Mahlon, the first son, who would carry on the family name of her dead husband and inherit his land.
Open source ↗Cross-references
Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her
The first son she bears will carry on the name of the dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.
May their sins always remain before the LORD, that He may cut off their memory from the earth.
And on that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, I will erase the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered. I will also remove the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land.
He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.
Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand, and your offspring as numerous as its grains; their name would never be cut off or eliminated from My presence.”
But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to wipe out all memory of them from the earth.
Finish this week’s celebration, and we will give you the younger one in return for another seven years of work.”
When the Canaanites and all who live in the land hear about this, they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?”