Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ruth 4:9
And Boaz said unto the elders, and [unto] all the people, Ye [are] witnesses this day, that I have bought all that [was] Elimelech’s, and all that [was] Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, of the hand of Naomi.
9. Ye are witnesses ] Cf. Rth 4:11. With this appeal for confirmation cf. Jos 24:22, 1Sa 12:5.
I have bought of the hand of Naomi ] More idiomatically the Hebr. perf. should be rendered in English I buy, i.e. I stipulate to buy; cf. the perf. in Rth 4:3 selleth. The purchase-money was to go to Naomi; she had inherited all the family property; even Mahlon’s and Chilion’s land had passed to their mother, not to their widows, probably because the latter were foreigners. The right of a widow to any share in her husband’s estate is not recognized in the Pentateuch 2 [6] ; but later practice allowed provision to be made ( Jdt 8:7 ), and permitted the husband to insert a clause in the marriage settlement giving his widow the right to dwell in his house after him, and to be nourished from his wealth all the days of her widowhood; Talm. Kethuboth iv. 8.
[6] Contrast the provision of the ancient Babylonian Code: the widow is entitled to her marriage-portion and the settlement which her husband had secured to her in writing, and is allowed to live in his dwelling place, 171 and 150. In this, as in other respects, the Code of Hammurabi represents a more developed civilization than the Pentateuchal law.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Rth 4:9
I have bought all that was Elimelechs.
Redemption accomplished
This passage brings to our view the great subject of the gospel revelation–redemption accomplished in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ in human flesh for guilty man. Boaz took his kinsmans shoes as a simple but solemn token of the agreement which he had now assumed. He called all the inhabitants and elders of his city to witness that he acknowledged all this responsibility, and was pledged to accomplish the redemption which was thus described and undertaken. The actual accomplishment of the work now depended upon the ability and the faithfulness of Boaz. Everything now rested upon his power and his truth. Was it not just so with the hope of man from the day of his fail to the day of the Saviours manifestation and victory? He had undertaken to be mans Redeemer. Could He, and would He fulfil the wonderful promises which He had given, and upon which He had caused His people to place their trust? The history of the New Testament answers this all-important question. These sacred Scriptures reveal the facts of redemption accomplished; the work undertaken completely finished; the fidelity of the Kinsman Redeemer gloriously established; and His almighty power triumphantly made known. This is now the great message of the gospel to guilty man. It proclaims this accomplished work, and it begs man to accept and enjoy the blessings which are offered in it freely and without price. Like Boaz, Jesus bought back the whole inheritance for man. All that was lost in the first Adam is restored by the second. The Redeemer Himself now owns the inheritance which He has purchased. That which was Elimelechs is now the property of Boaz. That which was mans, and to be in the reward of mans obedience, is now Christs, and only to be had in the freeness and fulness of His gift. It is His own inheritance, and He bestows it upon His people according to His will; according to the measure of the gift of Christ. We have everything in Him. Without Him we have nothing. He has bought back man also for Himself. His chosen flock are His purchased possession, and are to be to the praise of His glory for ever. But the people of Bethlehem were not merely the witnesses of this covenant of Boaz; they were partakers of his joy. They united in their supplications for abundant blessings upon the noble and exalted plan which Boaz had proclaimed. So angels, the witnesses of the covenant of our Redeemer, were more than silent witnesses also. When the foundation of this wonderful work was laid in the Divine covenant these morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. When the Saviour appeared as babe in Bethlehem they filled the heavens with their songs of praise and prayer: Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, goodwill to men. When He was travelling in the greatness of His strength, beneath His load of sorrow on the earth, they ministered unto Him and strengthened Him for His work. (S. H. Tyng, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
9. Boaz said unto the elders, Ye arewitnesses this day, that I have bought all that was . . . Chilion’sand Mahlon’s, of the hand of NaomiAlthough the widow ofChilion was still living, no regard was paid to her in the disposalof her husband’s property. From her remaining in Moab, she wasconsidered to have either been married again, or to have renouncedall right to an inheritance with the family of Elimelech.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people,…. Who were present at the gate of the city, or in court:
ye are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s; all the land which belonged to him, who was the husband of Naomi, and the father of Ruth’s husband, whose estate Boaz now bought, paying the value for it to Naomi:
and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s; the two sons of Elimelech, who, had they been living, would have enjoyed their father’s estate; but they being dead, it devolved on the mother, and after her on the widows, who must therefore agree to the sale of the estate, as Ruth did, see Ru 4:5. Of Orpah no notice is taken, because she returned to her own land; and besides Mahlon, the husband of Ruth, was the elder brother, and therefore had the first right to the inheritance; but as it was in the hands of Naomi now, the purchase was made of her principally, and therefore Boaz is said to purchase it
of the hand of Naomi; to whom the money was paid, and who delivered the estate to him.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Ruth Married to Boaz. | B. C. 1312. |
9 And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, of the hand of Naomi. 10 Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day. 11 And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Beth-lehem: 12 And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman.
Boaz now sees his way clear, and therefore delays not to perform his promise made to Ruth that he would do the kinsman’s part, but in the gate of the city, before the elders and all the people, publishes a marriage-contract between himself and Ruth the Moabitess, and therewith the purchase of all the estate that belonged to the family of Elimelech. If he had not been (ch. ii. 1) a mighty man of wealth, he could not have compassed this redemption, nor done this service to his kinsman’s family. What is a great estate good for, but that it enables a man to do so much the more good in his generation, and especially to those of his own household, if he have but a heart to use it so! Now concerning this marriage it appears,
I. That it was solemnized, or at least published, before many witnesses, Rth 4:9; Rth 4:10. “You are witnesses,” 1. “That I have bought the estate. Whoever has it, or any part of it, mortgaged to him, let him come to me and he shall have his money, according to the value of the land,” which was computed by the number of years to the year of jubilee (Lev. xxv. 15), when it would have returned of course to Elimelech’s family. The more public the sales of estates are the better they are guarded against frauds. 2. “That I have purchased the widow to be my wife.” He had no portion with her; what jointure she had was encumbered, and he could not have it without giving as much for it as it was worth, and therefore he might well say he purchased her; and yet, being a virtuous woman, he reckoned he had a good bargain. House and riches are the inheritance of fathers, but a prudent wife is more valuable, is from the Lord as a special gift. He designed, in marrying her, to preserve the memory of the dead, that the name of Mahlon, though he left no son to bear it up, might not be cut off from the gate of his place, but by this means might be preserved, that it should be inserted in the public register that Boaz married Ruth the widow of Mahlon, the son of Elimelech, which posterity, whenever they had occasion to consult the register, would take particular notice of. And this history, being preserved for the sake of that marriage and the issue of it, proved an effectual means to perpetuate the name of Mahlon, even beyond the thought or intention of Boaz, to the world’s end. And observe that because Boaz did this honour to the dead, as well as this kindness to the living, God did him the honour to bring him into the genealogy of the Messiah, by which his family was dignified above all the families of Israel; while the other kinsman, that was so much afraid of diminishing himself, and marring his inheritance, by marrying the widow, has his name, family, and inheritance, buried in oblivion and disgrace. A tender and generous concern for the honour of the dead and the comfort of poor widows and strangers, neither of which can return the kindness (Luke xiv. 14), is sure what God will be well pleased with and will surely recompense. Our Lord Jesus is our Goel, our Redeemer, our everlasting Redeemer. He looked, like Boaz, with compassion on the deplorable state of fallen mankind. At a vast expense he redeemed the heavenly inheritance for us, which by sin was mortgaged, and forfeited into the hands of divine justice, and which we should never have been able to redeem. He likewise purchased a peculiar people, whom he would espouse to himself, though strangers and foreigners, like Ruth, poor and despised, that the name of that dead and buried race might not be cut off for ever. He ventured the marring of his own inheritance, to do this, for, though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor; but he was abundantly recompensed for it by his Father, who, because he thus humbled himself, hath highly exalted him, and given him a name above every name. Let us own our obligations to him, make sure our contract with him, and study all our days how to do him honour. Boaz, by making a public declaration of this marriage and purchase, not only secured his title against all pretenders, as it were by a fine with proclamations, but put honour upon Ruth, showed that he was not ashamed of her, and her parentage and poverty, and left a testimony against clandestine marriages. It is only that which is evil that hates the light and comes not to it. Boaz called witnesses to what he did, for it was what he could justify, and would never disown; and such regard was then had, even to the contemned crowd, that not only the elders, but all the people that were in the gate, passing and re-passing, were appealed to (v. 9), and hearkened to (v. 11) when they said, We are witnesses.
II. That it was attended with many prayers. The elders and all the people, when they witnessed to it, wished well to it, and blessed it, Rth 4:11; Rth 4:12. Ruth, it should seem, was now sent for; for they speak of her (v. 12) as present: This young woman; and, he having taken her to wife, they look upon her as already come into his house. And very heartily they pray for the new-married couple.
1. The senior elder, it is likely, made this prayer, and the rest of the elders, with the people, joined in it, and therefore it is spoken of as made by them all; for in public prayers, though but one speaks, we must all pray. Observe, (1.) Marriages ought to be blessed, and accompanied with prayer, because every creature and every condition are that to us, and no more, that God makes them to be. It is civil and friendly to wish all happiness to those who enter into that condition; and what good we desire we should pray for from the fountain of all good. The minister who gives himself to the word and prayer, as he is the fittest person to exhort, so he is the fittest to bless and pray for those that enter into this relation. (2.) We ought to desire and pray for the welfare and prosperity one of another, so far from envying or grieving at it.
2. Now here, (1.) They prayed for Ruth: The Lord make the woman that has come into thy house like Rachel and Leah, that is, “God make her a good wife and a fruitful mother.” Ruth was a virtuous woman, and yet needed the prayers of her friends, that by the grace of God she might be made a blessing to the family she had come into. They prayed that she might be like Rachel and Leah, rather than like Sarah and Rebekah, for Sarah had but one son, and Rebekah but one that was in covenant, the other was Esau, who was rejected; but Rachel and Leah did build up the house of Israel: all their children were in the church, and their offspring was numerous. “May she be a flourishing, fruitful, faithful vine by thy house side.” (2.) They prayed for Boaz, that he might continue to do worthily in the city to which he was an ornament, and might there be more and more famous. They desired that the wife might be a blessing in the private affairs of the house, and the husband a blessing in the public business of the town, that she in her place, and he in his, might be wise, virtuous, and successful. Observe, The way to be famous is to do worthily. Great reputation must be obtained by great merits. It is not enough not to do unworthily, to be harmless and inoffensive, but we must do worthily, be useful and serviceable to our generation. Those that would be truly illustrious must in their places shine as lights. (3.) They prayed for the family: “Let thy house be like the house of Pharez,” that is, “let it be very numerous, let it greatly increase and multiply, as the house of Pharez did.” The Bethlehemites were of the house of Pharez, and knew very well how numerous it was; in the distribution of the tribes, that grandson of Jacob had the honour which none of the rest had but Manasseh and Ephraim, that his posterity was subdivided into two distinct families, Hezron and Hamul, Num. xxvi. 21. Now they prayed that the family of Boaz, which was one branch of that stock, might in process of time become as numerous and great as the whole stock now was.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Boaz Marries Rth. 4:9-12
9 And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelechs, and all that was Chilions and Mahlons, of the hand of Naomi.
10 Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.
11 And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The Lord make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratha, and be famous in Bethlehem:
12 And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman.
8.
How could Naomi have the right to sell Elimelechs property? Rth. 4:9
Property descended through the sons and not through the daughters of the family, but the law relating to the inheritance of the landed property of Israelites who died childless did not determine the time when such a possession should pass to the relatives of the deceased. Sometimes it may have been immediately after the death of the owner. At other times, it may not have been until after the death of the widow who was left behind (see Num. 27:9 ff.). No doubt the latter rule prevailed at the time, having been established by custom. Thus the widow remained in possession of the property as long as she lived. For that length of time she had the right to sell the property in case of need. Still, the sale of a field was not an actual sale of the field itself, but simply of the yearly produce until the year of jubilee.
9.
Why did the people pray for Ruth to be like Rachel and Leah? Rth. 4:11
Rachel was the beloved wife of Jacob. She bore two sons to him, Joseph and Benjamin. Josephs two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, were given equal status in the house of Israel with the other sons, thus Rachel was the mother of three of the founders of the tribes of Israel. Leah bore six sons to Jacob and all of these became heads of the tribes. One, Levi, was the father of all the priestly family. The handmaids of Rachel and Leah gave birth to the other sons who became the heads of the tribes of Israel. The prayer of the people for Ruth was for her to be like these respected mothers of Israel.
10.
Why did the people wish Boaz to be like Pharez? Rth. 4:12
Pharez was the son of Judah. He was born to Judah by Tamar (Gen. 38:29). The families of Judah were descended through him. Judah became the leading tribe of Israel. When Jacob blessed his sons and prayed for them, he predicted the preeminence which would belong to Judah (Gen. 49:8-12). Since Judah was such a leading tribe and his families were counted through the descendants of Pharez, the people of Bethlehem, a city in Judah, could think of no greater blessing than for Boaz and his family to be like the family of Pharez.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
‘ And Boaz said to the elders, and to 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. Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses this day.”
By accepting the shoe Boaz would be declaring to those present that he was accepting the responsibility for redeeming the land and begetting a son through the wife of the deceased in order that Mahlon’s name might be perpetuated (the son could be called ‘ben Mahlon’). And he now therefore turned to the elders whom he had summoned as witnesses, and to all the people gathered in the gateway, and called on them to be witnesses to the fact that he had bought the land that had belonged to Elimelech, which had been inherited by his two sons, from Naomi, Elimelech’s wife, (the eldest surviving near relative) and that with it he had bought the privilege of begetting sons through the wife of Mahlon in order to preserve the name of the family of Elimelech and Mahlon. That land would eventually devolve on the son produced by Boaz and Ruth, so that the name of the family of Mahlon would have been preserved in Israel. He would be known as ‘Obed ben Mahlon ben Elimelech’ as well as ‘Obed ben Boaz’. Note the repetition of ‘you are witnesses this day’.
Being ‘cut off from the gate of his place’ probably indicates being removed from the permanent genealogical records of the place which was his home city. Where a family died out there would be no purpose in maintaining the records. The city records would probably be held in the gatehouses.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Happy Marriage of Boaz and Ruth
v. 9. And Boaz said unto the elders and unto all the people, v. 10. Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, v. 11. And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, v. 12. and let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar, v. 13. So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife, v. 14. And the women said unto Naomi, v. 15. And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, v. 16. And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, v. 17. And the women, her neighbors, gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed v. 18. Now, these are the generations of Pharez, v. 19. and Hezron begat Barn, and Barn begat Amminadab v. 20. and Amminadab begat Nahshon, v. 21. and Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, v. 22. and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, of the hand of Naomi. (10) Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.
There is a great deal of force in these expressions considered spiritually, and with an eye to Jesus. He hath purchased all that was Elimelech’s; all that was our original inheritance in Adam. Angels arc witnesses of the blessed conditions in the covenant. The same sons of God which shouted for joy at creation, sang glory to God in the view of redemption; and are to grace our Lord’s return, we are told, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all that believe. Oh! dearest condescending Jesus, hast thou indeed purchased all that belongs to us? Didst thou bear our sins, and carry our sorrows, and in all our affliction wast thou afflicted! Witness, ye angels of light, the unequalled love of our Jesus! Oh! for grace to love him who hath so loved us.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rth 4:9 And Boaz said unto the elders, and [unto] all the people, Ye [are] witnesses this day, that I have bought all that [was] Elimelech’s, and all that [was] Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, of the hand of Naomi.
Ver. 9. Ye are witnesses this day. ] Fit witnesses ye are, because eyewitnesses: and faithful I hope ye will be, if I need your testimony. Boaz’s care was to make all sure in his new purchase: so it was Abraham’s. Gen 23:13-18 Jer 32:10-11 ; Jer 32:25
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Ye are witnesses: Gen 23:16-18, Jer 32:10-12
Reciprocal: Gen 23:11 – in the