Boaz, Ruth and the line of David
Conquest & Judges · Draft · BSB
Content revision: f0947f8dbc307d86 · No editorial review date recorded
Date: After the agreement at the gate · Before David’s generation
At the town gate, Boaz presents the matter before the nearer redeemer and elders. When the other man declines, Boaz redeems the family property and takes Ruth as his wife. Their son Obed brings joy to Naomi and is named as the father of Jesse, the father of David.
The property and marriage arrangements preserve the deceased man’s name. Boaz is a relative, not Mahlon’s brother, so this is not simply the brother-in-law case of Deuteronomy 25. The closing genealogy reaches beyond this household story toward David.
Primary Scripture
4:1 Meanwhile, Boaz went to the gate and sat down there. Soon the kinsman-redeemer of whom he had spoken came along, and Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.
4:2 Then Boaz took ten of the elders of the city and said, “Sit here,” and they did so.
4:3 And he said to the kinsman-redeemer, “Naomi, who has returned from the land of Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech.
4:4 I thought I should inform you that you may buy it back in the presence of those seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you want to redeem it, do so. But if you will not redeem it, tell me so I may know, because there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.” “I will redeem it,” he replied.
4:5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi and also from Ruth the Moabitess, you must also acquire the widow of the deceased in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.”
4:6 The kinsman-redeemer replied, “I cannot redeem it myself, or I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I cannot redeem it.”
4:7 Now in former times in Israel, concerning the redemption or exchange of property, to make any matter legally binding a man would remove his sandal and give it to the other party, and this was a confirmation in Israel.
4:8 So the kinsman-redeemer removed his sandal and said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.”
4:9 At this, Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon.
4:10 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.”
4:11 “We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the people at the gate. “May the LORD make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you be prosperous in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem.
4:12 And may your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring the LORD will give you by this young woman.”
4:13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And when he had relations with her, the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.
4:14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a kinsman-redeemer. May his name become famous in Israel.
4:15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”
4:16 And Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and became a nurse to him.
4:17 The neighbor women said, “A son has been born to Naomi,” and they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse, the father of David.
4:18 Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron,
4:19 Hezron was the father of Ram, Ram was the father of Amminadab,
4:20 Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, Nahshon was the father of Salmon,
4:21 Salmon was the father of Boaz, Boaz was the father of Obed,
4:22 Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David.
Related Scripture
Deuteronomy 25:5–10 · teaching
The concern for a dead man’s name invites comparison, while the kinship and sandal procedure differ.
Matthew includes the same family line and explicitly names Ruth.
Location evidence
Bethlehem in Judah is identified. The exact gate, house and property boundaries are not established by the map.
Event map marker: Identified site; [longitude, latitude] = [35.207639, 31.704306]. This is a teaching marker, not an exact event venue.
Bethlehem in Judah: Identified site. Coordinates [longitude, latitude]: [35.207639, 31.704306]. Classification source: editorial.
OpenBible · Bethlehem in Judah
OpenBible · Bethlehem in Judah
For the class
How do ordinary acts of loyalty become part of a story larger than the people involved can see?
Interpretation and reuse
Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review.
Record source: editorial (content/authored/conquest-judges.json)
Place coordinates from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, CC BY 4.0.
Teaching stops, summaries and regional extents are original editorial content of this atlas.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. https://berean.bible/licensing.htm