Bible Strands
Ruth 3:13
Stay here tonight, and in the morning, if he wants to redeem you, good. Let him redeem you. But if he does not want to redeem you, as surely as the LORD lives, I will. Now lie here until morning.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Boaz speaks this instruction to Ruth at the threshing floor after she has lain at his feet. He outlines the immediate legal procedure for the morning regarding the kinsman-redeemer.
The words — The Hebrew יִגְאָלֵךְ (yig'alékh) and יִגְאָ֔ל (yig'al) both mean "he will redeem" or "let him redeem." Boaz uses these terms to establish the conditional legal sequence he will enforce at dawn.
The thread — The oath formula "as surely as the LORD lives" appears in Ruth 4:5 and Jeremiah 4:2 to mark binding commitments. The redemption process Boaz describes is executed in Ruth 4:5 when he formally addresses the nearer kinsman.
Why it lands — The text commands Ruth to remain until morning and submit to the established legal process. It requires readers to recognize that covenant loyalty operates through procedural patience rather than immediate action.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman’s part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the Lord liveth: lie down until the morning.
Cross-references
- Ruth 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.”
- Jeremiah 4:2 and if you can swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then the nations will be blessed by Him, and in Him they will glory.”
- Ruth 2:20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, who has not withdrawn His kindness from the living or the dead.” Naomi continued, “The man is a close relative. He is one of our kinsman-redeemers.”
- Deuteronomy 25:5 When brothers dwell together and one of them dies without a son, the widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother is to take her as his wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law for her.
- Judges 8:19 “They were my brothers,” Gideon replied, “the sons of my mother! As surely as the LORD lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”
- Matthew 22:24 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses declared that if a man dies without having children, his brother is to marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.
- Hebrews 6:16 Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and their oath serves as a confirmation to end all argument.
- 2 Corinthians 1:23 I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth.