Bible Strands
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.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Boaz addresses the unnamed kinsman-redeemer at the city gate, immediately after the redeemer declares his intention to buy Naomi’s field. This occurs during a public legal proceeding to settle the land redemption and the accompanying marital obligation.
The words — The Hebrew קְנוֹתְ/ךָ֥ (ke.not./Cha) translates literally to "acquiring you," while וּ֠/מֵ/אֵת (U./me./'et) functions as a conjunction meaning "and" or "from with," syntactically linking the purchase of the field to the acquisition of Ruth.
The thread — This requirement to secure a deceased man’s name through his widow runs parallel to the levirate duty in Deut 25:5, is echoed in Judah’s instruction to Onan in Gen 38:8, and is later quoted by the Sadducees in Matt 22:24.
Why it lands — The text plainly states that land redemption and family preservation are legally inseparable obligations. It requires the reader to acknowledge that the redeemer’s duty extends beyond property acquisition to securing the deceased’s lineage through a marital union.
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
Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.
Cross-references
- Genesis 38:8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and raise up offspring for your brother.”
- 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.
- 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.
- Ruth 3:12 Yes, it is true that I am a kinsman-redeemer, but there is a redeemer nearer than I.
- Luke 20:28 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man is to marry his brother’s widow and raise up offspring for him.