Ruth 4:2 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, "Sit down here." So they sat down.

NIV: Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, "Sit here," and they did so.

NASB: Then he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, 'Sit down here.' So they sat down.

CSB: Then Boaz took ten men of the town’s elders and said, "Sit here." And they sat down.

NLT: Then Boaz called ten leaders from the town and asked them to sit as witnesses.

KJV: And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.

NKJV: And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down.

Boaz is at the city gates of Bethlehem. His goal is to make sure Ruth gets what she wants: someone to buy Naomi's land and have an heir in the name of Naomi's late husband.

If Boaz marries Ruth, he will do all she asks (Ruth 3:11). Buying the land isn't an issue; any relative can do that. But because the deceased's brother is responsible for providing an heir (Deuteronomy 25:5–6), and neither Naomi's husband nor son has a living brother, no one is obliged to give Naomi an heir. Naomi's next of kin would be well within his rights to buy the land and not marry Ruth. Boaz must play his hand carefully.

He goes to the city gates where such business transactions take place, finds the man, then gathers ten elders. Because it's a family matter and not a legal case, the elders are there as witnesses, not judges. Then Boaz does something the man does not expect; he uses the honor-shame culture to set a benign sort of ambush (Ruth 4:3–5).

An elder is a community leader who makes religious, social, and leadership decisions (Numbers 11:16). Moses appointed the first official Israelite elders when his father-in-law recognized the need to delegate decision-making (Exodus 18). We don't know why Boaz chose ten elders, but it is interesting to note that in the time of Jesus, a synagogue could only be established if the town had ten Jewish males.

Ruth 4:1–6 is the climax of the romance portion of the story. Ruth has asked Boaz to marry her, buy Naomi's land, and give Naomi an heir in the name of her husband. Boaz agrees, but first he must give Ruth's proposal to a nearer relation. Will this new man agree? Or will Ruth find rest in the home of the kind and noble Boaz? The storyteller builds the suspense.

Ruth 4 provides one of the happiest endings of all the books of the Bible. It begins when Boaz holds a meeting with Naomi's next of kin. The unnamed man is willing to buy Naomi's land. Yet he doesn't want the risk of marrying a Moabite woman to give Naomi an heir. Boaz is actively seeking those obligations, so the townspeople praise him and Ruth. Before long, Ruth has a son and presents him to Naomi to continue the family of her late husband. The boy becomes the grandfather of Israel's greatest king, David, and the ancestor of the Messiah, Jesus.

Ruth 4 closes the story of how a Moabite woman came to be part of the genealogy of King David. Naomi, an Israelite from Bethlehem, fled a famine with her husband and two sons. The men died and Naomi returned to Israel with Ruth, her Moabite daughter-in-law. Ruth enlists the help of Boaz, an honored landowner, to buy Naomi's land and give her an heir. After Boaz negotiates with relatives, Ruth and Boaz marry. Naomi holds the boy born in the name of her husband's family. This child becomes the grandfather of David.

Though set in a time of violence and tragedy, the book of Ruth tells one of Scripture’s most uplifting stories. Naomi, an Israelite, leaves her home during a famine. While away, in Moab, her husband and sons die. Naomi convinces one of her Moabite daughters-in-law to leave her and seek a new life. The other, Ruth, refuses, declaring her love and loyalty to Naomi. When the pair return to Israel, they encounter Boaz. This man is both kind and moral; his treatment of Ruth secures Naomi’s future and becomes part of king David’s ancestry.