Ruth 3:2 Relative (KJV-kindred): Is the central word in the narration and message that this book offers. Our idiom doesn't have an equivalent, in the sense that this concept is related to traditional obligation, in the context of an ancient culture, of someone whose family has suffered some loss. It implies that the relative is able to "redeem" a family of slaves or recover a property lost to debts. See Leviticus 25:25,47-55.

Winnow refers to the way the grain is separated from the straw (the unusable portion). After the husk was removed by making an animal walk on the grain on the threshing floor, the mixture of grain and straw was shoveled over a kind of basket. Then it was tossed into the air in a breezy place to blow the lightest portion away while the grain fell into the basket to later be stored away.

Ruth 3:3-5 Naomi's instructions and Ruth's attitude might appear seductive and inconsistent with the noble spirit of the book: however, Boaz' words, "You are a virtuous woman" (v.11), reveal that he believed in her high morals.

Ruth 3:5,6 Ruth completely subordinated herself and showed obedience to Naomi's instructions. The same spirit is required in all those who wish to receive the maximum blessings that Christ's redemptive work promises them.

Ruth 3:5 See section 3 of "TRUTH IN ACTION" at the end of Ruth.

Ruth 3:7,8 She uncovered his feet: The obvious purpose was that the chilliness of the night would awaken him so that he could discover her at his feet. He shook (KJV-he was afraid): alludes to the reaction he experienced on feeling the cold of the night.

Ruth 3:7-15 Ruth's Trust (HBH) Ruth secretly approached Boaz. By lying at his feet, Ruth humbled herself as one of his servants. She trusted GOD to use Boaz to answer her needs and to protect her. Ruth startled Boaz since women were usually not with the men at night.

She made her request: "Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman-redeemer" (3:9). By this expression Ruth was asking Boaz for marriage (compare Ezek. 16:8). The Hebrew word translated "corner" can also be translated "wings". Boaz had prayed that Ruth might have refuge under the "wings" of GOD (2:12). He was used by GOD to provide the refuge for which Boaz himself had prayed.

Boaz commended Ruth for her righteous conduct because she chose him instead of a younger man. This was a greater act of loyalty ("kindness", 3:10) than even her initial faithfulness ("kindness") to the family (1:8).

Boaz told Ruth that there was another kinsman who had the first right to redeem her. If he declined, then Boaz promised to marry her. He gave Ruth a bounty of grain as an indication of his commitment.

Ruth 3:9 This is the tenderest moment of the story and one that can lead to false impressions. The culture of the peoples of the ancient Middle East includes the custom of extending the edge of a cape over the person to whom one is proposing marriage (see Ezek. 16:8), a tradition to which Ruth clearly alludes. The incident has nothing to do with something so inappropriate as a midnight tryst.

Ruth 3:10 Boaz' words seem to suggest that the young men felt attracted to Ruth. It's also given to understand that he had difficulty approaching her because of his age, which is why it was necessary for Ruth to take the initiative.

Ruth 3:13 Jehovah lives is a vow by which he assures his consent.

Ruth 3:14 Let it not be known: This precaution was so nobody would misinterpret Ruth's conduct that night, just as could happen in our time.

Ruth 3:15 The great quantity of barley (possible around 40 kg) was not only an expression of Boaz' desire to generously help Ruth, but that he justified the young woman's presence on the threshing floor. People thought that she had come to assure a good provision of grains and to carry them back to her house before the heat of the day.

Ruth 4:1 Many Old Testament texts show the gate of the city to be a place to make legal transactions or to deal with cases of civil law. See II Samuel 15:2; I Kings 22:10; Amos 5:10.

Ruth 4:1-12 Ruth's Redemption (HBH) Just as the widows had weighed their responsibility, the kinsmen of the Elimelech family discussed their roles. Boaz informed an unnamed kinsman that Naomi's fields were his to redeem (4:1-4). The kinsman agreed to buy the fields, but Boaz added that whoever bought the land ought to marry Ruth to "maintain the name of the dead with his property" (4:5). The Mosaic law does not tie the role of purchasing property with the custom of kinsman marriage. Therefore the kinsman could have declined without embarrassment. The kinsman explained that marriage would jeopardize his own inheritance. Boaz happily announced that he would redeem the property and marry Ruth himself.

Both the nearer kinsman and Orpah were not required technically by law to help the family. Ruth and Boaz decided to go beyond the prescription of the law to fulfill the purposes of the covenant. Because of their actions, the redemption of the family could be completed. Through their action, GOD worked to redeem Israel by making possible the birth of David.

The contract was sealed when the nearer kinsman gave his sandal to Boaz. This symbolized the transfer of his right to redeem (4:7-8).

The elders witnessed it and offered a prayer of blessing. They asked GOD to give Boaz children as He did the wives of Jacob and the house of Judah through Tamar, who bore Perez (4:11-12). The wives of Jacob bore twelve sons, the progenitors of all Israel; and Tamar bore twin sons to Judah (Gen. 38:27-30).

The blessing implied two comparisons. First, Ruth was a Moabitess, whereas Leah and Rachel were the mothers of Israel. The comparison, however, was not offensive to the elders because Ruth had become integrated into the family of faith.

Second, Tamar and Ruth both were without children. Tamar achieved her ends through trickery, but Ruth received her son through righteous obedience. Judah tried to avoid his responsibility to perpetuate his own son's family line. Ruth and Boaz, the descendant of Judah, went beyond the letter of the levirate law and acted righteously before the LORD. Ironically, the righteousness of a Moabitess, a foreigner to Israel's covenant, brought salvation to Judah's family.

Ruth 4:2 The elders of the city were given authority to ratify legal transactions and exercise the role of judges in legal affairs.

Ruth 4:6 Don't let it hurt my inheritance: As the property would pass into the hands of any son who would take Ruth, the relative would refer to the obligations that he still had to his own family. They could be jeopardized by any agreement that may potentially disturb the proceedings that are underway. It's also possible that he may not have been able to handle the financial impact of dealing with the inheritance and taking a wife at the same time. It could also be that his reaction reflected a racial prejudice due to Ruth being a Moabite.

Ruth 4:7-10 The author explains the cultural tradition, which was no longer practiced at the time when the book was written. However, taking the shoe off wasn't out of the ordinary when one wished to show authority or possession (see Gen. 13:14-17; Deut. 11:24; Josh. 1:3; Psa. 60:8). Handing over the shoe symbolized the renunciation of all the rights that corresponded to ownership, in this case the property and Ruth's hand.

(The law of levirate marriage says, "If the man like not to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate unto the elders and say, 'My husband's brother refuses to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband's brother.' Then the elders of the city will call him, and speak to him: and if he stand to it, and say, 'I like not to take her'; Then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, 'So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother's house'. And his name shall be called in Israel, the house of him that hath his shoe loosed" [Deut. 25:7-10].)

Ruth 4:11,12 The witnesses of the transaction were also in agreement. In fact, they were congratulating Boaz for his marriage proposal.

Ruth 4:12 The reference to Tamar (Gen. 38:6-29) reminds us of another unfortunate woman whose situation changed thanks to divine providence, and who also became part of the genealogy of the Messiah. See Matthew 1:3.

Ruth 4:13 And Jehovah granted her: Represents more than a pious reference to GOD as the giver of life; it could allude to a possible sterility when she was married to Mahlon (1:4,5). And he went in to her is the term that is usually used in the Old Testament to speak of intimate relations.

Ruth 4:13-22 Ruth's Rest (HBH) GOD rewarded the couple by giving them the child Obed. The women of the city praised GOD and recognized that Obed would sustain Naomi and possess Elimelech's property. In this sense Naomi was regarded the mother of the child (4:17).

Ruth was more valuable to Naomi than seven sons (4:15). Naomi had lost two sons. Through Ruth, who continued the house of her husband and provided Israel with its greatest king, Naomi gained far more (4:17). This signals the completed reversal in the life of Naomi. She was no longer empty.

The genealogy linked David with the patriarchs through Perez, the son of Judah. Because of the faithfulness of Ruth and the faithfulness of GOD, the promises of the patriarchs could be realized through David and his greater Son, Jesus Christ: "A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham" (Matt. 1:1).

Ruth 4:14-17 The author describes what was probably the day of the presentation of the child (Lev. 12) and the song of blessing was intoned by the women of the community who knew Naomi from before she was a widow and lost her two sons.