Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, I have purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers, and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses today.”
- KJV Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.
- BSB 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.”
- NASB Furthermore, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, to be my wife in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance, so that the name of the deceased will not be eliminated from his brothers or from the court of his birth place; you are witnesses today.”
- NLT And with the land I have acquired Ruth, the Moabite widow of Mahlon, to be my wife. This way she can have a son to carry on the family name of her dead husband and to inherit the family property here in his hometown. You are all witnesses today.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Boaz announces he has taken Ruth as his wife to preserve the name and inheritance of her dead husband Mahlon. This fulfills the spirit of levirate duty and continues the family line.
Overview
Beyond redeeming the land, Boaz embraces the costly responsibility of raising up an heir to perpetuate the name of the dead, honoring Ruth and her late husband. His selfless commitment to preserve a name that is not his own reflects gracious, redemptive love. This act ultimately serves God's larger plan, for from this union would descend David and, in time, the Messiah.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Deut 25:6It shall be that the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed in the name of his brother who is dead, that his name not be blotted out of Israel.
- Eph 5:25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the assembly, and gave himself up for it;
- Isa 48:19Your offspring also would have been as the sand, and the descendants of your body like its grains. His name would not be cut off nor destroyed from before me.”
- Josh 7:9For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and will surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. What will you do for your great name?”
- Mal 2:14Yet you say, ‘Why?’ Because Yahweh has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion, and the wife of your covenant.
- Gen 29:18–19Jacob loved Rachel. He said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter.”
- Ps 34:16Yahweh’s face is against those who do evil, to cut off their memory from the earth.
- Isa 8:2–3and I will take for myself faithful witnesses to testify: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”
- Hos 12:12Jacob fled into the country of Aram, and Israel served to get a wife, and for a wife he tended flocks and herds.
- Prov 19:14House and riches are an inheritance from fathers, but a prudent wife is from Yahweh.
- Prov 31:10–11Who can find a worthy woman? For her price is far above rubies.
- Ps 109:15Let them be before Yahweh continually, that he may cut off their memory from the earth;
- Zech 13:2It will come to pass in that day, says Yahweh of Armies, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they will be remembered no more. I will also cause the prophets and the spirit of impurity to pass out of the land.
- Gen 29:27Fulfill the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you will serve with me yet seven other years.”
- Prov 18:22Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of Yahweh.
- Hos 3:2So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley.
- Heb 13:4Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
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Christ at the center
Boaz the kinsman-redeemer who buys back the destitute and takes a bride foreshadows Christ, our Redeemer who pays the price to make a people his own; and from Ruth's line comes David, and David's greater Son.
How Ruth 4:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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