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Rut 4

VBL · Chapter 4/4

1Booz fue a la puerta de la ciudad, y se sentó allí. El redentor de la familia que Booz había mencionado pasó por allí, así que Booz le dijo: “Ven aquí, amigo, y siéntate”. El hombre se acercó y se sentó.

2Entonces Booz seleccionó a diez de los ancianos del pueblo y les pidió que se sentaran allí con ellos.

3Booz le dijo al redentor de la familia: “Noemí, que ha regresado del país de Moab, está vendiendo el terreno que pertenecía a Elimelec, nuestro pariente.

4He decidido decírtelo por si quieres comprarlo aquí, en presencia de estos ancianos del pueblo. Si quieres redimirla, adelante. Pero si no quieres, dímelo para que lo sepa, porque tú eres el primero en la fila para canjearlo, y yo soy el siguiente”.

5“Cuando compras la tierra a Noemí, también adquieres a Rut la moabita, la viuda de Mahlón, para poder casarte con ella y tener hijos con ella para asegurar la continuidad del linaje del hombre”, explicó Booz.

6“Pues entonces no puedo hacerlo”, respondió el redentor de la familia. “Si la redimiera, eso podría poner en peligro lo que ya poseo. Redímela tú, porque yo no puedo”.

7(Ahora bien, en aquellos tiempos era costumbre en Israel confirmar la acción del redentor familiar, el traspaso de la propiedad o cualquier asunto legal similar, quitándose una sandalia y entregándola. Esta era la forma de validar una transacción en Israel).

8Así que el redentor familiar se quitó la sandalia y le dijo a Booz: “Cómprala tú”.

9Entonces Booz dijo a los ancianos y a todo el pueblo presente: “Ustedes son testigos de que hoy he comprado a Noemí todo lo que pertenecía a Elimelec, Mahlón y Quelión.

10También he adquirido como esposa a Rut la moabita, viuda de Mahlón. Al tener hijos que puedan heredar sus bienes, su nombre se mantendrá vivo en su familia y en su ciudad natal. Ustedes son testigos de esto hoy”.

11Los ancianos y todo el pueblo presente en la puerta de la ciudad dijeron: “Sí, somos testigos. Que el Señor haga que la mujer que viene a tu casa sea como Raquel y Lea, que entre ambas dieron a luz al pueblo de Israel. Que seas próspera en Efrata y famosa en Belén.

12Que tu descendencia que el Señor te da a través de esta joven llegue a ser como la descendencia de Fares, el hijo que Tamar dio a Judá”.

13Booz se llevó a Rut a su casa y ella se convirtió en su esposa. Se acostó con ella, y el Señor dispuso que quedara embarazada, y dio a luz un hijo.

14Las mujeres de la ciudad se acercaron a Noemí y le dijeron: “Alaba al Señor, porque hoy no te ha dejado sin redentor de familia al darte este nieto que tendrá gran nombre en todo Israel.

15Él te dará una nueva vida y te mantendrá en tu vejez, porque tu nuera, que te ama y que es mejor que siete hijos para ti, lo ha dado a luz”.

16Noemí cogió al niño y lo abrazó. Lo cuidó como a su propio hijo.

17Las vecinas le pusieron el nombre de Obed diciendo: “¡Noemí tiene ahora un hijo!” Era el padre de Jesé, que fue el padre de David.

18Este es el linaje de Fares: Fares fue el padre de Jezrón.

19Jezron fue el padre de Ram. Ram fue el padre de Aminadab.

20Aminadab fue el padre de Naasón. Naasón fue el padre de Salmón.

21Salmón fue el padre de Booz. Booz fue el padre de Obed.

22Obed fue el padre de Isaí. Isaí fue el padre de David.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Boaz formally settles the matter of redemption before the elders at the city gate, marrying Ruth after the closer relative declines the right. Ruth and Boaz have a son, Obed, grandfather of David.

Explanation

The scene at the city gate, where legal business and disputes were settled publicly before witnesses, shows Israel's communal legal system functioning with transparency — ten elders formally witness the transaction. The custom of removing a sandal to seal an agreement (v.7-8) was a symbolic gesture of transferring rights, whose exact origin even the Israelites of the time the book was written already regarded as an ancient custom. The end of the book reveals Ruth's genealogy as great-grandmother of King David, transforming this personal story of loyalty and providence into an essential part of Israel's royal line — and, according to the New Testament, also the line of Jesus Christ.

Fun facts

  • The book's closing genealogy (Perez-Salmon-Boaz-Obed-Jesse-David) is repeated almost identically in Matthew 1:3-6, confirming Ruth, the Moabite, as one of the four women explicitly mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus.
  • The elders' blessing comparing Ruth to Rachel and Leah, 'which two did build the house of Israel' (v.11), is remarkable because it publicly recognizes a foreign woman as worthy of comparison with the nation's founding matriarchs.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Rut 4:1Boaz sits down at the city gate, the place where legal business and judgments took place in public, and gathers ten elders as formal witnesses before dealing with the right of redemption in front of the closer relative.
  2. Rut 4:2Boaz gathers ten elders of the city to serve as official witnesses to the negotiation about to take place.
  3. Rut 4:3Boaz explains to the closer relative that Naomi is selling a piece of land that belonged to Elimelech.
  4. Rut 4:4Boaz offers him the first option to redeem that land, since he is the closer relative; only if he refuses would Boaz take on that role. The relative agrees at first.
  5. Rut 4:5Boaz clarifies an important condition: along with the land, whoever redeems it must also marry Ruth, to keep her dead husband’s line alive.
  6. Rut 4:6The closer relative gives up his right to redeem the land when he learns that the deal also includes marrying Ruth and raising up an heir in the name of her dead husband, something that would divide his own inheritance among more children, and so he backs out.
  7. Rut 4:7Taking off one’s sandal and handing it to the other party was the custom used in Israel to publicly seal a transfer of the right of redemption. It worked as a visible signature before witnesses, at a time when few formal documents existed.
  8. Rut 4:8Learning of this condition, the relative withdraws and formalizes his withdrawal by taking off his own sandal, according to the custom.
  9. Rut 4:9Boaz declares publicly, before the elders and the people, that he is taking on everything that belonged to Elimelech and his sons.
  10. Rut 4:10In marrying Ruth, Boaz explains that the goal is to keep the dead man’s name alive over his inheritance. The heir who is born will be legally counted as a continuation of the line of Mahlon, Ruth’s dead husband, not as Boaz’s son for purposes of inheritance.
  11. Rut 4:11The people and the elders confirm their role as witnesses and wish blessings on Ruth, comparing her to the matriarchs Rachel and Leah, founders of the people of Israel.
  12. Rut 4:12They also wish that Boaz’s offspring would be as numerous as that of Pharez, son of Judah and Tamar — another story of family continuity through unusual circumstances.
  13. Rut 4:13Boaz marries Ruth, and the Lord enables her to conceive and give birth to a son.
  14. Rut 4:14The women of the town celebrate with Naomi, thanking God for not leaving her without a redeemer, and wish fame for this newborn child.
  15. Rut 4:15They point out that this grandson will renew Naomi’s life and care for her in old age, praising Ruth as a daughter-in-law more valuable than seven sons — an enormous compliment by the standards of the time.
  16. Rut 4:16Naomi takes the child into her lap and begins caring for him as if she were his own nurse.
  17. Rut 4:17The son of Ruth and Boaz is named Obed and becomes the grandfather of David. The book’s closing genealogy deliberately links a Moabite great-grandmother to the line of Israel’s greatest king, a detail the Gospels repeat centuries later in the genealogy of Jesus.
  18. Rut 4:18A genealogy begins here linking Ruth’s story to the royal line, starting from Pharez, son of Judah.
  19. Rut 4:19This is the line connecting Judah to David: Hezron and Ram are just two links along the way, in a list of ten generations that ends with King David himself.
  20. Rut 4:20Nahshon, in this same line, is the very man who led the tribe of Judah in the wilderness, in the time of Moses — a direct ancestor of David, five generations before him.
  21. Rut 4:21Salmon fathers Boaz, and Boaz fathers Obed — closing the circle of the very story told in the book.
  22. Rut 4:22The line ends with Obed fathering Jesse, and Jesse fathering David — revealing that Ruth, the Moabite foreigner, is the great-grandmother of Israel’s greatest king.

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