The City Gate, the Land, the Sandal and the Marriage

"Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here." He takes ten elders: "Sit ye down here."

"Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's." "I will redeem it." "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." "I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself."

"Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing… a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour." The redeemer draws off his shoe. Boaz: "Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's… 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." "We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel… and let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah."

Redeemer and brother-in-law

Ruth 4 combines duties that the Torah keeps separate. Explanations: a wider custom of levirate-like marriage within the clan; a combination of redemption and marriage specific to this case; or a literary blending of several institutions. Leviticus 25 does not command a redeemer to marry a widow.

The sandal

The narrator explains the custom as old ("in former time"), so the book was written when it was no longer practiced. In Ruth, the man himself hands over his sandal to confirm a transfer of rights; in Deuteronomy 25 the widow pulls off the sandal of the brother who refuses, as a public disgrace. The later Jewish ceremony of ḥalitzah develops from Deuteronomy, not from Ruth. Nuzi documents from Mesopotamia mention a shoe in land transactions; the comparison is debated.

The gate

City gates were the place of trade, law and witnesses (Deuteronomy 21:19; 25:7; Amos 5:15; Proverbs 31:23). Excavated Iron Age gates at Gezer, Megiddo, Hazor and Tel Dan have chambers and benches. Bethlehem's ancient gate has not been excavated; any gate picture is a comparison.

I acquire, or you acquire? (4:5)

In the Hebrew of 4:5 the consonants read "I acquire" (ketiv) while the tradition reads "you acquire" (qere). The phrase "from Ruth" or "also Ruth" is a second difficulty. See the passage page.