Phrasing of Ruth 4:1-12
Ruth 4:1-12
Boaz generously and sacrificially redeems Elimelech's and Mahlon's family.
#redemption
#grace
#marriage
Published April 4th, 2019
4:1-12
Notes
4:1-12
OT
Ruth 4:1-12
esv
Now Boaz had gone up
to the gate
Locative
and sat down there.
And behold, the redeemer, ... came by.
of whom
Reference
Boaz had spoken,
So Boaz said,
“Turn aside, friend;
Content
sit down here.”
And he turned aside
Result
and sat down.
And he took ten men
of the elders
Partitive
of the city
Subordination
and said,
“Sit down here.”
So they sat down.
Then he said
to the redeemer,
Destination
“Naomi, ... is selling the parcel
Content #1
of land
Material
who has come back
from the country
Separation
of Moab,
Epexegetical
that belonged to our relative Elimelech.
So I thought I would tell you
Content #2a
of it
Objective
and say,
Content #2b
‘Buy it
in the presence
Locative #1
of those sitting here
Subjective
and in the presence
Locative #
of the elders
of my people.’
If you will redeem it,
Condition
redeem it.
Content #3
But if you will not,
tell me,
Content #3b
that I may know,
Purpose
for there is no one
Ground #1
besides you
Concessive
to redeem it,
and I come
Ground #2
after you.”
And he said,
“I will redeem it.”
Then Boaz said,
“The day you buy the field
Temporal
from the hand
of Naomi,
Possessive
you also acquire Ruth the Moabite,
the widow
Explanation
of the dead,
Relationship
in order to perpetuate the name
of the dead
in his inheritance.”
Then the redeemer said,
“I cannot redeem it
Content #1
for myself,
Advantage
lest I impair my own inheritance.
Take my right ... yourself,
Content #2
of redemption
Descriptive
for I cannot redeem it.”
Ground
Now this was the custom
in former times
in Israel
concerning redeeming
and exchanging:
to confirm a transaction,
the one drew off his sandal
and gave it
to the other,
and this was the manner
of attesting
Attributed
in Israel.
So when the redeemer said
to Boaz,
“Buy it
for yourself,”
he drew off his sandal.
Then Boaz said
to the elders
Destination #1
and all the people,
Destination #2
“You are witnesses this day
Content A
that I have bought ... all
Content #1
from the hand
of Naomi
that belonged to Elimelech
and all
Content #2
that belonged to Chilion
and to Mahlon.
Also Ruth the Moabite, ... I have bought
Content B
the widow
of Mahlon,
to be my wife,
to perpetuate the name
of the dead
in his inheritance,
that the name ... may not be cut off
of the dead
from among his brothers
Separation #1
and from the gate
Separation #2
of his native place.
You are witnesses this day.”
Content C
Then all the people
who were
at the gate
and the elders said,
“We are witnesses.
Content #1
May the Lord make the woman,
Content #2
who is coming
into your house,
like Rachel
Standard
and Leah,
who together built up the house
of Israel.
May you act worthily
Content #3a
in Ephrathah
and be renowned
Content #3b
in Bethlehem,
and may your house be
Content #4
like the house
of Perez,
whom Tamar bore
to Judah,
because of the offspring
that the Lord will give you
by this young woman.”
Agency
Phrasal verb
Phrasal verb
Not Possessive, because you can't own "presence"!
"...or quality of the genitive." This is the way you attested; you attested like this , in this way . Like Explanation.
Another possibility is Attributive: "his native gate."
Another possibility is Possessive.
phrasing
Notes
Head: We should think biblically about cultural practices - about politeness and manners. There wasn't a biblical mandate for doing things this way for Boaz, with the shoe and all, but he did things correctly and rightly. It was important that things be done legally and correctly here as well - details are important, as far as following the law and being honest. Paul wrote about this principle in 2 Corinthians 8:20-21. Notice that God put Rachel first in the list (11), even though she was younger! This reminds us that God does things in surprising ways - as evidenced in this story as well. The mention of Tamar and Perez reminds us of this also! See Genesis 38. These three women were "suspect" in some ways, like Ruth was - but now she receives the blessing by God's grace . Heart: Praise God for his blessing , that would bless the "house" of Boaz and Ruth; the witnesses acknowledge the need of Yahweh to act. And he acted in blessing far beyond what the witnesses could have understood! They spoke more wisely than they knew. Praise God also for sending his Son, a greater Boaz, to rescue us and be our Redeemer, to look to our need instead of his own (Phil. 2:3-4). Hands: Boaz spoke very prudently, being as wise as a serpent, but as harmless as a dove (v. 5, adding Ruth only at the end). And he did this in the service of faithfulness and steadfast love (v. 10). He served the family of Elimelech, not letting his name be cut off (v. 10). So we should be faithful to our families, and to those for whom we are responsible (students, relatives, other church members), seeking to act and speak wisely in reproving or encouraging them (see Prov. 25:11). God blessed Boaz for his generosity and hesed ; he will bless us as well.
notes
Comments
Simon Patterson
Brent Karding
Disclaimer: The opinions and conclusions expressed on this page are those of the author and may or may not accord with the positions of Biblearc or Bethlehem College & Seminary.