Ruth 4:5
What does Ruth 4:5 mean?
A plain-English look at Ruth 4:5 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Ruth 4:5 means
Boaz now discloses the full duty of redemption: buying the field entails taking Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance. This unites two legal concerns—property and posterity. The goal is not merely to enlarge one’s estate, but to preserve the deceased’s family line in Israel. Boaz speaks plainly and lawfully. He does not hide Ruth’s Moabite origin; grace does not cancel truth. The cost of redemption is personal and generational. True redemption restores both land and lineage, protecting the vulnerable and honoring the memory and rights of the dead within the covenant community.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Then said Boaz, 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.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Then said Boaz, 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.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Then said Boaz, 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.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Then Boaz said, On the day when you take this field, you will have to take with it Ruth, the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, so that you may keep the name of the dead living in his heritage.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862And Boaz saith, `In the day of thy buying the field from the hand of Naomi, then from Ruth the Moabitess, wife of the dead, thou hast bought <FI>it<Fi> , to raise up the name of the dead over his inheritance.'
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And Booz said to him: When thou shalt buy the field at the woman's hand, thou must take also Ruth, the Moabitess, who was the wife of the deceased: to raise up the name of thy kinsman in his inheritance.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890And Boaz said, On the 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.
Context
The narrative turns. What seemed a simple land deal now involves levirate-like marriage obligations. This added responsibility places real cost on the nearer kinsman, introducing a test of motive: is he seeking gain or willing to serve the family’s good? The next verse shows his response. This disclosure is the fulcrum of the negotiation, opening the way for Boaz to step in if the nearer kinsman declines the full burden of redemption.
v.4and I thought to disclose it unto thee, saying, Buy it before them that sit here, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is none to redeem it besides thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it.
v.5This passage
v.6And the near kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: take thou my right of redemption on thee; for I cannot redeem it.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Luke 20:28
and they asked him, saying, Teacher, Moses wrote unto us, that if a man’s brother die, having a wife, and he be childless, his brother should take the wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
- Matthew 22:24
saying, Teacher, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
- Genesis 38:8
And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother unto her, and raise up seed to thy brother.
- Ruth 3:12
And now it is true that I am a near kinsman; howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I.
- Deuteronomy 25:5
If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother unto her.
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