Ruth 4:9 - Meaning and Application

Boaz now sees a clear path, so he does not delay in keeping his promise to Ruth. At the city gate, before the elders and all the people, he publicly announces the marriage agreement between himself and Ruth the Moabite woman, and with it the purchase of all the property that belonged to Elimelech’s family. If he had not been a wealthy man (Ruth 2:1), he could not have carried out this redemption, or helped his relative’s family in this way. A large estate is useful only if a person uses it to do good in his own time, especially for those in his own household.

About this marriage, two things stand out. First, it was carried out, or at least publicly announced, before many witnesses (Ruth 4:9, Ruth 4:10). Boaz says, in effect, “You are witnesses that I have bought the land. If anyone has it, or any part of it, pledged to him, let him come to me and receive payment according to the value of the land.” That value was figured by the number of years until the year of jubilee (Leviticus 25:15), when the land would return to Elimelech’s family by right. The more public a land sale is, the safer it is from fraud.

He also says, “You are witnesses that I have taken the widow to be my wife.” He had no property with her, and whatever right came with her was tied up with debt, so he had to pay for it as much as it was worth. In that sense, he could truly say he bought her, and yet, since she was a virtuous woman, he counted it a good bargain. House and wealth come from parents, but a wise wife is more valuable, and she is a special gift from the Lord. By marrying Ruth, he meant to preserve the memory of the dead. He wanted the name of Mahlon, who left no son to carry it on, not to be cut off from his town, but to remain in the public record.

In time, this very history, preserved because of that marriage and the child that came from it, kept Mahlon’s name alive far beyond anything Boaz himself could have planned. Notice also that because Boaz honored the dead and cared for the living, God honored him by placing him in the family line of the Messiah, which lifted his family above all the families of Israel. The other kinsman, who was so afraid of harming his own estate by marrying the widow, has his name, family, and inheritance buried in shame and forgetfulness. A caring heart toward the dead, and kindness toward poor widows and strangers, who cannot pay you back (Luke 14:14), is something God values and will surely reward.

Our Lord Jesus is our Goel, our Redeemer, our lasting Redeemer. Like Boaz, he looked with compassion on the sad condition of fallen human beings. At great cost, he redeemed the heavenly inheritance for us, an inheritance mortgaged and lost to divine justice because of sin, one we could never have recovered ourselves. He also bought a special people for himself, and he would join himself to them, though they were strangers and outsiders like Ruth, poor and despised, so that the name of that dead and buried race would not be cut off forever. He was willing to risk the seeming loss of his own inheritance to do this. Though he was rich, for our sake he became poor. Yet his Father rewarded him greatly, and because he humbled himself, he was highly exalted and given a name above every name. Let us own our debt to him, make sure our covenant with him, and spend our days honoring him.

By making this marriage and purchase public, Boaz not only secured his right against any later claim, as if by a legal filing with public notice, but also honored Ruth. He showed that he was not ashamed of her, or of her poor background, and he left a warning against secret marriages. It is only evil that hates the light and refuses to come into it. Boaz called witnesses because he was ready to stand by what he had done and never deny it. Even the crowd at the gate was treated with respect, not just the elders. They were all asked to witness it, and they all answered, “We are witnesses” (Ruth 4:9).

Second, this act was surrounded by many prayers. The elders and all the people, as they gave witness, also wished the couple well and blessed them (Ruth 4:11, Ruth 4:12). It seems Ruth was called in at this point, because they speak of her in the present tense, “this young woman” (Ruth 4:12), and since Boaz had taken her as his wife, they regarded her as already coming into his house. Their prayers for the couple were warm and sincere.

Most likely, the oldest elder led the prayer, and the others, along with the people, joined in. That is why the prayer is spoken of as belonging to them all, for in public prayer, even if only one person speaks, all should join in heart. Marriages should be blessed and joined with prayer, because every gift and every condition of life means only what God makes it mean for us. It is kind and proper to wish happiness to those who enter marriage, and what we truly desire for them, we should ask from God, the source of all good. The minister who gives himself to the Word and prayer is best fitted both to counsel and to bless those entering this relationship.

We should also wish and pray for one another’s good, far from envy or resentment. For Ruth, they prayed, “May the Lord make the woman who has come into your house like Rachel and Leah,” meaning, “May God make her a good wife and a fruitful mother.” Ruth was already a virtuous woman, yet she still needed the prayers of her friends, that by God’s grace she might become a blessing to the family she had joined. They asked that she would be like Rachel and Leah rather than like Sarah and Rebekah, for Sarah had only one son, and Rebekah had only one son who remained in the covenant, while the other, Esau, was rejected. Rachel and Leah, by contrast, built up the house of Israel, and all their children belonged to the church, with many descendants.

They also prayed for Boaz, that he would continue to act worthily in the city, where he was already an honor, and become even more famous. They wanted the wife to be a blessing in the home, and the husband a blessing in the public life of the town, so that she in her place and he in his would be wise, good, and successful. The path to honor is to act honorably. Great reputation must come from great merit.

It is not enough simply to avoid doing wrong, or to be harmless and unoffensive. We must also live in a way that is worthy, useful, and helpful to the people around us. Those who want to be truly honored must, in their place, shine like lights.

They also prayed for the family: “May your house be like the house of Pharez,” meaning, “May your family become very large and continue to grow.” The people of Bethlehem were from the family of Pharez, and they knew how large that family had become. When the tribes were divided, that grandson of Jacob had a special honor shared by only Manasseh and Ephraim: his descendants were counted as two separate families, Hezron and Hamul (Numbers 26:21). So they prayed that Boaz’s family, which was one branch of that line, would in time become as large and important as the whole family line was then.