4
1 Then went Boaz up to the sha'ar, and sat him down there; and, hinei, the Go'el of whom Boaz spoke came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! Turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down.
2 And he took a minyan of the zekenim of the town, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down. 3 And he said unto the Go'el, Naomi, that is come again out of the sadeh of Moav, selleth a share of sadeh, which was achinu (our brother) Elimelechʼs; 4 And I thought to advise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the zekenim 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 beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it. 5 Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the sadeh of the hand of Naomi, thou must acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the eshet hamet (wife of the dead man), lahakim (to raise up, resurrect) the shem hamet upon his nachalah (inheritance). 6 And the Go'el said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own nachalah; redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it.
7 Now this was the manner in former time in Yisroel concerning the geulah (redemption) and concerning the temurah (the substitute, exchange), for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his sandal, and gave it to his neighbor; and this was an attestation in Yisroel.
8 Therefore the Go'el said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his sandal. 9 And Boaz said unto the zekenim, and unto kol haAm, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelechʼs, and all that was Kilyonʼs and Machlonʼs, of the hand of Naomi. 10 Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Machlon, have I purchased to be my wife, lahakim (to raise up, resurrect) the shem hamet (name of the dead man) upon his nachalah, that the shem of the dead man be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the sha'ar of his place; ye are edim (witnesses) HaYom. 11 And kol HaAm that were in the sha'ar, and the zekenim, said, We are edim. Hashem make the isha haba'ah (the woman coming),* into thine bais† like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the Bais Yisroel; and do thou worthily in Ephrat, and be famous in Beit-Lechem; 12 And let thy bais be like the bais of Peretz, whom Tamar bore unto Yehudah, of the zera‡ which Hashem shall give thee of this na'arah.
13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his isha; and when he went in unto her, Hashem gave her conception, and she bore ben.§ 14 And the nashim said unto Naomi, Baruch Hashem, which hath not left thee this yom without a Go'el. May shmo be famous in Yisroel. 15 And may he restore your nefesh and be a nourisher of thine old age; for thy kallah, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than shiva banim, hath born him.
16 And Naomi took the yeled, and laid him in her kheyk (bosom), and became omenet (nurse) unto it. 17 And the women her shchenim gave him a name, saying, There is a ben born to Naomi; and they called his name Oved; he is the father of Yishai, the father of Dovid.
18 Now these are the toldot of Peretz; Peretz fathered Chetzron, 19 And Chetzron fathered Ram, and Ram fathered Amminadav, 20 And Amminadav fathered Nachshon, and Nachshon fathered Salmon, 21 And Salmon fathered Boaz, and Boaz fathered Oved, 22 And Oved fathered Yishai, and Yishai fathered Dovid.*
* 4:11 See Gn 3:15; Isa 7:14 † 4:11 i.e. Bais Dovid ‡ 4:12 Gn 22:18; Ga 3:16 § 4:13 See Isa 7:14 * 4:22 T. N. This genealogy is important not only because it is Dovidʼs, but also because it is Moshiachʼs. See 1Chr 2:4; 3:5 and the genealogy in Mt 1 of Yehoshua/Yeshua Ben Dovid. The sandal exchanged (Ruth 4:7) fell on the genealogical line that would inherit the earth (Ro 4:13), crush Satanʼs head (Gn 3:15), and make the temurah (substitution) to redeem the living and the dead (Ro 4:25), even as Elimelech stood up alive vicariously through his Goel to reclaim the allotted inheritance of his redemption.