By Peter Amsterdam
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At the end of the previous article, Boaz had told Ruth that she was welcome to glean in his fields until they were fully harvested. She continued working with the women in his fields through both the barley and the wheat harvests.
Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.” And she replied, “All that you say I will do” (Ruth 3:1–5).
Naomi was concerned about Ruth’s future, and she wanted to seek rest, security, and a home for Ruth. Since Boaz was their relative, he was a kinsman-redeemer, which meant that there was some responsibility for him to marry Ruth to keep her deceased husband’s name (Mahlon) alive. Naomi knew that Boaz would be winnowing barley on the threshing floor that evening, so she instructed Ruth to prepare by washing, putting on her best clothes (or cloak), and using perfume. Ruth may have been wearing mourning garments, and by changing her clothes she was indicating that she was no longer in mourning.
Naomi also instructed Ruth to keep out of Boaz’ sight until he had laid down and fallen asleep. Apparently, he didn’t sleep where his workers did but perhaps had a special place some distance from them. Once he was sleeping, Ruth was to uncover his feet and lie down. Naomi confidently said that when Boaz woke up and found Ruth at his feet, he would tell her what to do.
So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down (Ruth 3:6–7).
After a meal with both eating and some drinking, Boaz was likely feeling good. As the evening came to an end, he went to the far end of the pile of grain and went to sleep. Ruth took note of where Boaz lay down, and once he was asleep, she came and moved whatever was covering his feet, so that they were exposed to night air. She then lay down at his feet.
At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer” (Ruth 3:8–9).
When identifying herself to Boaz, Ruth includes the information that you are a redeemer. Some have speculated that this encounter between Boaz and Ruth was sexual, but the ESV study notes state: “It is sometimes suggested that ‘his feet’ (literally, ‘place of his feet,’ Hebrew margelot) is a euphemism for sexual contact, but there is no evidence for this and it would be out of place in this story.”
Boaz understood the responsibility of a redeemer; he was to marry Ruth to produce a son who would be considered the son of Mahlon, her first husband and Naomi’s son.
And he said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. And now it is true that I am a redeemer. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I” (Ruth 3:10–12).
Rather than being reluctant or hesitant, Boaz was inspired by the prospect of marrying Ruth, and he prayed that she would be blessed by God. The difference in their age must have been significant, as he again referred to her as my daughter. In saying you have made this last kindness greater than the first, Boaz was probably referring to how Ruth had taken care of Naomi as her “first” kindness. In his mind, the kindness of her choosing to marry him was even greater than all that she had done for Naomi.
Boaz agrees to do what Ruth has asked; however, there was an impediment that stood between them—a kinsman who was a closer relative to her deceased husband, which meant that he was the one responsible to marry Ruth. However, if he chose not to marry her, then Boaz was the next closest in line to do so.
“Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, as the LORD lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.” So she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another. And he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” And he said, “Bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her. Then she went into the city (Ruth 3:13–15).
With that decision made, Boaz told Ruth to lie down at his feet until morning. Before Ruth left, Boaz gave her six measures of barley. If others saw Ruth out so early in the morning, they would assume that she had purchased some grain and was returning home.
When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did you fare, my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her, saying, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, ‘You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’” She replied, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today” (Ruth 3:16–18).
Naomi encouraged Ruth to wait patiently to see how things would unfold. She was certain that the matter would be settled that day, but they would have to wait to know the outcome. Meanwhile, Boaz went into action trying to arrange things so that he could marry Ruth.
Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down. And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down (Ruth 4:1–2).
In ancient times, the city gate was often the place where business and legal transactions were conducted, along with being a place to gather and socialize. When the redeemer came to the gate, Boaz asked him to sit with him, and asked ten of the city elders who were also at the gate of the city to sit as well, so that they could be witnesses to what was about to transpire.
Then he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem it” (Ruth 4:3–4).
Boaz got right down to business. He wanted the redeemer to be aware of the situation with Naomi and Ruth and Elimelech’s parcel of land, as he was eligible to purchase it as the closest relative. The first redeemer initially agreed to buy the land but was not yet aware that there were conditions to purchasing it, as Boaz went on to point out.
Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.” Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it” (Ruth 4:5–6).
In describing Ruth, Boaz referred to her as the Moabite as well as the widow of the dead. Most likely he was trying to make it seem like a bad idea for the redeemer to take the land and marry Ruth. Having to care for Naomi as well as marry Ruth would complicate the redeemer’s life and his own estate, so he changed his mind and forfeited his right of redemption to Boaz. He formalized his decision by giving his sandal to Boaz, a custom for legal transactions at the time (Ruth 4:7–8).
After the relative’s refusal to buy the land, Boaz addressed the elders, who were witnesses to the transaction, as well as all the people who had gathered around. He confirmed that he was buying the land that had belonged to Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, and their sons, and that he was going to marry Ruth (Ruth 4:9–10).
Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the LORD will give you by this young woman” (Ruth 4:11–12).
Those who were at the city gate along with the elders confirmed that they were witnesses to Boaz’s purchase of all that belonged to Naomi, and gave a triple blessing, probably given by a spokesperson among the elders. First, they prayed that Ruth would be fruitful like Rachel and Leah, who between them had twelve sons. The second blessing was that as the patriarch of this new family, Boaz would prosper and that his name would continue in Israel. The third blessing pointed to the as-yet unconceived child named Obed, who would be born to Boaz and Ruth.
Soon after Boaz and Ruth married, she became pregnant and delivered a son (Ruth 4:13).
Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David (Ruth 4:14–17).
The women of Bethlehem who had known of Naomi’s past emptiness (Ruth 1:19–20) now offered praise and prayer. They praised the Lord, who had not left her without a kinsman-redeemer and prayed that the child would be renowned throughout Israel. They also commended Ruth, Naomi’s daughter-in-law, who had demonstrated unconditional love for Naomi and was “more to [her] than seven sons.”
The child was named Obed (which means “servant”), likely a shortened form of Obadiah (which means “servant of the Lord”). As it turned out, Obed was the father of Jesse, who was the father of King David, meaning that Ruth was the great-grandmother of David (Ruth 4:18–22).
One author sums up the book of Ruth by saying, “In the end God overcomes all obstacles to bring Naomi from emptiness to fullness, to bring Boaz from being a bachelor to being a happily married man, and to bring Ruth from being an alien widow to being the great-grandmother of Israel’s greatest king!”1
Originally published November 2022. Adapted and republished March 2026. Read by Reuben Ruchevsky.
1 W. Gary Phillips, Holman Old Testament Commentary, Judges and Ruth (B&H Publishing Group, 2004), 353.
