Greetings in the name of our mighty Redeemer Christ Jesus, and welcome to our first post of the new year. It is my hope and prayer that anyone who comes across this blog site will come away with a desire to know more about our Creator. Those that already believe it is likewise my hope and prayer that you enjoy and garner food for meditation to feed your spirits and souls.
RPW Sr.
The
Book of Ruth Chapter 4:1-8
1 Then went
Boaz up to the gate, and sat there, and behold, the kinsman, of
whom Boaz had spoken, came by: and he said, Ho, such one, come,
sit down here. And he turned, and sat down. 2 Then he took ten
men of the Elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they
sat down. 3 And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come
again out of the country of Moab, will sell a parcel of land, which
was our brother Elimelech’s. 4 And I thought to advertise
thee, saying, Buy it before the assistants, and before the
Elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou
wilt not redeem it, tell me: for I know that there is none besides
thee to redeem it, and I am after thee. Then he answered, I will
redeem it. 5 Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of
the hand of Naomi, thou must also buy it of Ruth the Moabitess the
wife of the dead, to stir up the name of the dead, upon
his inheritance. 6 And the kinsman answered, I cannot
redeem it, lest I destroy mine own inheritance: redeem my right to
thee, for I can not redeem it. 7 Now this was the manner
beforetime in Israel, concerning redeeming and changing for to
stablish all things: a man did pluck off his shoe, and gave it his
neighbor: and this was a sure witness in Israel. 8 Therefore
the kinsman said to Boaz, Buy it for thee: and he drew off his shoe.
Boaz
calls a court immediately. It is probable he was himself one of the
elders (or aldermen) of the city; for he was a mighty man of wealth.
Perhaps he was father of the city, and sat chief; for he seems here
to have gone up to the gate as one having authority, and not as a
common person; like, Job
29:7 ,
etc. We cannot suppose him less than a magistrate in his city who was
grandson to Nahshon, prince of Judah; and his lying at the end of a
heap of corn in the threshing-floor the night before was not at all
inconsistent, in those days of plainness, with the honour of his
sitting judge in the gate. But why was Boaz so hasty, why so fond of
the match? Ruth was not rich, but lived upon alms; not honourable,
but a poor stranger. She was never said to be beautiful; if ever she
had been so, we may suppose that weeping, and travelling, and
gleaning, had withered her lilies and roses. But that which made Boaz
in love with her, and solicitous to expedite the affair, was that all
her neighbours agreed she was a virtuous woman. This set her price
with him far
above rubies (Prov. 31:10 );
and therefore he thinks, if by marrying her he might do her a real
kindness, he should also do himself a very great kindness. He will
therefore bring it to a conclusion immediately. It was not court-day,
but he got ten men of the elders of the city to meet him in the
town-hall over the gate, where public business used to be
transacted, v. 2.
So many, it is probable, by the custom of the city, made a full
court. Boaz, though a judge, would not be judge in his own cause, but
desired the concurrence of other elders. Honest intentions dread not
a public cognizance. 2. He summons his rival to come and hear the
matter that was to be proposed to him (v. 1): "Ho,
such a one, sit
down here.’’ He called him by his name, no doubt, but the divine
historian thought not fit to record it, for, because he refused to
raise up the name of the dead, he deserved not to have his name
preserved to future ages in this history. Providence favoured Boaz in
ordering it so that this kinsman should come by thus opportunely,
just when the matter was ready to be proposed to him. Great affairs
are sometimes much furthered by small circumstances, which facilitate
and expedite them. 3. He proposes to the other kinsman the redemption
of Naomi’s land, which, it is probable, had been mortgaged for
money to buy bread with when the famine was in the land
(v. 3): "Naomi
has a parcel of land to sell, namely,
the equity of the redemption of it out of the hands of the mortgagee,
which she is willing to part with;’’ or, as some think, it was
her jointure for her life, and, wanting money, for a small matter she
would sell her interest to the heir at law, who was fittest to be the
purchaser. This he gives the kinsman legal notice of (v. 4),
that he might have the refusal of it. Whoever had it must pay for it,
and Boaz might have said, "My money is as good as my kinsman’s;
if I have a mind to it, why may not I buy it privately, since I had
the first proffer of it, and say nothing to my kinsman?’’ No,
Boaz, though fond enough of the purchase, would not do so mean a
thing as to take a bargain over another man’s head that was nearer
a-kin to it; and we are taught by his example to be not only just and
honest, but fair and honourable, in all our dealings, and to do
nothing which we are unwilling should see the light, but be
above-board. 4. The kinsman seemed forward to redeem the land till he
was told that, if he did that, he must marry the widow, and then he
flew off. He liked the land well enough, and probably caught at that
the more greedily because he hoped that the poor widow being under a
necessity of selling he have so much the better bargain: "I
will redeem it’’(said
he) "with all my heart,’’ thinking it would be a fine
addition to his estate, v. 4.
But Boaz told him there was a young widow in the case, and, if he
have the land, he must take her with it, Terra
transit cum onere—The estate passes with this
incumbrance; either
the divine law or the usage of the country would oblige him to it, or
Naomi insisted upon it that she would not sell the land but upon this
condition, v. 5.
Some think this does not relate to the law of marrying the brother’s
widow (for that seems to oblige only the children of the same
father, Deu. 25:5 ,
unless by custom it was afterwards made to extend to the next of
kin), but to the law of redemption of inheritances
(Lev. 25:24, Lev. 25:25 ),
for it is a goel, a redeemer, that
is here enquired for; and if so it was not by the law, but by Naomi’s
own resolution, that the purchaser was to marry the widow. However it
was, this kinsman, when he heard the conditions of the bargain,
refused it (v. 6): "I
cannot redeem it for myself. I
will not meddle with it upon these terms, lest I mar my own
inheritance.’’ The land, he thought, would be an improvement of
his inheritance, but not the land with the woman; that would mar it.
Perhaps he thought it would be a disparagement to him to marry such a
poor widow that had come from a strange country, and almost lived
upon alms. He fancied it would be a blemish to his family, it would
mar his blood, and disgrace his posterity. Her eminent virtues were
not sufficient in his eye to counterbalance this. The Chaldee
paraphrase makes his reason for this refusal to be that he had
another wife, and, if he should take Ruth, it might occasion strife
and contention in his family, which would mar the comfort of his
inheritance. Or he thought she might bring him a great many children,
and they would all expect shares out of his estate, which would
scatter it into too many hands, so that the family would make the
less figure. This makes many shy of the great redemption: they are
not willing to espouse religion. They have heard well of it, and have
nothing to say against it; they will give it their good word, but at
the same time they will give their good word with it; they are
willing to part with it, and cannot be bound to it, for fear of
marring their own inheritance in this world. Heaven they could be
glad of, but holiness they can dispense with; it will not agree with
the lusts they have already espoused, and therefore, let who will
purchase heaven at that rate, they cannot. 5. The right of redemption
is fairly resigned to Boaz. If this nameless kinsman lost a good
bargain, a good estate, and a good wife too, he may thank himself for
not considering it better, and Boaz will thank him for making his way
clear to that which he valued and desired above any thing. In those
ancient times it was not the usage to pass estates by writings, as
afterwards (Jer. 32:10 ,
etc.), but by some sign or ceremony, as with us by livery and seisin,
as we commonly call it, that is, the delivery of seisin, seisin of a
house by giving the key, of land by giving turf and a twig. The
ceremony here used was, he that surrenderedplucked
off his shoe (the
Chaldee says it was the
glove of his right hand )
and gave it to him to whom he made the surrender, intimating thereby
that, whatever right he had to tread or go upon the land, he conveyed
and transferred it, upon a valuable consideration, to the purchaser:
this was a testimony
in Israel, v. 7.
And it was done in this case, v. 8.
If this kinsman had been bound by the law to marry Ruth, and his
refusal had been a contempt of that law, Ruth must haveplucked
off his shoe and spit
in his face, Deu. 25:9 .
But, though his relation should in some measure oblige him to the
duty, yet the distance of his relation might serve to excuse him from
the penalty, or Ruth might very well dispense with it, since his
refusal was all she desired from him. But bishop Patrick, and the
best interpreters, think this had no relation to that law, and that
the drawing off of the shoe was not any disgrace as there, but a
confirmation of the surrender, and an evidence that it was not
fraudulently nor surreptitiously obtained. Note, Fair and open
dealing in all matters of contract and commerce is what all those
must make conscience of that would approve themselves Israelites
indeed, without guile. How much more honourably and honestly does
Boaz come by this purchase than if he had secretly undermined his
kinsman, and privately struck up a bargain with Naomi, unknown to
him. Honesty will be found the best policy
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