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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Ruth 4 V1 V2 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22
OET (OET-LV) And_he/it_said to_redeemer the_portion_of the_field which belonged_to_brother_of_our to_ʼElīmelek Nāˊₒmī she_has_sold who_she_returned from_the_region_of Mōʼāⱱ.
OET (OET-RV) Then Boaz asked the other relative, “The part of the countryside that belonged to our relative Elimelek is for sale. Naomi, who recently returned from Moab, is selling it.
In this final chapter of the book, Ruth received the reward for her loyalty to Naomi.
Boaz is in focus in the first twelve verses. He met with the other close relative in the presence of many witnesses to discuss the entire situation. The other relative did not want to buy Elimelech’s property that Naomi was selling, if the arrangement also meant that he had to marry Ruth. So Boaz said that he would act as the redeemer himself.
In section 4:13–17, Boaz and Ruth were married, and the LORD soon gave them a son. The women in Bethlehem named the son Obed and rejoiced that Naomi now had a “son” to carry on her family line and care for her in her old age. So both Naomi and Ruth were going to be cared for, and the women went from “emptiness” to “fullness.”
Section 4:18–22 concludes the book with a genealogy that lists of the family line of Perez, who was a son of Judah and grandson of Jacob (who is also called Israel). The family line is listed from Perez through Obed to King David.
Here are some other examples of section headings for 4:1–12:
Boaz Redeems Ruth (ESV)
Boaz Settles the Matter (NET)
Structure:
Some commentaries divide this section into four scenes:NICOT, Sakenfield, Cornerstone, and Sakenfield. These divide the scenes in at least two different ways.
4:1–2 Introduction: Boaz Convenes a Legal Assembly
4:3–8 Boaz Obtains the Rights of Redemption
4:9–10 Boaz Formalizes the Agreement
4:11–12 Witnessing and Blessing
One commentary divides this section into three scenes.Block (pages 203–204).
4:1–2 setting the stage for the legal drama
4:3–8 report of the legal drama
4:9–12 significance of legal drama
You may divide the paragraphs in these scenes in whatever way best fits the structure of your language.
This paragraph describes the legal discussion between Boaz and the closest relative to Naomi about whether he was willing to redeem the land. It concludes with this man’s refusal to do so.
And he said to the kinsman-redeemer,
¶ Then Boaz said to the man who was a closer relative to Ruth than he was,
¶ Then he said to man who had responsibility to care for the family,
And he said to the kinsman-redeemer: This is the beginning of a new paragraph. Follow the grammar of your language in choosing whether you should use the name Boaz or the pronoun he.
kinsman-redeemer: This word is used often in this chapter. Therefore, even if it is necessary to use a long phrase in your language to explain the word clearly the first time it occurs, it may be possible to shorten the phrase in some cases.
“Naomi, who has returned from the land of Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech.
“Naomi has returned from Moab. She wants to sell the land that belonged to our relative Elimelech.
“I want to talk to you about the portion of land that belonged to our relative, Elimelech. Naomi, his widow, who has recently returned from Moab, hopes/intends to sell it.
Naomi, who has returned from the land of Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech: This is new information. There is no mention of how Boaz knew this.
is selling the piece of land: This means that Naomi intended to put the land up for sale. She had not yet sold it.NICOT (pages 236–247), UBS (page 64). Boaz wanted to discuss the land before he mentioned that he would also marry Ruth. Naomi was selling the land, or the rights to the land, and a close relative had the duty and opportunity to buy it.This duty is also mentioned in Jeremiah 36:6–12.
land: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as land can also be translated as “field.”
Here are some other ways to translate the whole clause “Naomi, who has returned from the land of Moab, is selling the piece of land”:
“Now that Naomi has come back from Moab, she wants to sell the field (GNT)
“You know Naomi, who came back from Moab. She is selling the land (NLT)
that belonged to our brother Elimelech: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as our brother can refer to either a literal brother, a cousin, another near relative, or someone else in the same clan. In this case, the reference is to a near relative. Elimelech was probably not an actual brother of Boaz or the other relative.
Note 1 topic: translate-kinship
לְאָחִ֖ינוּ
[belonged]_to,brother_of,our
Here the term brother is used in the broad sense to mean a male relative of an extended family. If your language has a word for this, it would be appropriate to use it here.
OET (OET-LV) And_he/it_said to_redeemer the_portion_of the_field which belonged_to_brother_of_our to_ʼElīmelek Nāˊₒmī she_has_sold who_she_returned from_the_region_of Mōʼāⱱ.
OET (OET-RV) Then Boaz asked the other relative, “The part of the countryside that belonged to our relative Elimelek is for sale. Naomi, who recently returned from Moab, is selling it.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.