Ruth 4:5 (DBY)

Passage

And Boaz said, On the day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy [it] also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.

Nearby Context

Ruth 4:3 And he said to him that had the right of redemption: Naomi, who is come back out of the country of Moab, sells the allotment that was our brother Elimelech's.

Ruth 4:4 And I thought I would apprise thee of it and say, Buy [it] in the presence of the inhabitants, and in the presence of the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem [it], redeem; but if thou wilt not redeem, tell me, that I may know; for there is none to redeem besides thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem [it].

Ruth 4:5 And Boaz said, On the day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy [it] also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.

Ruth 4:6 And he that had the right of redemption said, I cannot redeem [it] for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance. Redeem thou for thyself what I should redeem, for I cannot redeem [it].

Ruth 4:7 Now this [was the custom] in former time in Israel concerning redemption and concerning exchange, to confirm the whole matter: a man drew off his sandal, and gave it to his neighbour, and this was the [mode of] attestation in Israel.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "boaz", "said", "thou", "buyest", "field", "hand", and "naomi". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "boaz" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "And I thought I would apprise thee..." into verse 6's "And he that had the right of...", so "boaz" and "said" belong inside that flow. In Ruth context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "boaz" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.