Ruth 4:2 (DRB)

Passage

And Booz, taking ten men of the ancients of the city, said to them: Sit ye down here.

Nearby Context

Ruth 4:1 Then Booz went up to the gate, and sat there. And when he had seen the kinsman going by, of whom he had spoken before, he said to him, calling him by his name: Turn aside for a little while, and sit down here. He turned aside, and sat down.

Ruth 4:2 And Booz, taking ten men of the ancients of the city, said to them: Sit ye down here.

Ruth 4:3 They sat down, and he spoke to the kinsman: Noemi, who is returned from the country of Moab will sell a parcel of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech.

Ruth 4:4 I would have thee to understand this, and would tell thee before all that sit here, and before the ancients of my people. If thou wilt take possession of it by the right of kindred: buy it, and possess it: but if it please thee not, tell me so, that I may know what I have to do. For there is no near kinsman besides thee, who art first, and me, who am second. But he answered: I will buy the field.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "booz", "taking", "ancients", "city", "said", "down", and "here". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "booz" and "taking", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "Then Booz went up to the gate..." into verse 3's "They sat down and he spoke to...", so "booz" and "taking" 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 "booz" and "taking" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.