Ruth 4:17 (LSB)

Passage

The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!” So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Nearby Context

Ruth 4:15 May he also be to you a restorer of your soul and a sustainer of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”

Ruth 4:16 Then Naomi took the child and put him on her bosom and became his nurse.

Ruth 4:17 The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!” So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Ruth 4:18 Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron,

Ruth 4:19 and Hezron became the father of Ram, and Ram became the father of Amminadab,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "neighbor", "women", "gave", "name", "saying", "been", "born", and "naomi". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "neighbor" and "women", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "Then Naomi took the child and put..." into verse 18's "Now these are the generations of Perez...", so "neighbor" and "women" 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 "neighbor" and "women" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.