Ruth 4:6 (WEB)

Passage

The near kinsman said, “I can’t redeem it for myself, lest I endanger my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption for yourself; for I can’t redeem it.”

Nearby Context

Ruth 4:4 I thought I should tell you, saying, ‘Buy it before those who sit here, and before the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know. For there is no one to redeem it besides you; and I am after you.” He said, “I will redeem it.”

Ruth 4:5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must buy it also from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance.”

Ruth 4:6 The near kinsman said, “I can’t redeem it for myself, lest I endanger my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption for yourself; for I can’t redeem it.”

Ruth 4:7 Now this was the custom in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning exchanging, to confirm all things: a man took off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor; and this was the way of formalizing transactions in Israel.

Ruth 4:8 So the near kinsman said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” then he took off his shoe.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "near", "kinsman", "said", "redeem", "myself", "lest", "endanger", and "inheritance". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "near" and "kinsman", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "Then Boaz said On the day you..." into verse 7's "Now this was the custom in former...", so "near" and "kinsman" 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 "near" and "kinsman" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.