Ruth 4:7 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ruth 4:7
Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour: and this was a testimony in Israel.
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
Israel
בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֜לbe.Yis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · preposition + proper noun, a place name
redeeming
הַגְּאוּלָּ֤הha.ge.'u.Lah
H1353
redemption (including the right and the object) · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
changing
הַתְּמוּרָה֙ha.te.mu.Rah
H8545
barter · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
confirm
לְקַיֵּ֣םle.kai.Yem
H6965
to rise (in various applications · preposition + verb, piel infinitive construct
things
דָּבָ֔רda.Var
H1697
a word · noun, common masculine singular absolute
man
אִ֛ישׁ'ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
off
שָׁלַ֥ףsha.Laf
H8025
to pull out · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
shoe
נַעֲל֖וֹna.'a.Lo
H5275
properly · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
gave
וְנָתַ֣ןve.na.Tan
H5414
to give · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
neighbour
לְרֵעֵ֑הוּle.re.'E.hu
H7453
an associate (more or less close) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
testimony
הַתְּעוּדָ֖הha.te.'u.Dah
H8584
attestation · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Israel
בְּיִשְׂרָאֵֽלbe.Yis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · preposition + proper noun, a place name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Deuteronomy 25:7-10 And if the man like not to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband’s bro…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ruth 4:1-8
Here, 1. Boaz calls a court immediately. It is probable he was himself one of the elders (or aldermen) of the city; for he was a mighty man of wealth. Perhaps he was father of the city, and sat chief; for he seems here to have gone up to the gate as one having authority, and not as a common person; like Job, Job 29:7, etc. We cannot suppose him less than a magistrate in his city who was grandson to Nahshon, prince of Judah; and his lying at the end of a heap of corn in the threshing-floor the night before was not at all inconsistent, in those days of plainness, with the honour of his sitting judge in the gate. But why was Boaz so hasty, why so fond of the match? Ruth was not rich, but lived…
a man plucked off his shoe--Where the kinsman refused to perform his duty to the family of his deceased relation, the widow was directed to pull off the shoe with some attendant circumstances of contemptuous disdain. But, as in this case, there was no refusal, the usual ignominy was spared; and the plucking off the shoe, the only ceremony observed, was a pledge of the transaction being completed.
Adam Clarke on Ruth 4:7
A man plucked off his shoe - The law of such a case is given at large in Deu 25:5-9. It was simply this: If a brother, who had married a wife, died without children, the eldest brother was to take the widow, and raise up a family to the brother deceased; and he had a right to redeem the inheritance, if it had been alienated. But if the person who had the right of redemption would not take the woman, she was to pull off his shoe and spit in his face, and he was ever after considered as a disgraced man. In the present case the shoe only is taken off, probably because the circumstances of the man were such as to render it improper for him to redeem the ground and take Ruth to his wife; and beca…
It was an old custom that if a groom wished to divorce his bride he took off his sandal and this was the sign of the divorce. Consequently, he was ordered to take off his sandals, lest he approach the church wearing sandals like a bridegroom; for this office was reserved for Christ, who is the true bridegroom. However, the blessing of the ten elders showed that all Gentile peoples were saved and blessed in the name of Christ. For iota signifies ten in Greek, and this first letter will signify the name of the Lord Jesus in full; which shows, as we said, that all peoples are saved through him and are blessed. Therefore, let no one doubt these things that were said, since it may be seen that they were everywhere and from the beginning prefigured by antecedent figures; and they were clearly fulfilled in this way through the advent of the Lord; and which were superfluous, being completed in this way by the accord of all voiced in truth; and by all "figures" of the holy Scriptures, which he who promised [them] fulfilled through his son, Jesus Christ our Lord, king, and redeemer and savior, with whom is honor and glory from age to age. Amen.
For, by the law, when a man died, the marriage bond with his wife was passed on to his brother or other male next of kin, in order that the seed of the brother or next of kin might renew the life of the house. And so it was that Ruth, though she was foreign-born, had possessed a husband of the Jewish people who had left a kinsman of near relation. Although she was seen and loved by Boaz while gleaning and maintaining herself and her mother-in-law with what she gleaned, she could not become the wife of Boaz until she had first loosed the shoe from him whose wife she ought, by the law, to have become.The story is a simple one, but deep are its hidden meanings, for that which was done was the outward signs of something more. If indeed we should stretch the sense so as to fit the letter exactly, we should almost find the words an occasion of a certain shame and horror, that we should regard them as intending and conveying the thought of common bodily intercourse. Rather it was the foreshadowing of one who was to arise from the Jewish people—whence Christ was, after the flesh—who should, with the seed of heavenly teaching, revive the seed of his dead kinsman, that is to say, the people, and to whom the precepts of the law, in their spiritual significance, assigned the sandal of marriage, for the espousals of the church.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Boaz — Alacrity. (1.) The husband of Ruth, a wealthy Bethlehemite. By the “levirate law” the duty devolved on him of marrying Ruth the Moabitess (Ruth 4:1-13). He was a kinsman of Mahlon, her first husband.…
Ruth, Book Of — contains the history of Ruth, as narrated in the preceding article. The main object of the writer is evidently to give an account of David’s ancestors; and the book was avowedly composed long after…
Contracts · By taking off the shoe — By taking off the shoe
Covenant · Loosing the shoe — Loosing the shoe
Dowry · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Heir · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Inheritance · Provisions for inheritance un — Provisions for inheritance un
Land · 23:3-20; — 23:3-20;
Marriage · Ceremony attested by witnesses — Ceremony attested by witnesses
Redemption · Of per — Of per
Shoe · Loosened as a sign of refusal to observe the levirate marriage — Loosened as a sign of refusal to observe the levirate marriage
Shoes · Customs connected with: The right of redemption resigned by a man’s giving one of his shoes to the next of kin — Customs connected with: The right of redemption resigned by a man’s giving one of his shoes to the next of kin
Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming,.... It is a custom, and not a law, that seems here referred to, when an estate was bought and sold; not the law in Leviticus 25:25, though that respects the redemption of an estate by a near kinsman, yet no such manner was enjoined as here practised afterwards, made mention of; nor the law in Deuteronomy 25:5 which does not concern the redemption of estates, nor a kinsman's marrying the widow of a deceased kinsman, but a brother's marrying the widow of a deceased brother, and the rites and ceremonies there enjoined upon refusal are different from those here used; though Josephus (i) is express for it, that the law is here…
The redeemer admitted the justice of this demand, from which we may see that the thing passed as an existing right in the nation. But as he was not disposed to marry Ruth, he gave up the redemption of the field.
Rut 4:6-13
"I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance." The redemption would cost money, since the yearly produce of the field would have to be paid for up to the year of jubilee. Now, if he acquired the field by redemption as his own permanent property, he would have increased by so much his own possessions in land. But if he should marry Ruth, the field so redeemed would belong to the son whom he would beget through her, and he would therefore have parted with…
in those days: The book of Ruth was not written immediately after these events. By the time Ruth was written, most people had forgotten this custom of removing a sandal and what it meant. The transfer of a sandal symbolized transferring a right of purchase to redeem the land. See also Deut 25:9 for a similar (but not identical) custom in relation to levirate marriage; in both cases, the sandal apparently signified the right of redemption.
Rashi on Ruth 4:7
Concerning redemption. This is a sale.
And exchange. This is an exchange.
A man would take off his shoe. This is an act of acquisition, just as we acquire title with a scarf in lieu of a shoe. And our Rabbis of blessed memory differed on this matter,7Maseches Bava Metzia 47a. as to who gave [the shoe] to whom. Some say that one acquires title with the utensil of the acquirer, and Bo’az gave [his shoe] to the redeemer, and some say that one acquires title with the utensil of the seller, and the redeemer gave [his shoe] to Bo’az.
This was the form of validation in Yisroel. תְּעוּדָה =] the law of testimony.
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
