Boaz Marries Ruth

4 Boaz went to the city gate [^Cthe hub of the town for judicial, business, and social interaction] and sat there until the ·close relative [guardian; kinsman-redeemer; 2:20] he had mentioned passed by. Boaz called to him, “·Come here [^LTurn aside], ·friend [or so-and-so; ^Cthe man is not named, perhaps ironically because he refused to preserve Naomi’s family name], and sit down.” So the man ·came over [turned aside] and sat down. ² Boaz gathered ten of the elders of the city and told them, “Sit down here!” So they sat down.

³ Then Boaz said to the ·close relative [guardian; kinsman-redeemer], “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, ·wants to sell [is selling] the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech [^Cit was important in Israel to keep property in the family].