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At that same time, Boaz went to the city gate and he sat down. Just then, the kinsman-redeemer of the family he had told Ruth about walked by.

Normally the city gate is where the business of the city is conducted.

Boaz: My friend, come and sit down with me for awhile. We have some business.

So the man came and sat down beside Boaz. Before he spoke further to the man, he gathered together 10 elders from the city and asked them to preside there, which they did.

Boaz (to the kinsman-redeemer): You have heard of Naomi? She is the woman who recently returned from Moab. She is transferring her rights to the plot of land belonging to her deceased husband—our relative—Elimelech.

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Boaz Marries Ruth

Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate(A) and sat down there just as the guardian-redeemer[a](B) he had mentioned(C) came along. Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.

Boaz took ten of the elders(D) of the town and said, “Sit here,” and they did so.(E) Then he said to the guardian-redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelek.(F)

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Footnotes

  1. Ruth 4:1 The Hebrew word for guardian-redeemer is a legal term for one who has the obligation to redeem a relative in serious difficulty (see Lev. 25:25-55); also in verses 3, 6, 8 and 14.