A Restorer of Life
Ruth 4 Last week I referred to the story of Tamar in Genesis 38 . If you haven’t read it yet, you should now. It will be helpful in understanding this chapter of Ruth. At the close of Chapter 3, Naomi predicts, “the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.” And sure enough, Boaz heads straight to the city gate. In general, the gate of the city was the center of commerce, where trade and legal transactions were carried out. Right away, Boaz sees the other kinsman and calls him over. According to many popular translations, Boaz calls him “friend.” But the Hebrew term that was actually used here is peloni ‘almoni, which might be translated as “so-and-so.” Not exactly a term of endearment or respect. But this choice might simply be the author’s effort to minimize his importance. Boaz gets right to the point. Naomi has some land to sell. Now, this may seem confusing because up to this point we have understood Naomi and Ruth to be destitute. Probably the best way to understand thi...