Ruth 4
The full text of Ruth 4 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat down there just as the guardian-redeemer he had mentioned came along. Boaz said, "Come over here, my friend, and sit down." So he went over and sat down.
2 Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, "Sit here," and they did so.
3 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.
4 I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line." "I will redeem it," he said.
5 Then Boaz said, "On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the dead man's widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property."
6 At this, the guardian-redeemer said, "Then I cannot redeem it, because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it."
7 (Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing transactions in Israel.)
8 So the guardian-redeemer said to Boaz, "Buy it yourself." And he removed his sandal.
9 Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, "Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion and Mahlon.
10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon's widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his hometown. Today you are witnesses!"
11 Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, "We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.
12 Through the offspring the LORD gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah."
13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.
14 The women said to Naomi, "Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel!
15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth."
16 Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him.
17 The women living there said, "Naomi has a son!" And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
18 This, then, is the family line of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron,
19 Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab,
20 Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon,
21 Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed,
22 Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David.
Translation notes (12)
- Ruth 4:1a 'My friend' translates the Hebrew phrase peloni almoni, a deliberately vague placeholder meaning 'so-and-so,' a name the narrator withholds. The nearer redeemer who will not redeem is left unnamed, in pointed contrast to Boaz. The town gate was the place of legal business.
- Ruth 4:5a 'You also acquire Ruth' follows the traditional reading; the written Hebrew text here reads 'I also acquire Ruth.' The two readings shift who is obligated to marry Ruth; the difference is a textual matter and is not resolved here. This duty combines land-redemption with levirate marriage (compare Deuteronomy 25:5-10).
- Ruth 4:7a The narrator explains an old custom for readers of a later age; this hints that the book of Ruth was written long after the events it describes. Removing and handing over a sandal sealed a transfer of property or rights (compare the related but distinct shaming custom in Deuteronomy 25:9).
- Ruth 4:11a The blessing names Rachel and Leah, the matriarchs of Israel, and compares the Moabite Ruth to them, which is a striking inclusion. 'Have standing' translates the same Hebrew root word, chayil, used to describe Boaz (2:1) and Ruth (3:11), thus tying the blessing to the book's recurring vocabulary.
- Ruth 4:12a Perez was born to Judah by Tamar, another woman associated with foreigners whose story (Genesis 38) also involved levirate duty. The blessing places Ruth in a line of unexpected women through whom the messianic genealogy advances, anticipating the closing verses of the book.
- Ruth 4:13a 'The LORD enabled her to conceive' translates the Hebrew phrase 'the LORD gave her conception'—the only place in the book where the LORD is said to act directly. The long-barren Ruth bears a child by God's gift, making the quiet providence of God finally explicit.
- Ruth 4:14a The townswomen's blessing answers their shocked question of 1:19 ('Can this be Naomi?') and Naomi's bitter complaint (1:20-21). The 'guardian-redeemer,' which translates the Hebrew word go'el, here refers to the newborn child, through whom Naomi's emptiness is filled.
- Ruth 4:15a 'Better to you than seven sons' is extraordinary praise in an ancient context that highly valued sons; the foreign daughter-in-law is declared worth more than the fullness of male heirs. 'Renew your life' translates 'restorer of life,' which literally means 'one who brings back the soul.'
- Ruth 4:16a 'Cared for him' translates a Hebrew word that means a guardian or nurse. The once-empty Naomi (1:21) now holds a child to her breast, making the book's reversal physical.
- Ruth 4:17a The name "Obed" means "one who serves." The closing line, "the father of Jesse, the father of David," reveals that this entire story of a foreign widow's faithfulness ultimately leads to King David and, in the wider biblical story, to the messianic line.
- Ruth 4:18a The closing genealogy in verses 18-22 lists ten generations from Perez (compare 4:12) to David, formally placing Ruth's story within the line of Judah and the rise of the monarchy.
- Ruth 4:22a The book ends with the single name David, which is the goal of the genealogy. A story that began with famine, death, and a Moabite outsider closes with Israel's greatest king, the fruit of covenant faithfulness.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is Trinity Bible's own modern English translation, worked directly from the original Hebrew and honest to the earliest manuscripts. It was completed in 2026 — the most modern English Bible translation — and is exclusive to Trinity Bible. Every chapter, including all of Ruth, is free to read here on the web.
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