Ruth 4:11

"Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, I have purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses today.”"

Key Reflection

In Ruth 4:11, Boaz declares his intention to marry Ruth and ensure that the name of her deceased husband Mahlon is perpetuated through their children. This act not only honors the custom of levirate marriage but also legally transfers Mahlon’s inheritance to Ruth's offspring. For the original audience, this was a significant legal and social transaction, as it safeguarded Ruth's future and ensured that the family lineage of Mahlon would continue within the community, avoiding the stigma of name extinction—a common concern in ancient Near Eastern societies where familial continuity held great importance.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

See the margin. There is something of a poetical turn in this speech of the elders, and something prophetic in the blessing pronounced by them. It is unique and obscure. The Greek Version (lxx) is unintelligible. Jerome seems to have had a slightly different reading, since he applies both clauses to Ruth. “May she be a pattern of virtue in Ephratah, and have a name famous in Bethlehem.” The meaning of “be famous” seems to be, Get thyself a name which shall be celebrated in Bethlehem, as the head of a powerful and illustrious house: literally it is, “proclaim a name,” i. e.

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