Ruth 4:2
in Ruth 4Then Boaz took ten of the elders of the city and said, “Sit here,” and they did so.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.
KJV
And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.
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This verse in Ruth 4
Commentary
10 notes on this verseHe took ten men - Probably it required this number to constitute a court. How simple and how rational was this proceeding! 1. The man who had a suit went to the city gates. 2. Here he stopped till the person with whom he had the suit came to the gate on his way to his work. 3. He called him by name, and he stopped and sat down. 4. Then ten elders were called, and they came and sat down. 5. When all this was done, the appellant preferred his suit. 6. Then the appellee returned his answer.
This site's exposition
Meanwhile, Boaz went to the gate and sat down there
on Ruth 4:1-2
The gate is where Deuteronomy 25:7 sends this exact case, so Boaz opens the matter where a ruling could be made and witnessed. He hails the man as "my friend", rendering a Hebrew idiom that withholds a name, as at 1 Samuel 21:2 and 2 Kings 6:8. The law fixes no number of elders, and John Gill and Adam Clarke report that Jewish practice set ten for marriage and inheritance.
This site's exposition
Boaz took ten of the elders of the city
Two or three witnesses sufficed in law, and John Wesley notes that ten elders was the usual number for cases of marriage and inheritance. Boaz asks them to sit, and they sit. The elders of the city serve as judges and as witnesses at once.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
The man was so virtuous that he did not rush into a marriage outside the law, but he spoke with his neighbors about the marriage. However, his words are also worthy of admiration. For his first words were not about the marriage but about the …
The Medieval Church1 voice
When Ruth entered the land of Israel with her mother-in-law, it was provided (on account of the merits of her prayers) that she be married to a man of the lineage of Abraham and whom, indeed, she at first believed to be her closest kinsman. …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Ten men - To be witnesses: for though two or three witnesses were sufficient, yet in weightier matters they used more. And ten was the usual number among the Jews, in causes of matrimony and divorce, and translation of inheritances; who were both Judges of the causes, and witnesses of the fact.
And he took ten men of the elders of the city,....
So many, it is probable, by the custom of the city, made a full court. Boaz, though a judge, would not be judge in his own cause, but desired the concurrence of other elders.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
he took ten men of the elders of the city--as witnesses. In ordinary circumstances, two or three were sufficient to attest a bargain; but in cases of importance, such as matrimony, divorce, conveyancing of property, it was the Jewish practice to have ten (1Ki 21:8).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Every city was governed by elders (see Deu 19:12; Jdg 8:14). For the number “ten,” compare Exo 18:25. Probably the presence of, at least, ten elders was necessary to make a lawful public assembly, as among modern Jews ten (a minyon) are necessary to constitute a synagogue.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
So-and-so. But his name was not written because he did not wish to redeem. 1 The person’s name was Tov (See above:13). His name is omitted because he did not discharge his duty as a kinsman. He therefore did not merit to be recorded as Tov [=good].
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקַּ֞ח | vaiyikach | and he took | H3947 → | 966 times |
| עֲשָׂרָ֧ה | ʾasarah | ten | H6235 → | |
| אֲנָשִׁ֛ים | ʾanashim | men | H582 → | |
| מִזִּקְנֵ֥י | miziknei | from [the] elders of | H2205 → | 178 times |
| הָעִ֖יר | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| שְׁבוּ־ | shevu- | sit | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| פֹ֑ה | foh | here | H6311 → | |
| וַיֵּשֵֽׁבוּ׃ | vaiyeshevu | and they sat down | H3427 → | 1079 times |
וַיִּקַּ֞חand he took
vaiyikachH3947 →966 times
עֲשָׂרָ֧הten
ʾasarahH6235 →
אֲנָשִׁ֛יםmen
ʾanashimH582 →
מִזִּקְנֵ֥יfrom [the] elders of
mizikneiH2205 →178 times
הָעִ֖ירthe city
hairH5892 →1090 times
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
שְׁבוּ־sit
shevu-H3427 →1079 times
פֹ֑הhere
fohH6311 →
וַיֵּשֵֽׁבוּ׃and they sat down
vaiyeshevuH3427 →1079 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 31:23Her husband is known at the city gate, where he sits among the elders of the land.
it leads to
- Proverbs 12:4
A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but she who causes shame is like decay in his bones.
- Ruth 4:1
Meanwhile, Boaz went to the gate and sat down there. Soon the kinsman-redeemer of whom he had spoken came along, and Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went…
- Deuteronomy 16:18
You are to appoint judges and officials for your tribes in every town that the LORD your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.
- Proverbs 12:4
Through
Acts 6:12So they stirred up the people, elders, and scribes and confronted Stephen. They seized him and brought him before the Sanhedrin,
it leads to
- Proverbs 15:18
A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger calms dispute.
- Acts 14:2
But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.
- Proverbs 15:18
Through
Lamentations 5:14The elders have left the city gate; the young men have stopped their music.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 7:34
I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of the bride and bridegroom, for the land will become a wasteland.”
- Revelation 18:22
And the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will never ring out in you again. Nor will any craftsmen of any trade be found in you again, nor the sound…
- Isaiah 24:7–11
The new wine dries up, the vine withers. All the merrymakers now groan.
- Jeremiah 7:34
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
About Ruth
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Isidore of Seville, ON RUTH; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, QUESTIONS ON RUTH.