Ruth 4:6
in Ruth 4The kinsman-redeemer replied, “I cannot redeem it myself, or I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I cannot redeem it.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the near kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: take thou my right of redemption on thee; for I cannot redeem it.
KJV
And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it.
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This verse in Ruth 4
Commentary
8 notes on this verseI cannot redeem it for myself - The Targum gives the proper sense of this passage: “And the kinsman said, On this ground I cannot redeem it, because I have a wife already; and I have no desire to take another, lest there should be contention in my house, and I should become a corrupter of my inheritance. Do thou redeem it, for thou hast no wife; for I cannot redeem it.” This needs no comment. But still the gloss of the Targum has no foundation in the law of Moses. See the law, Deu 25:5-9.
This site's exposition
On the day you buy the land from Naomi
on Ruth 4:5-6
Boaz binds the land redemption of Leviticus 25:25 to raising up a name for the dead at Deuteronomy 25:5, though that law names a brother and Boaz is none to Mahlon. The kinsman fears he would "jeopardize my own inheritance" without saying how. Albert Barnes reads a son counted to Mahlon taking the field from his line, and Adam Clarke rejects the Targum's claim that the kinsman was already married.
This site's exposition
or I would jeopardize my own inheritance
The Targum says the man refused because he already had a wife, and Adam Clarke answers that the law of Deuteronomy 25:5 to 9 gives that reason no ground. The text's own reason is money. A son by Ruth would inherit the field he had paid for.
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 Awakening1 voice
And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
This right, therefore, was renounced and assigned in favor of Boaz, in the way of whose marriage with Ruth the only existing obstacle was now removed. 7, 8. a man plucked off his shoe--Where the kinsman refused to perform his duty to the family of his deceased relation, the widow was directed to pull off the shoe with some attendant circumstances of contemptuous disdain.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I mar mine own inheritance - The meaning of these words is doubtful. Some explain them by saying that the גאל gā'al had a wife and children already, and would not introduce strife into his family. Others think that there was a risk (which he would not incur) of the go’el’s own name being blotted out from his inheritance Rth 4:10. Others take the word translated as “mar” in a sense of wasting or spending. If he had to find the purchase-money, and support Naomi and Ruth, his own fortune would be broken down, if, as is likely, he was a man of slender means. Boaz, being “a mighty man of wealth,” could afford this. Redeem thou my right ... - Literally, redeem my redemption - perform that act of redemption which properly belongs to me, but which I cannot perform.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הַגֹּאֵ֗ל | hagoel | the kinsman-redeemer | H1350 → | 104 times |
| לֹ֤א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אוּכַל֙ | ʾukhal | I am able | H3201 → | |
| לִגְאָל | ligol- | to redeem [it] | H1350 → | 104 times |
| לִ֔י | li | for <the> myself | ||
| פֶּן־ | pen- | lest | H6435 → | |
| אַשְׁחִ֖ית | ʾashchit | I should ruin | H7843 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| נַחֲלָתִ֑י | nachalati | own inheritance my | H5159 → | 222 times |
| גְּאַל־ | geal- | redeem | H1350 → | 104 times |
| לְךָ֤ | lekha | for <the> yourself | ||
| אַתָּה֙ | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| גְּאֻלָּתִ֔י | geulati | right of redemption my | H1353 → | |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אוּכַ֖ל | ʾukhal | I am able | H3201 → | |
| לִגְאֹֽל׃ | ligol | to redeem [it] | H1350 → | 104 times |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
הַגֹּאֵ֗לthe kinsman-redeemer
hagoelH1350 →104 times
לֹ֤אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
אוּכַל֙I am able
ʾukhalH3201 →
לִגְאָלto redeem [it]
ligol-H1350 →104 times
לִ֔יfor <the> myself
li
פֶּן־lest
pen-H6435 →
אַשְׁחִ֖יתI should ruin
ʾashchitH7843 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
נַחֲלָתִ֑יown inheritance my
nachalatiH5159 →222 times
גְּאַל־redeem
geal-H1350 →104 times
לְךָ֤for <the> yourself
lekha
אַתָּה֙you
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
גְּאֻלָּתִ֔יright of redemption my
geulatiH1353 →
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
אוּכַ֖לI am able
ʾukhalH3201 →
לִגְאֹֽל׃to redeem [it]
ligolH1350 →104 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
Ruth 3:13Stay here tonight, and in the morning, if he wants to redeem you, good. Let him redeem you. But if he does not want to redeem you, as surely as the LORD lives, I…
it leads to
- Ruth 2:20
Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, who has not withdrawn His kindness from the living or the dead.” Naomi continued, “The man is a close relative. He…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 4:2
and if you can swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then the nations will be blessed by Him, and in Him they will glory.”
- Ruth 4:5
Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi and also from Ruth the Moabitess, you must also acquire the widow of the deceased in order to raise up the name…
- Deuteronomy 25:5–9
When brothers dwell together and one of them dies without a son, the widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother is to take her as his wife and fulfill the duty…
- Judges 8:19
“They were my brothers,” Gideon replied, “the sons of my mother! As surely as the LORD lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”
- Ruth 2:20
Through
Leviticus 25:25If your brother becomes impoverished and sells some of his property, his nearest of kin may come and redeem what his brother has sold.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 32:7–8
Behold! Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, is coming to you to say, ‘Buy for yourself my field in Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to buy it.’
- Ruth 3:9
“Who are you?” he asked. “I am your servant Ruth,” she replied. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, for you are a kinsman-redeemer.”
- Ruth 3:12
Yes, it is true that I am a kinsman-redeemer, but there is a redeemer nearer than I.
- Jeremiah 32:7–8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
About Ruth
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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 (1748-1763) and Theodoret of Cyrus, QUESTIONS ON RUTH.