Chapter 1

1 1 Once in the time of the judges there was a famine in the land; so a man from Bethlehem of Judah departed with his wife and two sons to reside on the plateau of Moab.

当民长执政时代，国内发生了饥荒。有个人带了他的妻子和两个儿子，从犹大白冷到摩阿布乡间去侨居。

2 The man was named Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and his sons Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem of Judah. Some time after their arrival on the Moabite plateau,

这人名叫厄里默肋客，他的妻子名叫纳敖米，他的两个儿子：一个名叫玛赫隆，一个名叫基肋雍，是犹大白冷厄弗辣大人。他们到了摩阿布乡间，就住在那里。

3 Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons,

后来纳敖米的丈夫厄里默肋客死了，留下了她和她的两个儿子。

4 who married Moabite women, one named Orpah, the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years,

他们都娶了摩阿布女子为妻：一个名叫敖尔帕，一个名叫卢德；他们在那里大约住了十年。

5 both Mahlon and Chilion died also, and the woman was left with neither her two sons nor her husband.

玛赫隆和基肋雍二人也相继去世，只剩下了那妇人，没有儿子，也没有丈夫。

6 She then made ready to go back from the plateau of Moab because word reached her there that the LORD had visited his people and given them food.

于是她便与她的两个儿媳打算从摩阿布乡间起程回家，因为她在摩阿布乡间听说天主垂顾了他的百姓，赐给了他们食粮。

7 She and her two daughters-in-law left the place where they had been living. Then as they were on the road back to the land of Judah,

当她和她的两个儿媳，要从寄居的地方出发，取道回犹大故乡的时候，

8 2 Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, ＂Go back, each of you, to your mother's house! May the LORD be kind to you as you were to the departed and to me!

纳敖米就对她的两个儿媳说：＂你们去罢！各自回娘家去！愿上主恩待你们，如同你们待了死者和我一样。

9 May the LORD grant each of you a husband and a home in which you will find rest.＂ She kissed them good-bye, but they wept with loud sobs,

愿上主赐你们在新夫家里，各得安身！＂于是就吻了她们；她们便放声大哭，

10 and told her they would return with her to her people.

向她说：＂我们要同你回到你的民族中去。＂

11 3 ＂Go back, my daughters!＂ said Naomi. ＂Why should you come with me? Have I other sons in my womb who may become your husbands?

纳敖米回答说：＂我的女儿，你们回去罢！为什么要跟我去呢？难道我还能怀妊生子给你们做丈夫吗？

12 Go back, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to marry again. And even if I could offer any hopes, or if tonight I had a husband or had borne sons,

我的女儿啊，你们回去罢！你们走罢！我已老了，不能再嫁人了；如说我尚有希望，今夜能嫁人，也怀妊生子，

13 would you then wait and deprive yourselves of husbands until those sons grew up? No, my daughters! my lot is too bitter for you, because the LORD has extended his hand against me.＂

你们又岂能等待他们长大，持身不嫁人？我的女儿啊！不要这样，有了你们我反而更苦，因为上主已伸出手来与我作对。＂

14 Again they sobbed aloud and wept; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye, but Ruth stayed with her.

她们于是又放声大哭。敖尔帕吻了自己的婆婆，便回自己的家乡去了；卢德对婆母仍依依不舍。

15 ＂See now!＂ she said, ＂your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her god. Go back after your sister-in-law!＂

纳敖米向她说：＂看，你的嫂子已回她民族和她的神那里去了，你也跟你的嫂子回去罢！＂

16 4 But Ruth said, ＂Do not ask me to abandon or forsake you! for wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge, your people shall be my people, and your God my God.

卢德答说：＂请你别逼我离开你，而不跟你去。你到那里去，我也要到那里去；你住在那里，我也住在那里；你的民族，就是我的民族；你的天主，就是我的天主；

17 Wherever you die I will die, and there be buried. May the LORD do so and so to me, and more besides, if aught but death separates me from you!＂

你死在那里，我也死在那里，埋在那里；若不是死使我与你分离，愿上主罚我，重重罚我！＂

18 Naomi then ceased to urge her, for she saw she was determined to go with her.

纳敖米见她执意要与自己同去，就不再劝阻她了。

19 So they went on together till they reached Bethlehem. On their arrival there, the whole city was astir over them, and the women asked, ＂Can this be Naomi?＂

于是二人同行，来到了白冷。她们一到了白冷，全城的人都为她们所惊动。妇女们惊问说：＂这不是纳敖米吗？＂

20 5 But she said to them, ＂Do not call me Naomi. Call me Mara, for the Almighty has made it very bitter for me.

她向她们说：＂你们不要叫我纳敖米，应叫我玛辣，因为全能者待我好苦！

21 I went away with an abundance, but the LORD has brought me back destitute. Why should you call me Naomi, since the LORD has pronounced against me and the Almighty has brought evil upon me?＂

我去时富足，如今上主却使我空空而回。上主责罚了我，全能者降祸于我，你们为什么还叫我纳敖米呢？＂

22 6 Thus it was that Naomi returned with the Moabite daughter-in-law, Ruth, who accompanied her back from the plateau of Moab. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

纳敖米同她的儿媳摩阿布女子卢德回来了，是从摩阿布乡间回来的。她们来到白冷，正是开始收大麦的时候。





Footnotes(注解)

1 [1,2 ] In the time of the judges: three generations before the end of the period of judges; cf Ruth 4:21-22. Bethlehem of Judah: to distinguish it from the town of the same name in the tribe of Zebulun (Joshua 19:15). Ephrathites from Bethlehem: belonging to a Judean clan which settled in Bethlehem; cf 1 Sam 17:12; 1 Chron 2:50-51; 4:4.

2 [8] Mother's house: the women's part of the dwelling; cf Judges 4:17; Song 3:4.

3 [11] Have I other sons . . . husbands? Naomi insisted that her daughters-in-law remain in their own country only for the sake of posterity. If she had had other sons, the levirate law would have obliged them to marry the widows of her deceased sons to perpetuate the names of the deceased; cf Genesis 38:8; Deut 25:5, 6.

4 [16-17] An example of heroic fidelity and piety. Ruth's decision, confirmed with an oath, to adhere to her mother-in-law impelled her to abandon her country and its pagan worship.

5 [20-21] Naomi: ＂amiable＂ or ＂pleasant,＂ suggesting God's favor toward her. The Almighty has brought evil upon me: the ancients regarded adversity as a punishment from God for personal sin, as if good and evil were always repaid in a temporal and material manner.

6 [22] Barley harvest: early April. This circumstance favored the events of the narrative that follow.

Chapter 2

1 Naomi had a prominent kinsman named Boaz, of the clan of her husband Elimelech.

纳敖米的丈夫厄里默肋客家族中有个亲人，是有钱有势的人，名叫波阿次。

2 1 Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi,＂Let me go and glean ears of grain in the field of anyone who will allow me that favor.＂ Naomi said to her,＂Go, my daughter,＂

摩阿布女子卢德对纳敖米说：＂让我到田地里去，我在谁眼中蒙恩，就在谁后面拾麦穗。＂纳敖米答应她说：＂我女，你去罢！＂

3 and she went. The field she entered to glean after the harvesters happened to be the section belonging to Boaz of the clan of Elimelech.

她就去了，来到田间，在收割的人后面拾麦穗。可巧，她正来到了厄里默肋客家族人波阿次的田地里。

4 2 Boaz himself came from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters,＂The LORD be with you!＂ and they replied,＂The LORD bless you!＂

当时波阿次也正从白冷来到，向收割的人说：＂愿上主与你们同在！＂他们回答他说：＂愿上主降福你！＂

5 Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters,＂Whose girl is this?＂

波阿次问监督收割的仆人说：＂这是谁家的女子？＂

6 The overseer of the harvesters answered,＂She is the Moabite girl who returned from the plateau of Moab with Naomi.

监督收割的仆人答说：＂是那由摩阿布乡间与纳敖米归来的摩阿布女子。

7 She asked leave to gather the gleanings into sheaves after the harvesters; and ever since she came this morning she has remained here until now, with scarcely a moment's rest.＂

她事先请求过：请让我在收割的人后面拾取麦穗。她来到这里，从早晨到现在，从未休息片刻。＂

8 Boaz said to Ruth,＂Listen, my daughter! Do not go to glean in anyone else's field; you are not to leave here. Stay here with my women servants.

波阿次对卢德说：＂我女，你听我的话，你不要到别人的田地里去拾取，也不要离开这里，要常同我的使女在一起。

9 Watch to see which field is to be harvested, and follow them; I have commanded the young men to do you no harm. When you are thirsty, you may go and drink from the vessels the young men have filled.＂

你看仆人们在那块田里收割，你就跟着去，我已吩咐了仆人们不要难为你。你渴了，可到水罐那里去喝仆人打来的水。＂

10 Casting herself prostrate upon the ground, she said to him,＂Why should I, a foreigner, be favored with your notice?＂

卢德遂俯首至地，向他下拜说：＂我怎样竟蒙你如此垂青，眷顾我这外方的女子？＂

11 Boaz answered her:＂I have had a complete account of what you have done for your mother-in-law after your husband's death; you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know previously.

波阿次答复她说：＂自你丈夫死后，你怎样待了你的婆婆，以及你怎样离开了你的父母和故乡，来到这素不相识的民族中；这一切事，人家都一一告诉了我。

12 May the LORD reward what you have done! May you receive a full reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.＂

愿上主报答你的功德，愿你投奔于他翼下的上主，以色列的天主，赐与你的报答是丰富的！＂

13 She said,＂May I prove worthy of your kindness, my lord: you have comforted me, your servant, with your consoling words; would indeed that I were a servant of yours!＂

卢德答说：＂我主，我连你的一个婢女都不如，竟在你眼里蒙恩，你竟安慰我，对你的婢女说出这样动心的话！＂

14 At mealtime Boaz said to her,＂Come here and have some food; dip your bread in the sauce.＂ Then as she sat near the reapers, he handed her some roasted grain and she ate her fill and had some left over.

到了吃饭的时候，波阿次对她说：＂你上前来吃饼，将你的饼浸在酸酒里。＂她就坐在收割的人旁，波阿次递给了她烘焙的麦穗；她吃了，也吃饱了，还有剩下的。

15 She rose to glean, and Boaz instructed his servants to let her glean among the sheaves themselves without scolding her,

当她起来再拾取麦穗的时候，波阿次吩咐他的仆人说：＂就连她在麦捆中拾取，你们也不要难为她；

16 and even to let drop some handfuls and leave them for her to glean without being rebuked.

并且要从麦捆中，为她抽出些来，留下让她拾取，不要叱责她。＂

17 She gleaned in the field until evening, and when she beat out what she had gleaned it came to about an ephah of barley,

她在田间拾取麦穗，直到晚上，将所拾的打了约有一＂厄法＂大麦。

18 which she took into the city and showed to her mother-in-law. Next she brought out and gave her what she had left over from lunch.

她就背着回城去，教她婆婆看看她的收获；又将吃饱后剩下的东西，拿出来给了她。

19 So her mother-in-law said to her,＂Where did you glean today? Where did you go to work? May he who took notice of you be blessed!＂ Then she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked.＂The man at whose place I worked today is named Boaz,＂ she said.

她的婆婆问她说：＂你今天在那里拾麦穗，在那里工作？愿那眷顾你的人蒙受祝福！＂她就告诉她婆婆，她在谁那里工作，并且说：＂我今天在他那里工作的人，名叫波阿次。＂

20 3＂May he be blessed by the LORD, who is ever merciful to the living and to the dead,＂ Naomi exclaimed to her daughter-in-law; and she continued,＂He is a relative of ours, one of our next of kin.＂

纳敖米对她的儿媳说：＂愿那位从未忘却对生者死者施慈爱的上主降福这人！＂纳敖米又向她说：＂这人是我们的亲人，且是有至亲义务的人。＂

21 ＂He even told me,＂ added Ruth the Moabite,＂that I should stay with his servants until they complete his entire harvest.＂

摩阿布女子卢德接着说：＂并且他还对我说过：你要常同我的仆人在一起，直到收完了我的庄稼。＂

22 ＂You would do well, my dear,＂ Naomi rejoined,＂to go out with his servants; for in someone else's field you might be insulted.＂

纳敖米向自己的儿媳卢德说：＂我女，你更好跟着他的使女去罢！免得在别人的田里受难为。＂

23 So she stayed gleaning with the servants of Boaz until the end of the barley and wheat harvests.

卢德就紧随着波阿次的使女拾麦穗，直到收完了大麦和小麦。卢德时常与自己的婆婆住在一起。





Footnotes(注解)

1 [2] Let me go and glean . . . grain: even the poor, the widow, the stranger, and the orphan had a right to glean at harvest time; cf Lev 19:9; 23:22; Deut 24:19-22.

2 [4] The LORD be with you: courtesy and religious feeling characterize the salutations of the Hebrews. This greeting is used in the Christian liturgy.

3 [20] One of our next of kin: literally＂our redeemer,＂ a near relative of the same clan who had the right and duty to restore the land which an impoverished kinsman had alienated (Lev 25:25-28), and to marry the widow of a relative who had died without male offspring so as to raise up posterity to his name (Deut 25:5-10).

Chapter 3

1 When she was back with her mother-in-law, Naomi said to her, ＂My daughter, I must seek a home for you that will please you.

卢德的婆婆纳敖米向她说：＂我女，难道我不应为你找个安身之处，使你幸福吗？

2 Now is not Boaz, with whose servants you were, a relative of ours? This evening he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor.

如今你同他的使女常在一起的波阿次，不是我们的亲人吗？看，他今夜要在禾场上簸大麦，

3 So bathe and anoint yourself; then put on your best attire and go down to the threshing floor. Do not make yourself known to the man before he has finished eating and drinking.

你去沐浴，抹油，披上你的外衣，到禾场上去，但不要使那人认出你来，直等他吃喝完了，

4 1 But when he lies down, take note of the place where he does so. Then go, uncover a place at his feet, and lie down. He will tell you what to do.＂

到他睡觉的时候，你要看清他睡觉的地方；然后就去掀开他脚上的外衣，卧在那里，他会告诉你，你所应作的事。＂

5 ＂I will do whatever you advise,＂ Ruth replied.

卢德回答她说：＂你所嘱咐我的，我必依照遵行。＂

6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had instructed her.

她便下到禾场上，作了她婆婆所吩咐她的事。

7 Boaz ate and drank to his heart's content. Then when he went and lay down at the edge of the sheaves, she stole up, uncovered a place at his feet, and lay down.

波阿次吃了喝了，心中畅快，就走到麦堆旁躺下了。卢德暗暗地去掀开了他脚上的外衣，躺卧在那里。

8 In the middle of the night, however, the man gave a start and turned around to find a woman lying at his feet.

到了半夜，那人惊起，往前屈身一看，见一个女人睡在他的脚旁，

9 2 He asked, ＂Who are you?＂ And she replied, ＂I am your servant Ruth. Spread the corner of your cloak over me, for you are my next of kin.＂

便问说：＂你是谁＂她答说：＂我是你的婢女卢德，请你伸开你的衣襟，覆在你婢女身上罢！因为你是我的至亲。＂

10 He said, ＂May the LORD bless you, my daughter! You have been even more loyal now than before in not going after the young men, whether poor or rich.

波阿次说：＂我女，愿你蒙上主的降福！你行的仁爱，后者实胜于前者，以致贫富的少年，你都没有跟随。

11 So be assured, daughter, I will do for you whatever you say; all my townspeople know you for a worthy woman.

我女，如今你不必害怕，凡你向我所说的，我都愿为你做到，因为我本城的人，都知道你是一位贤德的妇女。

12 3 Now, though indeed I am closely related to you, you have another relative still closer.

的确，我是你的至亲，不过还有一位至亲，比我更近。

13 Stay as you are for tonight, and tomorrow, if he wishes to claim you, good! let him do so. But if he does not wish to claim you, as the LORD lives, I will claim you myself. Lie there until morning.＂

今夜你在这里过夜，明早若他愿意对你尽至亲的义务，就由他尽好了！如果他不愿意，──上主永在！我必对你尽至亲的义务。你尽管睡到天明。＂

14 So she lay at his feet until morning, but rose before men could recognize one another. Boaz said, ＂Let it not be known that this woman came to the threshing floor.＂

她就在他的脚旁睡到天明。在人能彼此辨别以前，她就起来了；波阿次心想：＂不要叫人知道有妇女来过场上。＂

15 Then he said to her, ＂Take off your cloak and hold it out.＂ When she did so, he poured out six measures of barley, helped her lift the bundle, and left for the city.

于是他说：＂伸开你所披的外衣，双手拿住！＂她就拿着，波阿次量了六斗大麦给她，放在她肩上；她就背着回城去了。

16 Ruth went home to her mother-in-law, who asked, ＂How have you fared, my daughter?＂ So she told her all the man had done for her,

到了婆婆那里，婆婆就问她说：＂我女，事情怎样？＂卢德就向她述说了那人对她所作的一切；

17 and concluded, ＂He gave me these six measures of barley because he did not wish me to come back to my mother-in-law emptyhanded!＂

并说：＂他还给了我这六斗大麦，因为他向我说：你不要空手回去见你的婆婆。＂



18 Naomi then said, ＂Wait here, my daughter, until you learn what happens, for the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today.＂

纳敖米就说：＂我女，你等着罢！看这事有什么结果；因为这人除非今日把这事办成，必不安心。＂




Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Footnotes(注解)

1 [4] Uncover a place at his feet, . . .: confident of the virtue of Ruth and Boaz, Naomi advises this unusual expedient to her daughter-in-law for the purpose of introducing her claim.

2 [9] Spread the corner of your cloak over me: be my protector by marrying me according to the duty of a near kinsman; cf Deut 25:5; Ezekiel 16:8.

3 [12] Relative still closer: who had a prior right and duty to marry Ruth.

Chapter 4

1 1 Boaz went and took a seat at the gate; and when he saw the closer relative of whom he had spoken come along, he called to him by name,＂Come and sit beside me!＂ And he did so.

波阿次走上城门口，坐在那里。可巧，波阿次所说的那位至亲，正从那里经过，他就对他说：＂某兄，请过来，坐一坐！＂他就过去坐下了。

2 2 Then Boaz picked out ten of the elders of the city and asked them to sit nearby. When they had done this,

波阿次又由城内的长老中，邀请了十位，对他们说：＂请你们在这里坐一坐！＂他们就都坐下。

3 he said to the near relative:＂Naomi, who has come back from the Moabite plateau, is putting up for sale the piece of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech.

波阿次便对那位至亲说：＂从摩阿布乡间回来的纳敖米要卖我们兄弟厄里默肋客的一块田。

4 3 So I thought I would inform you, bidding you before those here present, including the elders of my people, to put in your claim for it if you wish to acquire it as next of kin. But if you do not wish to claim it, tell me so, that I may be guided accordingly, for no one has a prior claim to yours, and mine is next.＂ He answered,＂I will put in my claim.＂

我认为我应在你面前说明这事，并请你当着在坐的诸位及民众的长老前，购买这块地。若你愿意尽你至亲的义务，就尽；若你不愿意尽，请告诉我知道；因为除你应尽这义务之外，没有别人了；你以后就是我。”那人答说：“我尽。”

5 4 Boaz continued,＂Once you acquire the field from Naomi, you must take also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the late heir, and raise up a family for the departed on his estate.＂

波阿次接着说：“你从纳敖米手中购得田地的那一天，也应娶亡者之妻，即摩阿布女子卢德，好给死者在嗣业上留名。”

6 The near relative replied,＂I cannot exercise my claim lest I depreciate my own estate. Put in a claim yourself in my stead, for I cannot exercise my claim.＂

那位至亲答说：“那么我就不能尽这义务了，免得我的产业受害，你尽我应尽的义务罢！我不能尽了。”

7 5 Now it used to be the custom in Israel that, to make binding a contract of redemption or exchange, one party would take off his sandal and give it to the other. This was the form of attestation in Israel.

从前在以色列中间，无论对于买卖或交易，为确定一事，有这样的一个风俗：就是一方应脱下自己的鞋，交与另一方：这在以色列就算为证据。

8 So the near relative, in saying to Boaz,＂Acquire it for yourself,＂ drew off his sandal.

那位至亲对波阿次说：“你购买罢！”遂就脱下了自己的鞋。

9 Boaz then said to the elders and to all the people,＂You are witnesses today that I have acquired from Naomi all the holdings of Elimelech, Chilion and Mahlon.

于是波阿次对长老及所有在坐的民众说：“今天你们作证，我从纳敖米手中购得了属于厄里默肋客及基肋雍与玛赫隆的一切产业；

10 I also take Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, as my wife, in order to raise up a family for her late husband on his estate, so that the name of the departed may not perish among his kinsmen and fellow citizens. Do you witness this today?＂

同时我也取得了玛赫隆的妻，摩阿布的女子卢德为我的妻室，好给死者在嗣业上留名，不叫死者的名字，在自己的兄弟和故乡的门户中失传；今日你们为此作证！”

11 All those at the gate, including the elders, said,＂We do so. May the LORD make this wife come into your house like Rachel and Leah, who between them built up the house of Israel. May you do well in Ephrathah and win fame in Bethlehem.

在城门旁的民众和长老都回答说：“我们作证。愿上主使这走进你家中的妇女，像似那两位曾建立了以色列家的辣黑耳和肋阿！愿你在厄弗辣大昌盛，愿你在白冷得享盛名！

12 6 With the offspring the LORD will give you from this girl, may your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.＂

愿你的家借上主使这少妇给你所生的后裔，相似塔玛尔给犹大所生的培勒兹的家。”

13 Boaz took Ruth. When they came together as man and wife, the LORD enabled her to conceive and she bore a son.

波阿次遂娶了卢德，她就成了他的妻子。他走近了她，上主赐她怀孕，生了一个儿子。

14 Then the women said to Naomi,＂Blessed is the LORD who has not failed to provide you today with an heir! May he become famous in Israel!

妇女们就对纳敖米说：＂愿上主受颂扬！因为他没有使你今日缺乏承继者。愿他在以色列中得享盛名！

15 He will be your comfort and the support of your old age, for his mother is the daughter-in-law who loves you. She is worth more to you than seven sons!＂

他是你心灵的安慰，是你老年的依靠，因为他是爱你的儿媳所生的；像这样的儿媳，对你实胜过七个儿子。＂

16 7 Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and became his nurse.

纳敖米接过婴儿来，抱在怀中，做了他的保母。

17 8 And the neighbor women gave him his name, at the news that a grandson had been born to Naomi. They called him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

邻近的妇女喊着说：＂纳敖米得了个儿子！＂他们就给他起名叫敖贝得；他就是达味的父亲叶瑟的父亲。

18 These are the descendants of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron,

以下是培肋兹的族谱：培勒兹生赫兹龙，

19 Hezron was the father of Ram, Ram was the father of Amminadab,

赫兹龙生兰，兰生阿米纳达布，

20 Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, Nahshon was the father of Salmon,

阿米纳达布生纳赫雄，纳赫雄生撒耳孟，

21 Salmon was the father of Boaz, Boaz was the father of Obed,

撒耳孟生波阿次，波阿次生敖贝得，

22 Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David.

敖贝得生叶瑟，叶瑟生达味。





Footnotes(注解)

1 [1] Took a seat at the gate: i.e., of the city, where business affairs were settled.

2 [2] Ten of the elders: to serve as judges in legal matters as well as witnesses of the settlement of business affairs; cf Deut 25:7-9.

3 [4] Poverty had obliged Naomi to sell the land of her deceased husband. The law permitted the nearest kinsman to redeem the land and thus preserve the family patrimony; cf Lev 25:25.

4 [5-6] The heir of Elimelech's field had died without children (Ruth 1:5). The nearest of kin could now redeem the land but he must also take Ruth, the widow of the late heir, to wife to perpetuate the family of the deceased; cf Deut 25:5-6. The first male child of such a marriage would be the legal son of Mahlon and grandson of Elimelech.

5 [7] Take off his sandal . . .: by this act the near relative renounced his legal right, both to the field of Elimelech and to the marriage with Ruth. The custom mentioned in Deut 25:6 is somewhat different.

6 [12] Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah: the right which Judah unwittingly satisfied for his daughter-in-law Tamar (Genesis 38), Boaz willingly rendered to Ruth.

7 [16] Placed him on her lap: took him as her own; cf Genesis 30:3; 48:12; Numbers 11:12.

8 [17] The father of Jesse, the father of David: indicating the place of Obed, Jesse and David in the line of Judah and the ancestry of Christ, the Messiah; cf Matthew 1:5-6.