Ruth 4:9

Ye are witnesses Cf. Ruth 4:11. With this appeal for confirmation cf. Joshua 24:22; 1 Samuel 12:5.

I have bought … of the hand of Naomi More idiomatically the Hebr. perf. should be rendered in English I buy, i.e. I stipulate to buy; cf. the perf. in Ruth 4:3 selleth. The purchase-money was to go to Naomi; she had inherited all the family property; even Mahlon's and Chilion's land had passed to their mother, not to their widows, probably because the latter were foreigners. The right of a widow to any share in her husband's estate is not recognized in the Pentateuch 2 [6]; but later practice allowed provision to be made (Jdt 8:7), and permitted the husband to insert a clause in the marriage settlement giving his widow the right to dwell in his house after him, and to be nourished from his wealth all the days of her widowhood; Talm. Kethubothiv. 8.

[6] Contrast the provision of the ancient Babylonian Code: the widow is entitled to her marriage-portion and the settlement which her husband had secured to her in writing, and is allowed to live in his dwelling place, §§ 171 and 150. In this, as in other respects, the Code of H̬ammurabi represents a more developed civilization than the Pentateuchal law.