Ruth 4:6

_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._ I cannot redeem it ... lest I mar mine own inheritance. This consequence would follow, either, first, from his having a son by Ruth, who, though heir to the property, would not bear his name: his name would be extinguished in that of her former husband; or, secondly, from its having to be subdivided among his other children, which he had probably by a previous marriage. This right, therefore, was renounced and assigned in favour of Boaz, in the way of whose marriage with Ruth the only existing obstacle was now removed....

1-8 This matter depended on the laws given by Moses about inheritances, and doubtless the whole was settled in the regular and legal manner. This kinsman, when he heard the conditions of the bargain, refused it. In like manner many are shy of the great redemption; they are not willing to espouse religion; they have heard well of it, and have nothing to say against it; they will give it their good word, but they are willing to part with it, and cannot be bound to it, for fear of marring their own inheritance in this world. The right was resigned to Boaz. Fair and open dealing in all matters of contract and trade, is what all must make conscience of, who would approve themselves true Israelites, without guile. Honesty will be found the best policy....

Verse Ruth 4:6. _I 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, Deuteronomy 25:5....

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 Ruth 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....

EXPOSITION RUTH 4:1 AND BOAZ WENT UP, TO THE GATE, AND SAT THERE. He "went up," for the city stood, as it still stands, on a ridge (see on Ruth 1:1; Ruth 3:6). "And sat there," on one of the stones, or stone benches, that were set for the accommodation of the townsfolk. The gateway in the East often corresponded, as a place of meeting, to the forum, or the market-place, in the West. Boaz had reason to believe that his kinsman would be either passing out to his fields, or passing in from his threshing-floor, through the one gate of the city. AND LO, THE KINSMAN OF WHOM BOAZ HAD SPOKEN WAS PASSING; AND HE SAID, HO, SUCH A ONE I TURN HITHER AND SIT HERE. And he turned and sat down. Boaz

AND THE KINSMAN SAID, I CANNOT REDEEM IT FOR MYSELF,.... On such a condition, because he had a wife, as the Targum suggests; and to take another would, as that intimates, tend to introduce contention into his family, and make him uncomfortable; so Josephus says h, he had a wife and children, for that reason it was not convenient for him to take the purchase on such a condition: LEST I MAR MY OWN INHERITANCE; he considered, that as he had a wife and children already and as he might have more by marrying Ruth, his family expenses would be increased, and his estate diminished; and what would remain must be divided among many, and this estate in particular go to Ruth's firstborn, whereby his own inheritance would be scattered and crumbled, and come to little or nothing; add to all which, he might suppose that her ancient mother Naomi would be upon his hands to maintain also: REDEEM THOU MY...

CHAPTER 4 THE REDEMPTION AND MARRIAGE _ 1. The other kinsman (Ruth 4:1)_ 2. His refusal (Ruth 4:6) 3. Boaz's redemption (Ruth 4:9) 4. The marriage (Ruth 4:11) 5. Naomi's happiness (Ruth 4:14) 6. The ancestry of David (Ruth 4:18) And now the other redeemer, who cannot redeem, appears. Boaz sits in the gate and hails the one whom he knew as he passeth by. He calls him not by name but said, “Ho, such a one! turn aside, and sit down here.” If Boaz had not called

RUTH 4. RUTH'S MARRIAGE. Ruth 4:1. Instead of such an one! Boaz called the person's actual name, which the narrator either does not know or does not see any need for bringing into the story. Ruth 4:2. The elders of the city are called in as witnesses of an important transaction affecting the rights of a family. For selleth we ought to read hath sold. The point is that the property had passed out of the family's hands and required to be redeemed. Ruth 4:5. Here the meaning is entirely missed in our translation. Read, Thou buyest Ruth also (_cf._ Ruth 4:10). Marriage by purchase was the ancient Semitic practice, but no more is meant here than t

_lest I mar mine own inheritance_ When the Go'el learns that if he redeems the estate he is expected to marry the widow, he takes back his promise (Ruth 4:4). He declares that he cannot afford to be so generous. If he were to have a son by Ruth, the child would take the name and estate of the dead, and the Go'el would have only a temporary usufruct in the property, and in the end lose it altogether (Robertson Smith l.c.). _take thou my right of redemption on thee_ Since the Go'el declines, the right to redeem falls on Boaz as the next nearest kinsman....

I CANNOT REDEEM IT FOR MYSELF, &C.— The Chaldee paraphrases thus: "I cannot redeem it upon this condition, because I have a wife already, and do not choose to bring another into my house, lest quarrels and divisions arise in it, and lest I hurt my own inheritance." The Jewish commentators understand it in the same manner. See Selden de Uxor. Heb. lib. 1: cap. 9....