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Wanting to quickly settle Ruth’s case (see Ruth 3:18), Boaz early in the morning comes to the square at the city gates - the usual place in the cities of the East for all public meetings (Gen. 19:1, Ps. 69:13), trade transactions (Gen. 23:10-13, 16, 18) and purchases (2 Kings 7:1), legal proceedings (Deut. 16:18, 21:19), in particular, regarding levirate marriage - in the event of the brother-in-law refusing this marriage (Deut. 25:7). Here Boaz invited a relative (goel) of Naomi and Ruth, whom Boaz mentions in a conversation with the latter (Ruth. 3:12); Boaz's address to this relative is expressed in the vague expression of Heb. pelom almoni (according to Midrash, S. 53, an ignoramus in the law who did not know that the prohibition of Deut. 23:3 applies only to Moabite men, and not to women), corresponding to the Greek. δεῖνα, slav. “onsitse” (Matthew 26:18) – “such and such.” It is possible that this person, necessary for solving the matter, was deliberately invited by Boaz (as reported by I. Josephus, “Antiquities of the Jews,” V, 9, 4), just as witnesses from the elders were deliberately invited by him (the elders in Bethlehem are mentioned later in the story of Samuel (1 Sam. 16:4)) - in the amount of ten, which number in Jewish tradition was considered the minimum for a liturgical meeting (see Targum of Jerusalem on Exodus 12:4), as well as for any public business (1 Sam. 25:5). I. Flavius ​​(cit. m.) says that Boaz called Ruth to the gates of the city, but this is not confirmed by the biblical text and even, perhaps, contradicts (Ruth. 3:18) (cf. our remark to this place). Ruth.4:3. And [Boaz] said to a relative: Naomi, who has returned from the fields of Moab, is selling part of the field that belonged to our brother Elimelech; Ruth.4:4. I decided to bring it to your ears and say: buy it in front of those who sit here and in front of the elders of my people; if you want to redeem, redeem; and if you don’t want to redeem, tell me, and I will know; for besides you there is no one to redeem; and for you I. He said: I will redeem. Ruth.4:5. Boaz said: when you buy a field from Naomi, you must also buy from Ruth the Moabite, the wife of the deceased, and must marry her in order to restore the name of the deceased to his inheritance. Ruth.4:6. And that relative said: I cannot take her for myself, so as not to upset my destiny; accept it, for I cannot accept it. 25:15, of which in this case there were only two: not named and Boaz 6. The first, having expressed his consent to redeem the inheritance of Naomi (v. 4), immediately refused this, as soon as he heard about the obligation of marriage with Ruth (v. 5): perhaps he was rejected by the superstitious fear of the widow of Mahlon (a similar fear was expressed, according to Gen. 38:11, by Judah regarding Tamar after the death of her two husbands - the sons of Judah, cf. Tob. 3:7-8, 6:14–15), although he himself indicates another reason for the refusal - fear of the disruption of his own lot (v. 6); Midrash (S. 53–54), as already said, sees here a consequence of his ignorance of the law and fear of violating the latter by marrying a Moabite woman (cf. Deut. 23:3). Ruth.4:7. Previously, this was the custom of Israel when ransoming and when bartering to confirm any business: one took off his boot and gave it to another, [who accepted the right of a relative], and this was a certificate from Israel. Ruth.4:8. And that relative said to Boaz, Buy it for yourself. And he took off his boot [and gave it to him]. Josephus Flavius ​​(“Jewish Antiquities”, V, 9, 4), mentioned here, unfairly identifies the custom of removing a boot by one and handing it to another with the law and ritual of the so-called (still existing among the Jews) chalitza (from the Hebrew verb chalaz - “to take off the shoe”) 7 or the release of the brother-in-law from the obligation of levirate marriage with his daughter-in-law (Deut. 25:9-10). The meaning, purpose and setting of the ritual in both cases are different: in the first case (as here, Rufus 4:8) the one who has the right of ownership himself renounced it and symbolically expressed this by transferring the boot (symbol of ownership, Ps. 59:10, 107:10), while chalitsa was performed by the daughter-in-law herself, who had received a refusal of marriage from her brother-in-law: she took off his boots and spat in his face (Deut. 25:9–10; I. Josephus “Jewish Antiquities”, IV, 8, 23), which was a shame for the “one with no shoes” (chaluz) for life. Ruth.4:9. And Boaz said to the elders and to all the people, “You are now witnesses that I am buying from Naomi all Elimelech and all Hileon and Mahlon; Ruth.4:10. I also take Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, so that the name of the deceased may remain in his inheritance, and so that the name of the deceased will not perish among his brothers and at the gate of his residence: you are witnesses of this today. Now Boaz freely and decisively takes upon himself the obligation of both the redemption of the inheritance and the marriage with Ruth. “Both piety and accuracy in what was said are worthy of surprise. I am not breaking the law, he says, by taking a Moabite wife; on the contrary, I fulfill the Divine law, so that the memory of the deceased may be preserved without fading” (Blessed Theodoret, p. 318). However, in subsequent genealogies (Ruth. 4:21; 1 Chron. 2:12; Matt. 1:5; Luke 3:32), Obed, born from the marriage of Boaz and Ruth, is called the son of Boaz, not Mahlon: Boaz’s piety made him worthy to take a place in the genealogy of David and Jesus Christ primarily before Mahlon. Ruth.4:11. And all the people that were at the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses; May the Lord make the woman who comes into your house like Rachel and like Leah, who both built the house of Israel; acquire wealth in Ephrath, and let your name be glorified in Bethlehem; Ruth.4:12. and let your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, from the seed that the Lord will give you from this young woman. The elders and people not only testify and confirm the legality of the marriage announced by Boaz, but also bless the upcoming marriage, mentioning the names of their foremothers Rachel and Leah, dear to all Jews (the first is called Rachel, as Jacob’s beloved wife, cf. Gen. 29:31, 48:7, etc.). The assumption of Blessed Theodoret (ibid.) that these words of blessing give the idea that Boaz also had another wife is doubtful. The mention of Perez (cf. Gen. 38:29, 46:12) is all the more appropriate since the genealogy of Boaz begins with him (v. 18). Ruth.4:13. And Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord gave her pregnancy, and she gave birth to a son. God's blessing on the marriage of Boaz and Ruth was reflected in the latter's pregnancy and the birth of a son, who was named Obed by the Bethlehem women, of course, not without the participation of their parents (v. 17), from Heb. obed – employee, i.e. God and people.