Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must buy it also from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance.”
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 5. When. Hebrew again corruptly, “On the day thou buyest the land of the hand of Noemi, I will also buy it of Ruth,” and so forth It ought to be, conformably to some MSS. and the ancient versions, “thou must also take Ruth,” verse 10. Capel, p. 144, and 362. Kennicott. Bible.—We see here the observance of two laws, the one preserving the inheritance in the same family, and the other obliging the next of kin to marry the widow of the deceased, if he would enjoy his land. Leviticus 25:10. Deuteronomy 25:5. Calmet.—Such widows as designed to comply with this condition, took possession of the land on the death of their husband, and conveyed it to those whom they married, till their eldest son became entitled to it. Abulensis, q. 30 to 61.—Inheritance. The son to be born, would be esteemed the heir of his legal parent. Menochius.