Ruth 3:12

12 Now, although it's certainly true that I'm a redeemer, there's a redeemer who is a closer relative than I am.

Ruth 3:12 Meaning and Commentary

Ruth 3:12

And now it is true, that I am thy near kinsman
Her husband and he being brothers' sons, so own cousins:

howbeit, there is a kinsman nearer than I,
who was, the Jews say ^F23, the brother of her husband's father, and so his uncle, which was a nearer relation than an own cousin.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 Midrash Ruth, ut supra. (31. 4. & 34. 2) Jarchi in loc.

Ruth 3:12 In-Context

10 He said, "May you be blessed by the LORD, my daughter! You have acted even more faithfully than you did at first. You haven't gone after rich or poor young men.

11 And now, my daughter, don't be afraid. I'll do for you everything you are asking. Indeed, my people—all who are at the gate—know that you are a woman of worth.

12 Now, although it's certainly true that I'm a redeemer, there's a redeemer who is a closer relative than I am.

13 Stay the night. And in the morning, if he'll redeem you—good, let him redeem. But if he doesn't want to redeem you, then—as the LORD lives—I myself will redeem you. Lie down until the morning."

14 So she lay at his feet until morning. Then she got up before one person could recognize another, for he had said, "No one should know that the woman came to the threshing floor."