Ruth 4:4

4 I thought I should bring the matter to your attention. I suggest that you buy the land while those who are sitting here and the elders of my people are looking on as witnesses. "If you are willing to buy it back, do it. But if you aren't, tell me. Then I'll know. No one has the right to buy it back except you. And I'm next in line." "I'll buy it," he said.

Ruth 4:4 Meaning and Commentary

Ruth 4:4

And I thought to advertise thee
To give him notice of it; or "I said" ^F7; he said in his heart and mind, purposing to do it; or he said it to Ruth, promising her that he would do it:

saying, buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my
people;
or before those that sat there, even the elders, as witnesses of the purchase:

if thou wilt redeem it, redeem it:
for it was redeemable by a near kinsman according to the law, even when said to another, in ( Leviticus 25:25 ) ,

but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know;
what to do in this affair, whether to redeem it or not:

for there is none to redeem it besides thee, and I am after thee;
he was the first, and Boaz was the next near kinsman, to whom the right of redemption belonged:

and he said, I will redeem it:
he chose to make the purchase, he liked the land, which he probably full well knew, and it might lie near his own, and make a good addition to it; and as the widow was determined, and under a necessity to sell, he might expect to have it at a cheap rate; all which might induce him at once to agree to be the purchaser.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 (ytrma ynaw) "et ego dixi", Pagninus, Montanus

Ruth 4:4 In-Context

2 Boaz brought ten of the elders of the town together. He said, "Sit down here." So they did.

3 Then he spoke to the family protector. He said, "Naomi has come back from Moab. She's selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech.

4 I thought I should bring the matter to your attention. I suggest that you buy the land while those who are sitting here and the elders of my people are looking on as witnesses. "If you are willing to buy it back, do it. But if you aren't, tell me. Then I'll know. No one has the right to buy it back except you. And I'm next in line." "I'll buy it," he said.

5 Then Boaz said, "When you buy the land from Naomi and Ruth, who is from Moab, you must get married to Ruth. She's the dead man's widow. So you must take her as your wife. His name must stay with his property."

6 When the family protector heard that, he said, "Then I can't buy the land. If I did, I might put my own property in danger. So you buy it. I can't do it."