“Then Boaz said, ‘The same day you buy the field from Naomi, you must also buy Rut the woman from Moab, the wife of the deceased [son], in order to raise up in the name of the deceased an heir for his property.’ The redeemer said, ‘Then I can’t redeem it for myself, because I might put my own inheritance at risk. You, take my right of redemption on yourself; because I can’t redeem it.'”-Ruth 4:5-6
During the bargaining session about who should step in and redeem Naomi’s land, Boaz tells the other unnamed redeemer that if he agrees to redeem Naomi’s family land, he also has to marry Ruth who is Naomi’s daughter in law.
Why was this necessary?
Well, we’re given the answer at the end of the same verse.
“In order to raise up the name of the deceased an heir for his property”.
However, this statement raises the following 2 perplexing questions.
FIRST, how in the heck does Ruth producing a child solve Naomi’s issue with her land inheritance?
SECOND, where the heck in the Torah is there a requirement that this unnamed redeemer has to marry Ruth if he redeems the land?
Well, for starters, the first thing I should tell you is you need to absolutely IGNORE everything Christian scholars have said on the topic.
Ignore them ALL!
I don’t care who they are.
Whether they’re popular modern scholars who are actively teaching at seminaries today…
Or scholars dating back literally centuries earlier.
With their ridiculously limited Torah understanding, all they can say is that Boaz married Ruth because of the Levirate Marriage laws…
And that this senior GO’EL was legally obligated to redeem the land (thus solving the land issue).
Well homies, I’m here to tell you, these Christian scholars are WRONG on both accounts.
Because neither is true according to the Torah of Moses.
As I’ve already explained earlier, Levirate Marriage has nothing to do with what’s going on here.
Why?
Because Levirate marriage ONLY applies to the brother of the deceased man.
Got it?
It’s ONLY THE BROTHER who is obligated to marry his dead brother’s widow.
This obligation is NOT extended to any other family member.
Input that fact into the deepest recesses of your cranium right now so you’ll never forget it.
And not only that.
While the redeemer IS obligated to redeem the land to keep it in the family clan, there ain’t no law of Torah that obligates him to marry anyone for the purpose of producing an heir for the deceased man.
So neither situation applies here…
Which again leads to the following perplexing questions:
Why all this heated drama playing out at the city gates of Bethlehem?
And…
What’s the connection between this other redeemer marrying Ruth and losing his inheritance?
What in the world is that all about?
You’re just dying to know, aren’t you?
Aren’t you?!?!
Well, I’m gonna tell you…
But not today.
Because I gotta go run and buy a hammer and a golf ball for some weird brain exercise I’m gonna be experimenting with from today.
So come back tomorrow to get the TRUE Scriptural truth I can almost guarantee you won’t find at any seminary or church anywhere in the world.
For today, just keep this thought tucked away in your back pocket.
There is no commandment anywhere in the Scriptures that says Boaz or the other unnamed redeemer have to marry Ruth in order to produce an heir for the land.
The circumstances here do NOT apply to the laws of land redemption…
And they definitely do NOT apply to Levirate Marriage.
So see ya all next time!
Spoiler Alert!
Don’t look up Tom Bradford’s series on Ruth (torahclass.com) until AFTER tomorrow.
… and rejoice, Richoka ; you’re not as alone as you might sometimes feel. 🙂
Yup! I looooooove Tom Bradford (as you can tell!)…
And Rob Alter’s Torah Commentary is also awesome!
Be blessed!
Shalom!