R4-16: How The SAME Hebrew Word Can Have Multiple Meanings Depending On Context

“Then the women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed be Adonai, who today has provided you a redeemer! May his name be renowned in Israel'”.-Ruth 4:14

Yesterday, a fellow brother in the Messianic faith pointed out something interesting concerning what I said about Boaz and Ruth’s first child being called the “redeemer”.

Here’s what he said:

What my friend (Thanks Steven!) said makes sense.

But having said that, anyway you slice it, verse 14 plainly says “Blessed be Adonai, who today has provided you a redeemer!”.

The word “redeemer” in verse 14 clearly seems to be referring to the newborn child.

So what gives?

Well, when we examine the original Hebrew, we find something interesting.

Take a look at the following 2 Hebrew words:

גָּאַל

And this one:

גֹּאֶל

The top Hebrew word says GA’AL.

This word means “redemption” or “salvation”.

However, the second Hebrew word says GO’EL.

And this word properly means “redeemer” as in referring to the person who “saves” or “redeems”.

So the question is which word is being used here in verse 14 in Ruth Chapter 4?

The problem is it’s hard to tell because without the vowel indicators (NIKKUD in Hebrew) the words are spelled exactly the same.

My point is some scholars assert that verse 14 should really be rendered as…

“Blessed be Adonai, who today has provided you REDEMPTION!”

Or

“Blessed be Adonai, who today has provided you SALVATION!” 

In other words, the purpose was to refer to the PROCESS of redemption or salvation instead of referring to the PERSON who redeems or saves.

So which one is it?

Again, it’s hard to tell because in the Biblical Hebrew, there aren’t any vowel indicators.

And in my honest opinion, whether the word is GA’AL or GO’EL, contextually speaking, either one seems to make good sense to me.

Plus consider this.

Even if the word is “redemption” as opposed to “redeemer”, the word is still being used in reference to Boaz and Ruth’s first born child.

And notice how the phrase that immediately follows after says “May his name be renowned in Israel”.

That’s obviously referring to a person.

But then again, the same thing can be said about Y’SHUA or ישוע.

The word Y’SHUA can be a name either referring to Yeshua of Nazareth, Joshua the leader who succeeded Moses and led Israel into the Promised Land or it can mean “salvation” (like GA’AL).

Ya feel me homies?

So my conclusion is take your pick.

Whether GA’AL (redemption) or GO’EL (redeemer), they both seem to fit contextually…

And whichever one is used doesn’t take anything away from how inspiring this story is.