THEOSISTheodoret of Cyrus
Boaz also mentioned the topic of marriage, stating that it is just for the one who inherits the land from the deceased to also take his widow and honor the memory of the departed with a toast.
Ruth 4:5Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers
And Booz said to him: When thou shalt buy the field at the woman's hand, thou must take also Ruth, the Moabitess, who was the wife of the deceased: to raise up the name of thy kinsman in his inheritance.
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר בֹּ֔עַז בְּיוֹם־קְנוֹתְךָ֥ הַשָּׂדֶ֖ה מִיַּ֣ד נָעֳמִ֑י וּ֠מֵאֵת ר֣וּת הַמּוֹאֲבִיָּ֤ה אֵֽשֶׁת־הַמֵּת֙ קניתי קָנִ֔יתָה לְהָקִ֥ים שֵׁם־הַמֵּ֖ת עַל־נַחֲלָתֽוֹ׃
The Church Fathers on this verse
2 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Isidore of Seville
When Ruth and her mother-in-law arrived in the land of Israel, it was decreed, due to her prayers, that she would wed a man from Abraham’s lineage, whom she initially viewed as her closest relative. However, he declined to marry her, leading to her union with Boaz in the presence of ten elders. Boaz, who had previously stated his inability to marry, was now joined to her and received blessings from the elders. This narrative appears to foreshadow John the Baptist, whom the Israelites mistakenly believed to be the Messiah, prompting them to question his identity. Yet, he did not reject Christ but rather affirmed Him, asserting that he was not the Christ.
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Those who had been sent to inquire continuously pressed him about who he was, to which he responded, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness" (John 1:19-27). He proclaimed the good news concerning the Lord, stating, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom,” and demonstrated that he was the friend of the bridegroom, explaining, “But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and listens to him, rejoices at the bridegroom’s voice” (John 3:29). Misunderstandings led the people to believe he was the Christ, failing to recognize that the Messiah arrived during the time of visitation (See Luke 1:40-45), the One foretold by the prophets as the Bridegroom of the Church. Just as he informed Ruth that he was not her kinsman before she was united with Boaz, so too Christ, the genuine Bridegroom of the Church whom the prophets heralded, proved worthy to embrace the Church drawn from all nations, presenting to God the Father a multitude beyond count from the entire earth, for the kinsman had removed his sandal.
Cross references
Passages read together with this verse.
- Deut 25:5When brethren dwell together, and one of them dieth without children, the wife of the deceased shall not marry to another: but his brother shall take her, and raise up seed for his brother:
- Deut 25:6And the first son he shall have of her he shall call by his name, that his name be not abolished out of Israel.
- Gen 38:8Juda, therefore, said to Onan his son: Go in to thy brother's wife and marry her, that thou mayst raise seed to thy brother.
- Matt 22:24Saying: Master, Moses said: If a man die having no son, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up issue to his brother.
- Ruth 3:12Neither do I deny myself to be near of kin, but there is another nearer than I.
- Ruth 3:13Rest thou this night: and when morning is come, if he will take thee by the right of kindred, all is well: but if he will not, I will undoubtedly take thee, so the Lord liveth: sleep till the morning.
- Luke 20:28Saying: Master, Moses wrote unto us: If any man's brother die, having a wife, and he leave no children, that his brother should take her to wife and raise up seed unto his brother.