Ruth 4 - Summary

At the city gate before the elders, Boaz informs the nearer kinsman of Naomi's land sale and the accompanying obligation to marry Ruth the Moabitess to perpetuate Mahlon's name upon his inheritance. When the kinsman declines for fear of impairing his own inheritance, Boaz publicly acquires both the land and Ruth as wife according to the ancient ceremony of removing the sandal. The women of Bethlehem celebrate when Ruth bears a son named Obed, pronouncing him a restorer of life for Naomi, and the genealogy concludes by identifying Obed as grandfather of David, placing this Moabite convert in the royal Messianic lineage.