“Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.”
Boaz's statement that on the day he purchases the land from Naomi, he must also purchase Ruth the Moabite to perpetuate the deceased man's name and inheritance introduces the Levirate dimension of the transaction and complicates what appeared to be a simple land redemption. This revelation of the full obligation—that redemption requires not merely property purchase but also marriage and the production of an heir to carry forward Elimelech's name—fundamentally changes the nature of the transaction. The introduction of Ruth's name and her Moabite identity at this crucial moment emphasizes both her foreignness and her legal significance as Elimelech's widow.
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