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Boaz

the owner of the field

Who was Boaz?

From
Bethlehem of Judah Ruth 2:4
Occupation
Owner of barley and wheat fields, with reapers working for him Ruth 2:3-4, 23
Boaz, an artistic recreation

What the Bible says

Ruth 2:1

Now her husband Elimelech had a kinsman, a powerful man, and very rich, whose name was Booz.

Ruth 2:8-9, 15-16

8And Booz said to Ruth: Hear me, daughter, do not go to glean in any other field, and do not depart from this place: but keep with my maids, 9And follow where they reap. For I have charged my young men, not to molest thee: and if thou art thirsty, go to the vessels, and drink of the waters whereof the servants drink. 15And she arose from thence, to glean the ears of corn as before. And Booz commanded his servants, saying: If she would even reap with you, hinder her not: 16And let fall some of your handfuls of purpose, and leave them, that she may gather them without shame, and let no man rebuke her when she gathereth them.

Ruth 4:13, 17; Matthew 1:5

13Booz therefore took Ruth, and married her: and went in unto her, and the Lord gave her to conceive and to bear a son. 17And the women her neighbours, congratulating with her and saying: There is a son born to Noemi: called his name Obed: he is the father of Isai, the father of David.

Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.

The path of Boaz

  1. Before Jesus. He was a relative of Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, and an important man in Bethlehem. Ruth 2:1
  2. Before Jesus. The story of Boaz took place in the time of the judges. Back then there was a famine in the land of Israel. Ruth 1:1
  3. With Jesus. He came from Bethlehem to his field and greeted the reapers, wishing that the Lord be with them. Ruth 2:4
  4. With Jesus. He asked who the young woman gleaning was. Then he told Ruth to stay in his field. Ruth 2:5, 8
  5. With Jesus. Boaz told Ruth he knew what she had done for her mother-in-law. He wished that the Lord would reward her, because she had come to take refuge under his wings. Ruth 2:11-12
  6. With Jesus. He told his servants not to bother her and to leave grain for her. Ruth 2:9, 15-16
  7. With Jesus. On the threshing floor, Ruth asked for his protection. Boaz told her there was another, closer relative; if that man did not want to, he would marry her. Ruth 3:9, 12-13
  8. With Jesus. On the threshing floor, Boaz blessed Ruth and told her not to be afraid. The whole town knew that Ruth was a woman of virtue. Ruth 3:10-11
  9. With Jesus. At the city gate, before ten elders, the other relative gave up his right. Boaz bought the land of Elimelech and married Ruth. Ruth 4:1-2, 9-10
  10. With Jesus. The people and the elders were witnesses. They wished Boaz that Ruth would be like Rachel and Leah, the mothers of the people of Israel. Ruth 4:11-12
  11. Afterward. Ruth and Boaz had a son, Obed, who was the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David. Ruth 4:13, 17

Words of Boaz

“The Lord be with you.” Ruth 2:4

When he came to his field, to the reapers. They answered him: “The Lord bless thee.”

“All hath been told me, that thou hast done to thy mother in law after the death of thy husband: and how thou hast left thy parents, and the land wherein thou wast born, and art come to a people which thou knewest not heretofore.” Ruth 2:11

When Ruth asked him why he was so kind to her, since she was a foreigner.

“Fear not therefore, but whatsoever thou shalt say to me I will do to thee. For all the people that dwell within the gates of my city, know that thou art a virtuous woman.” Ruth 3:11

On the threshing floor, at midnight, when Ruth asked him to spread his cloak over her.

“And have taken to wife Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahalon, to raise up the name of the deceased in his inheritance lest his name be cut off, from among his family and his brethren and his people. You, I say, are witnesses of this thing.” Ruth 4:10

At the gate of Bethlehem, before the elders and the people.

What they were like

The greatest thing they did

Not to be confused with

What people ask

Why did Boaz marry Ruth?

He was a relative of Mahlon, the husband Ruth had lost. In Israel, a close relative could redeem the family’s land. He could also marry the widow, so the dead man’s name would not be lost. Ruth 4:5, 10; NAB note on Rut 2, 20

What happened with the closer relative?

He wanted the land, but not to marry Ruth. He gave up his right and took off his sandal, as was done back then. Ruth 4:4-8

Is Boaz an ancestor of Jesus?

Yes. Matthew and Luke name him in the genealogy of Jesus. Matthew 1:5; Luke 3:32

Who was the mother of Boaz?

According to Matthew, Rahab. The Bible says nothing about Boaz’s childhood. Matthew 1:5

What did Naomi say when she learned that Ruth had gleaned in the field of Boaz?

She blessed Boaz in the name of the Lord. And she told Ruth that this man was a relative of the family. Ruth 2:19-20

Who told Ruth to go to Boaz’s threshing floor?

Her mother-in-law Naomi. She explained that Boaz was their relative and that he was winnowing barley that night on the threshing floor, the place where grain was cleaned. Ruth 3:1-2

Daily life At harvest time he went to his fields to see the reapers. Ruth 2:3-4 At night he winnowed barley on the threshing floor. Ruth 3:2 Little known A…

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Who Boaz is connected to

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