Boaz
A wealthy man of Bethlehem and a relative of Naomi’s husband. He protected Ruth when she gleaned in his field, redeemed the family’s land and married her. Their son Obed was David’s grandfather.
Boaz was “a mighty man of wealth” of the family of Elimelech at Bethlehem (Ruth 2:1). He let Ruth glean among his sheaves and ordered his men not to trouble her (Ruth 2:8–9, 15–16). Asked to act as near kinsman, he first offered the right to a closer relative before the elders at the gate. When that man declined, Boaz bought the land of Elimelech and married Ruth, “to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance” (Ruth 3:9–13) (Ruth 4:1–10).
The genealogy that ends the book makes him the son of Salmon and the father of Obed, who was the father of Jesse, the father of David (Ruth 4:21–22). Matthew repeats the line and adds that his mother was Rahab (Matthew 1:5). Luke also lists him among the ancestors of Jesus (Luke 3:32).
In the timeline
- about 1100 BC, traditional dateRuth and Boaz
A Moabite widow follows her mother-in-law Naomi to Bethlehem, gleans in the fields of Boaz and marries him. Their son Obed is the grandfather of David, and Matthew names Ruth in the genealogy of Jesus.