Boaz – The Kinsman-Redeemer Who Bought Back the Bride
She was a foreigner. A widow. A gleaner in the fields, surviving on the scraps left for the poor. By every measure, Ruth the Moabitess was an unlikely candidate for redemption. Yet through the love of a kinsman-redeemer named Boaz, she was lifted from poverty to prominence, from alienation to belonging, from emptiness to abundance. Her story is not merely a touching romance; it is a profound picture of redemption that illuminates the gospel and points forward to Christ, the greater Kinsman-Redeemer who purchases His bride at infinite cost.
The Common Reading
The book of Ruth opens in tragedy. Naomi, an Israelite woman, had migrated to Moab with her husband and two sons during a famine. There her husband died, and her sons married Moabite women—Orpah and Ruth. Then both sons died, leaving three widows without protection or provision in the ancient world.
Naomi determined to return to Bethlehem and urged her daughters-in-law to remain in Moab and find new husbands. Orpah reluctantly agreed, but Ruth refused to leave: “Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God” (Ruth 1:16). Ruth chose faith over familiarity, embracing Israel’s God and His people at great personal cost.
In Bethlehem, Ruth sustained herself and Naomi by gleaning in the fields—gathering the stalks left behind after the harvesters passed. By divine providence, she gleaned in the field of Boaz, a wealthy landowner who was a relative of Naomi’s deceased husband. Boaz showed her exceptional kindness, allowing her to glean among the sheaves and instructing his workers to leave extra grain for her.
Naomi recognized that Boaz was a potential kinsman-redeemer—a relative who could marry Ruth and perpetuate her deceased husband’s name and inheritance according to Israelite law. She instructed Ruth to approach Boaz at the threshing floor, which Ruth did with modest boldness. Boaz accepted the responsibility, dealt with a nearer kinsman who had prior claim, and married Ruth. Their son Obed became the grandfather of King David.
Traditional interpretation emphasizes Ruth’s loyalty, courage, and faith. Her commitment to Naomi and to Israel’s God models devotion. Her willingness to humble herself in the fields demonstrates diligence. Her approach to Boaz at the threshing floor shows both modesty and initiative. She is celebrated as an ancestor of David and, ultimately, of Jesus Himself.
The Limitation of This Reading
While the moral lessons of Ruth’s story are valuable, they do not exhaust its meaning. The book’s strategic placement—between the chaos of Judges and the hope of Samuel—suggests larger purposes. The genealogy that concludes the book, tracing the line from Perez through Boaz to David, indicates that Ruth is more than a touching romance; it is a link in the chain leading to Israel’s greatest king and, beyond him, to the Messiah.
Most significantly, the role of Boaz as kinsman-redeemer (goel in Hebrew) carries weight far beyond a quaint ancient custom. The goel was responsible to buy back family property that had been sold, to redeem relatives who had been sold into slavery, to avenge the blood of murdered family members, and to marry the widow of a deceased kinsman to continue his line. Boaz fulfills this role for Ruth, but in doing so, he pictures Someone who fulfills this role for all humanity.
Christ-Centered Unveiling
Boaz is one of Scripture’s clearest types of Christ as Redeemer. The kinsman-redeemer concept illuminates what Christ has done for those He saves. Consider the qualifications: the goel had to be a kinsman—only a relative could redeem. He had to be able to pay the price of redemption. He had to be willing to redeem. Boaz met all these qualifications for Ruth; Christ meets all these qualifications for us.
Christ became our kinsman through the incarnation. “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same” (Hebrews 2:14). He “was made in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7). The eternal Son of God took on human nature so that He could be our goel—our kinsman who could lawfully redeem us.
Christ was able to pay the redemption price. Boaz was wealthy and could afford to buy back Naomi’s family land and take Ruth as his wife. Christ possessed infinite riches—”all things were made by him” (John 1:3)—yet became poor for our sake. The redemption price was not silver or gold “but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).
Christ was willing to redeem. The nearer kinsman in Ruth’s story declined, unwilling to mar his own inheritance. But Boaz gladly accepted the responsibility, publicly declaring his intention to redeem. Christ was not forced to save; He chose to, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2).
The Fulfillment in Christ
Ruth was a Gentile—a Moabitess, from a nation born of incest and historically hostile to Israel. Yet she was grafted into God’s covenant people through marriage to Boaz. Her inclusion in Israel foreshadows the inclusion of Gentiles in God’s family through Christ. “That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6). Ruth’s story is our story if we are Gentile believers—once aliens, now family.
Ruth came to Boaz with nothing but need. She was poor, widowed, foreign, and without rights or resources. Her approach to him at the threshing floor was an act of humble dependence, not merit. She could not purchase her own redemption; she could only receive it. So we come to Christ: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us” (Titus 3:5).
Boaz spread his garment over Ruth: “Spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman” (Ruth 3:9). This act of covering symbolized protection, provision, and marriage commitment. Christ covers His bride with His own righteousness: “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD… for he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself” (Isaiah 61:10).
The marriage of Boaz and Ruth produced offspring that continued the family line leading to David and ultimately to Christ. The union of Christ and His church will produce eternal fruit—a multitude that no one can number, from every nation, tribe, and tongue. The redemption that Boaz accomplished locally, Christ accomplishes universally.
The Gospel Mystery Revealed
Boaz’s name likely means “in him is strength.” The kinsman-redeemer is not weak but mighty. Christ is “the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24), able to save to the uttermost all who come to God through Him. We do not approach a reluctant or incapable redeemer but one who delights to redeem and possesses all power to accomplish it.
Ruth’s approach to Boaz required faith and humility. She lay at his feet in the darkness of the threshing floor, making herself vulnerable, trusting in his character. Coming to Christ requires the same posture—not demanding but asking, not bargaining but receiving, not trusting our merits but relying on His grace. “He that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).
When Boaz redeemed Ruth, he did so publicly and legally at the city gate, before witnesses, leaving no question about the legitimacy of his claim. Christ’s redemption was equally public—accomplished on a cross outside Jerusalem, witnessed by enemies and friends alike, legally satisfying divine justice so that God can be “just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Romans 3:26).
The book of Ruth ends with genealogy, not romance. The point is not ultimately the love story but the lineage. From Ruth and Boaz came Obed, then Jesse, then David, then—after many generations—Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham, son of God. Ruth’s redemption was personal, but its purpose was cosmic: to continue the line that would produce the world’s Redeemer.
Are you like Ruth—a foreigner to God’s covenant, without claim or merit, dependent entirely on a kinsman-redeemer’s grace? Christ has become your kinsman. He is able to redeem. He is willing to redeem. He has paid the price. He calls you to come. “Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17). The greater Boaz awaits your approach.