Ruth 3:9

“He said, “Who are you?” And she said, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread the edge of your cloak over your servant, for you are a kinsman-redeemer.””
Ruth 3:9 · direct translation from the Hebrew

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Ruth and Boaz: two loyal people recognize each otherDating and Marriage

With the Hebrew beneath

He said,וַיֹּאמֶר“Whoמִיareyou?”אָתּAnd she said,וַתֹּאמֶר“IאָנֹכִיamRuth,רוּתyour servant.אֲמָתֶךָSpreadוּפָרַשְׂתָּthe edge of your cloakכְנָפֶךָoverעַלyour servant,אֲמָתְךָforכִּיyouאָתָּהarea kinsman-redeemer.”גֹאֵל

Context

The kinsman-redeemer (go'el) was the closest relative, with the right and the duty to buy back the land that a family member had had to sell because of poverty (Leviticus 25:25).

Source: Leviticus 25:25

Documented fact

Redeemer (kinsman-redeemer)גֹּאֵלgo'el

The closest relative, whose part it was to buy back the land that a family member had sold because of poverty (Leviticus 25:25). In Ruth, the kinsman-redeemer acquires the field and takes the widow to keep up the name of the deceased (Ruth 4:5-10). The Old Testament also calls YHWH the “Redeemer” of Israel (Isaiah 41:14).

See it in the glossary

Theme · Ezekiel 16:8

Go to Ezekiel 16:8

Both texts use the expression “spread the edge of the cloak (kanaf) over” someone. In Ezekiel 16:8 the gesture goes with the oath and the covenant: “and you became mine.”

The same term appears in both passages.

פָרַשְׂתָּfarastaH6566אֶפְרֹשׂefrosH6566“spread”
כְנָפֶjenafeH3671כְּנָפִkenafiH3671“wing, edge of a garment”

Thread: Kinsman-redeemer · 3 of 8

גֹּאֵל

Ruth asks Boaz to spread his cloak over her, “for you are a kinsman-redeemer.”

Ruth 2:20 Ruth 3:12

Ruth 3:9, word by word

He saidיֹּאמֶרyomer

say

To say with the mouth to someone what one thinks or wants, or to answer him.

Where else “yomer” appears

Ruthרוּתrut

Ruth

Ruth, a Moabite woman, wife of Mahlon and later of Boaz; great-grandmother of King David (Ruth 4:17) and named among the ancestors of Jesus (Matthew 1:5). The name may mean "friend" or "companion."

Where else “rut” appears

your servantאֲמָתֶamate

female slave, maidservant

Female slave, maidservant.

Where else “amate” appears

Spreadפָרַשְׂתָּfarasta

spread out

To open out hands, wings or cloth.

Where else “farasta” appears

the edge of your cloakכְנָפֶchenafe

edge

Literally "wing": the flap of a cloak, or the far reaches of the earth.

Where else “chenafe” appears

a kinsman-redeemerגֹאֵלgoel

redeem

To buy back a relative or their land.

Where else “goel” appears

Translation note

“The edge of your cloak” is the same word as “wings” in 2:12. In Ezekiel 16:8 the same expression (“I spread the corner of my garment over you”) goes with the oath and the covenant: “and you became mine.”

The context

8And it happened at midnight that the man trembled and turned over, and look, a woman was lying at his feet.

9 · This verse (above)

10And he said, “Blessed be you by YHWH, my daughter. You have made your last loyal love better than the first, by not going after the young men, whether poor or rich.

Read all of Ruth 3

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