If You Wanted To Send Somebody [Who Had A Residence At The Threshing Floor] A Private Letter: You would go down to the main gate (official courthouse) where you would find a list of the private residences at the threshing floor. You could look at the layout of the threshing floor, learn the location of that individual's residence, go to the threshing floor, find that individual's agrarian residence, and post a private letter at that particular area.

By the way, when you went to the gate and looked at the posted listing to find somebody's designated area on the threshing floor, that process was called uncovering feet.

Today, in the Middle East when you go see where someone's agrarian home is located, it is still called uncovering the feet. They have virtually the same setup, and when they use the expression uncovering the feet, they think nothing unusual. Middle Easterners have lost all connotations with uncovering the feet; they are just words like Corpus Christi.

For instance, in Ruth 3:4, Naomi tells Ruth to go find Boaz's residence — she should note the location of his residence by looking at the listing at the city gate.

4 "It shall be when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies, and you shall go and uncover his feet; then he will tell you what you shall do."

By the way, where it reads It shall be when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies, and… That and is not a sequential and — it means thereby you shall go and uncover his feet, and in so doing, you will find where his place is located.

Presumably, the person who purchased the property from Elimelech [before he moved family to Moab] owned the field. There would have been no problem if Naomi still owned the field or if Naomi would have had the cash to buy it back from the current landowner. Additionally, this was not a Jubilee year or the field would have been returned automatically to its original owner, or, as would have been the case here, the original owner's nearest relative, Naomi. However, there was a problem because someone else legally owned it.

Note: At any time, the field could be redeemed voluntarily if there was a need. Voluntarily, Boaz would not just redeem the land; he would also take care of Naomi. In addition, Boaz desired to marry Ruth. Let us take a closer look at how the redemption scenario unfolds…

RUTH 3: Exposition

1 "My daughter, shall I not seek security for you?"

Naomi considered Ruth her daughter; a mother-in-law meant a lot in those days. Naomi had sacrificed herself in the interest of Ruth.

One night Ruth went to the main gate to find out where to post a private message for Boaz. She went through this process because Naomi knew something already. Otherwise, Naomi would not have taught Ruth the system, nor would she have had the audacity to tell Ruth to go post a private message for Boaz.

Naomi knew that Boaz had done something because she said:

Our kinsman is not the same word Naomi had been using for relative or closest relative (redeemer) — at the end of Ruth 2. This is another technical, legal term meaning that Boaz had gone to the gate and had publicly proclaimed:

There is no way he could be called our kinsman unless he had gone to the main gate, and publicly stated this voluntarily.

Ruth still had a dilemma. Boaz had gone to the main gate and said that he was willing to be the redeemer of Elimelech's property. But Ruth did not know if Boaz was just taking a legal action by buying the field and then giving it to Naomi (and that was all he was doing), or if he was also offering to marry Ruth. Naomi would not have known that either because, apparently, what Boaz had offered to do in public was ambiguous.

Though Ruth did not know if this was just a legal action on behalf of Naomi or if Boaz was also offering himself as a husband for herself, Naomi knew how to find out. Naomi said Go to the gate, find out where he covers his feet, and then go to the threshing floor and post your message.

What I like about this is that Naomi did NOT say Go deliver his mail at the courthouse (the main gate). Do you know why she did not? She wanted to save face for both of them; she gave Boaz a graceful way out, and she gave Ruth a graceful way out:

So Ruth went to the threshing floor to find out exactly what Boaz meant.

In that culture, most marriages were arranged. However, in this particular situation, there were no guardians since only grown adults were involved. Therefore, commonly, the man would offer the legality in this type of situation. He would say to the woman I will provide for you and I will take care of you. Then, in some way, the woman had to show that she was interested in the love aspect as well, because a man would never presume that.

Everything had to be kept on the up and up (honest, reliable) without giving somebody the opportunity to become embarrassed. It was a good system.

Let us review:

• Boaz went down to the main gate and posted this notice, which said something to the effect of I, Boaz, am willing to redeem my uncle's property. Neither Naomi nor Ruth saw this notice.
• That evening, Boaz went to his permanent house where he ate and drank, and then he went to his agrarian residence, at the threshing floor, where he lied down for the night.
• Night fell and Ruth went to the threshing floor. She walked around to find the location of Boaz's temporary residence — which is called uncovering his feet.

Please Know: While Ruth was at the threshing floor, many other people [including all the landowners and employees] would have been there as well, because this was not a small operation.

I believe, at this point, we can presume that Ruth had to be very anxious about posting a message that said something to the effect of I am willing for you to be my redeemer. Knowing her state of mind, she probably held the note for a while because she was not sure whether to post it or not.

Speculation: Everybody on the floor was sleeping because it was at night. This would have included Boaz; otherwise, he would have seen Ruth when she approached his area. In addition, Ruth was not sleeping; however, it was the middle of the night when she finally posted the mail.

Ruth must have nailed the mail to the post, because something woke Boaz up, and that is where I think verse 8 comes in:

8 It happened in the middle of the night that the man was startled and bent forward.

Boaz had heard something! And he did not see a woman physically lying at his feet; he saw Ruth delivering the mail (posting a message).

9 He said, "Who are you?" And she answered, "I am Ruth your maid.

And Ruth told Boaz what was contained in the mail that she had just posted.

Another legal term:

[She did not mean Toss the blanket over.]

Now spread your covering over me is a legal term meaning I accept your offer to be my redeemer. It also could mean Take me into your home; take me under your protection — under your covering. In one sense she was saying:

However, in another sense, if Boaz wanted to take it this way, Ruth was saying:

So you see, Ruth was giving Boaz a graceful way out that if all he intended was to be her legal redeemer, he could answer:

But if Boaz meant something more than that, this was the opportunity for him to explain what he meant.

Which is just what Boaz does…

12 "Now it is true I am a close relative; however, there is a relative closer than I."

13 "Stay here this night,

Meaning Stay here at the threshing floor.

Boaz mentioned the other relative to let Ruth know he was taking the love option. How do we know this? If all Boaz was going to do was to redeem the land, then he would not have brought up the other relative. The first relative who went to the main gate and said I redeem the land was the one who only redeemed the land. However, if the marriage option was taken, then that was a matter of the closest relative. In this case, the closest relative would have been the other relative and not Boaz.

RUTH 4: Exposition

Boaz does the obvious thing; he went to the main gate, back to the courthouse.

1 Then Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there, and behold,

The close relative of whom Boaz spoke is mentioned throughout Ruth, Chapters 3 and 4. The author bends over backwards to not say his name (he only says the closest relative), and yet, he uses everybody else's name.

Many times in the Old Testament there is a recurrent character who is mentioned many times, but his name is never given. That is always an obvious symbol of something. This is particularly true if the author bends over backwards to not mention his name like in this case. He avoids saying the relative's name. We will see why later on.

2 He took ten men of the elders of the city and said, "Sit down here." So they sat down.

3 Then Boaz said to the closest relative,

[He avoids saying the man's name.]

Our brother meant our mutual relative.

4 "So I thought to inform you, saying,

Now do you know what Boaz is doing here? When he says I thought to inform you, he was quoting what he had posted on the document.

The closest relative was willing to be the redeemer.

However there was a problem:

5 So Boaz says, "On the day you buy the field for the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased, in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance."

In order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance means in order for Elimelech's line to be restored to that piece of land.

6 The closest relative said, "I cannot redeem it for myself, because I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Redeem it for yourself; you may have my right of redemption, for I cannot redeem it."

The closest relative (the author never says his name) says I cannot do it unless I jeopardize my own inheritance. I have seen all kinds of explanations for what that means; the answer is — nobody knows! However, that phrase will make sense when we see of what this close relative is a symbol.

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