the nearest kinsman, and hence had no right to this estate. There was one nearer than he. Boaz determined to settle this matter immediately, and to ascertain legally whether or not the nearest kinsman was prepared to lake the inheritance, or whether he would renounce his rights; and this leads us to the beginning of the fourth chapter of the Book, in which the full procedure in this case is given: "Now Boaz went up to the gate, this being the place of public meetings and the seat of the council of elders of the town, who were the administrators and judicial officers, "and sat down there, and behold the near kinsman of whom Boaz spoke, passed by, unto whom he said, Ho, such an one! turn aside; sit down here; and he turned aside and sat down. The Hebrew word which we have translated "near kinsman is "Goël," commonly translated "redeemer. It was the duty of the nearest kinsman to re deem the inheritance of one who had fallen into poverty, and was obliged to part with it. It was likewise the duty of the Goël to re deem his kinsman from captivity, to protect him from harm, to avenge his death by tak ing blood vengeance on his slayer, and to marry his childless widow, in order that his family might not become extinct. Boaz then proceeded, "And took ten men of the elders of the city and said, Sit ye down here; and they sat down." The ten men thus selected from among the elders were to con stitute the court in whose presence the for malities attending the redemption of the land were to be performed. Their duties in this case were very simple. They were merely required to attest the correctness of the procedure. It is interesting to note that unto this very day among the Jews ten men constitute a quorum in religious matters; thus, ten men are a congregation; ten men are required to attest certain juridico-religious acts, such as a marriage, or the grant ing of a bill of divorce, and the like. The court having convened, Boaz arose, "And he said to the Goël: Naomi, who has returned from the land of Moab is selling a
parcel of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech, and I thought to inform thee saying, Buy it before those who sit here and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it; but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will re deem it." Then Boaz said, "On the day that thou buyest the field from the hands of Xaomi, from Ruth also, the Moabitess the wife of the dead, must thou buy it, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inherit ance; and the Goël said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance; do thou take my right of redemption on thee, for I cannot redeem it." Although the land is spoken of here as though it was going to be sold, the word sell does not truly express the nature of the transaction. It was a transfer of the posses sion of the land to the kinsman, and it was coupled with the duty of marrying the wife of the dead. By a legal fiction the son born of this marriage continued the family of the dead and thus "raised up the name of the dead upon his inheritance." When Boaz first spoke to the Goël he made no mention of Ruth, saying, "Naomi is selling the parcel of land which was our brother Elimelech's." Now, it was known to the Goël that Naomi, the wife of Elime lech, had two children, Mahlon and Chilion, and therefore it would not have been neces sary for the Goël to marry her, this being required only in the case of a childless widow; hence he expressed his willingness to redeem or acquire the land; but when Boaz added that "on the day that thou buy est the field from the hand of Naomi, from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, thou must also buy it to raise up the name of the dead upon his inherit ance," then the Goël refused to exercise his right of redemption; he evidently did not want to marry Ruth. It- was Ruth, the widow of the last owner, who must be taken along with the land by the
