路得记 4:6

Chinese NCV (Simplified)

那有買贖權的近親說：“那我就不能贖它了，只怕損害了我的產業。你可以贖我當贖的，因為我沒有辦法贖了。”

Parallel Translations

Chinese Union (Simplified)
那 人 说 ： 这 样 我 就 不 能 赎 了 ， 恐 怕 於 我 的 产 业 有 碍 。 你 可 以 赎 我 所 当 赎 的 ， 我 不 能 赎 了 。

Contextual Overview

¹ Boaz went to the city gate and sat there until the close relative he had mentioned passed by. Boaz called to him, "Come here, friend, and sit down." So the man came over and sat down. ² Boaz gathered ten of the elders of the city and told them, "Sit down here!" So they sat down. ³ Then Boaz said to the close relative, "Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, wants to sell the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. ⁴ So I decided to tell you about it: If you want to buy back the land, then buy it in front of the people who are sitting here and in front of the elders of my people. But if you don't want to buy it, tell me, because you are the only one who can buy it, and I am next after you." The close relative answered, "I will buy back the land." ⁵ Then Boaz explained, "When you buy the land from Naomi, you must also marry Ruth, the Moabite, the dead man's wife. That way, the land will stay in the dead man's name." ⁶ The close relative answered, "I can't buy back the land. If I did, I might harm what I can pass on to my own sons. I cannot buy the land back, so buy it yourself." ⁷ Long ago in Israel when people traded or bought back something, one person took off his sandal and gave it to the other person. This was the proof of ownership in Israel. ⁸ So the close relative said to Boaz, "Buy the land yourself," and he took off his sandal.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I cannot: The Targum seems to give the proper sense of this passage: "I cannot redeem it, because I have a wife already; and it is not fit for me to bring another into my house, lest brawling and contention arise in it; and lest I hurt my own inheritance. Do thou redeem it, for thou has no wife; which hinders me from redeeming it." Ruth 4:6

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 23:3 - Ammonite Deuteronomy 25:8 - I like not Ruth 2:20 - one of our

Cross-References

Genesis 4:1
Adam had sexual relations with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. Eve said, "With the Lord 's help, I have given birth to a man."

Genesis 4:3
Later, Cain brought some food from the ground as a gift to God.

Genesis 4:4
Abel brought the best parts from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift,

Genesis 4:5
but he did not accept Cain and his gift. So Cain became very angry and felt rejected.

Genesis 4:8
Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out into the field." While they were out in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Genesis 4:11
And now you will be cursed in your work with the ground, the same ground where your brother's blood fell and where your hands killed him.

Genesis 4:13
Then Cain said to the Lord , "This punishment is more than I can stand!

Job 5:2
Anger kills the fool, and jealousy slays the stupid.

Isaiah 1:18
The Lord says, "Come, let us talk about these things. Though your sins are like scarlet, they can be as white as snow. Though your sins are deep red, they can be white like wool.

Jeremiah 2:5
This is what the Lord says: "I was fair to your ancestors, so why did they turn away from me? Your ancestors worshiped useless idols and became useless themselves.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself,.... On such a condition, because he had a wife, as the Targum suggests; and to take another would, as that intimates, tend to introduce contention into his family, and make him uncomfortable; so Josephus says h, he had a wife and children, for that reason it was not convenient for him to take the purchase on such a condition:

lest I mar my own inheritance; he considered, that as he had a wife and children already and as he might have more by marrying Ruth, his family expenses would be increased, and his estate diminished; and what would remain must be divided among many, and this estate in particular go to Ruth's firstborn, whereby his own inheritance would be scattered and crumbled, and come to little or nothing; add to all which, he might suppose that her ancient mother Naomi would be upon his hands to maintain also:

redeem thou my right for thyself which I am ready to give up to thee, for thou hast no wife, as the Targum expresses it:

for I can not redeem it; in the circumstances I am, and upon the condition annexed to the purchase.

h Antiqu. l. 5. c. 9. sect. 4.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I mar mine own inheritance - The meaning of these words is doubtful. Some explain them by saying that the גאל gā'al had a wife and children already, and would not introduce strife into his family. Others think that there was a risk (which he would not incur) of the go’el’s own name being blotted out from his inheritance Ruth 4:10. Others take the word translated as “mar” in a sense of wasting or spending. If he had to find the purchase-money, and support Naomi and Ruth, his own fortune would be broken down, if, as is likely, he was a man of slender means. Boaz, being “a mighty man of wealth,” could afford this.

Redeem thou my right ... - Literally, redeem my redemption - perform that act of redemption which properly belongs to me, but which I cannot perform.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ruth 4:6. I cannot redeem it for myself — The Targum gives the proper sense of this passage: "And the kinsman said, On this ground I cannot redeem it, because I have a wife already; and I have no desire to take another, lest there should be contention in my house, and I should become a corrupter of my inheritance. Do thou redeem it, for thou hast no wife; for I cannot redeem it." This needs no comment. But still the gloss of the Targum has no foundation in the law of Moses. See the law, Deuteronomy 25:5-9.