Lectionary Calendar
Saturday, July 19th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Read the Bible

New Life Version

Ruth 4:2

And Boaz took ten of the leaders of the city and said, "Sit down here." So they sat down.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Contracts;   Court;   Government;   Heir;   Jury;   Marriage;   Witness;   Thompson Chain Reference - Elders;   Leaders;   Religious;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Courts of Justice;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Gate;   Names;   Widow;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Boaz;   City;   Elder;   Ruler;   Widow;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Elder;   Leadership;   Redeem, Redemption;   Widow;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Boaz;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Cities and Urban Life;   Court Systems;   Economic Life;   Judge (Office);   Levirate Law, Levirate Marriage;   Ruth;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Boaz;   City;   Elder;   Marriage;   Sabbatical Year;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Numbers (2);   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Elders;   Gate;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Kinsman;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Elder;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Gate;  

Encyclopedias:

- The Jewish Encyclopedia - Elder;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for June 17;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then Boaz took ten men of the town’s elders and said, “Sit here.” And they sat down.
Hebrew Names Version
He took ten men of the Zakenim of the city, and said, Sit you down here. They sat down.
King James Version
And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.
Lexham English Bible
And he took ten men from the elders of the city and said, "Sit here." And they sat.
English Standard Version
And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, "Sit down here." So they sat down.
New Century Version
Boaz gathered ten of the elders of the city and told them, "Sit down here!" So they sat down.
New English Translation
Boaz chose ten of the village leaders and said, "Sit down here!" So they sat down.
Amplified Bible
Then Boaz took ten men from the elders of the city and said, "Sit down here." And they sat down.
New American Standard Bible
Then he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, "Sit down here." So they sat down.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then he tooke ten men of the Elders of the citie, and sayd, Sit ye downe here. And they sate downe.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, "Sit down here." So they sat down.
Contemporary English Version
Then Boaz got ten of the town leaders and also asked them to sit down. After they had sat down,
Complete Jewish Bible
He took ten of the city's leaders and said, "Sit down here"; and they sat down.
Darby Translation
And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit down here. And they sat down.
Easy-to-Read Version
Boaz also gathered ten of the elders of the city. He told them, "Sit here!" So they sat down.
George Lamsa Translation
And Boaz selected ten men of the elders of the city, and seated them by him.
Good News Translation
Then Boaz got ten of the leaders of the town and asked them to sit down there too. When they were seated,
Literal Translation
And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit down here. And they sat down.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
& he toke ten men of the Elders of ye cite, & sayde: Syt you downe here. And they sat the downe.
American Standard Version
And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.
Bible in Basic English
Then he got ten of the responsible men of the town, and said, Be seated here. And they took their seats.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he toke ten men of the elders of the citie, and said: sit ye downe here. And they sat downe.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said: 'Sit ye down here.' And they sat down.
King James Version (1611)
And hee tooke ten men of the Elders of the citie, and said, Sit ye downe here. And they sate downe.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Booz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye here; and they sat down.
English Revised Version
And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.
Berean Standard Bible
Then Boaz took ten of the elders of the city and said, "Sit here," and they did so.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe Booz took ten `men of the eldere men of the citee, and seide to hem, Sitte ye here.
Young's Literal Translation
And he taketh ten men of the elders of the city, and saith, `Sit down here;' and they sit down.
Update Bible Version
And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit down here. And they sat down.
Webster's Bible Translation
And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.
World English Bible
He took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit you down here. They sat down.
New King James Version
And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, "Sit down here." So they sat down.
New Living Translation
Then Boaz called ten leaders from the town and asked them to sit as witnesses.
New Revised Standard
Then Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, "Sit down here"; so they sat down.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then fetched he ten men of the elders of the city, and said - Sit ye down here. And they sat down.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And Booz, taking ten men of the ancients of the city, said to them: Sit ye down here.
Revised Standard Version
And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, "Sit down here"; so they sat down.
THE MESSAGE
Boaz then gathered ten of the town elders together and said, "Sit down here with us; we've got some business to take care of." And they sat down.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
He took ten men of the elders of the city and said, "Sit down here." So they sat down.

Contextual Overview

1 Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there. He saw the in-law of the family that he had spoken about pass by. So Boaz said, "Come here, friend, and sit down." So the man came and sat down. 2 And Boaz took ten of the leaders of the city and said, "Sit down here." So they sat down. 3 Then Boaz said to the close in-law, "Naomi has returned from the land of Moab. She is selling the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4 I thought I should let you know about it. Buy it in front of those who are sitting here, and in front of the leaders of my people. If you will buy it, then buy it. But if not, tell me you do not want to buy it, so I may know. For you have the right to be the first one to buy it. And I am after you." The man said, "I will buy it." 5 Then Boaz said, "The day you buy the field from Naomi, you must take Ruth, the Moabite woman, also. She is the wife of the dead man. You must keep alive the name of the dead man on his land." 6 Then the close in-law said, "I cannot buy it for myself because it might be that my own children would not be able to own my land later. Take it for yourself. I give you my right to buy it, for I cannot buy it." 7 This is what was done before in Israel to show that the buying or trading of land was decided upon. A man would take off his shoe and give it to another. This would make sure what was decided. 8 So he said to Boaz, "Buy it for yourself." And he took off his shoe.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the elders: Exodus 18:21, Exodus 18:22, Exodus 21:8, Deuteronomy 29:10, Deuteronomy 31:28, 1 Kings 21:8, Proverbs 31:23, Lamentations 5:14, Acts 6:12

Reciprocal: Joshua 20:4 - at the entering Job 29:7 - General Isaiah 8:2 - I took

Cross-References

Genesis 3:23
So the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to work the ground from which he was taken.
Genesis 4:25
And Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and gave him the name Seth. For she said, "God has let me have another son in the place of Abel, for Cain killed him."
Genesis 4:26
A son was born to Seth also, and he gave him the name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord.
Genesis 9:20
Then Noah became a farmer and planted a grape-field.
Genesis 37:13
Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them." And Joseph said to him, "I will go."
Genesis 47:3
Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What is your work?" So they said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers."
Exodus 3:1
Now Moses was taking care of the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the religious leader of Midian. He led the flock to the west side of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Psalms 127:3
See, children are a gift from the Lord. The children born to us are our special reward.
Amos 7:15
But the Lord took me from following the flock and said to me, ‘Go and speak in My name to My people Israel.'
Luke 11:51
It will be from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zacharias, the one who died between the altar and the house of God. For sure, I tell you, the people of this day will be guilty for this.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he took ten men of the elders of the city,.... Who were such, not merely in age but in office, who were the heads of thousands, fifties, and tens; ten of whom were a quorum to do business in judiciary affairs, to determine such matters as Boaz had propose, as to whom the right of redemption of a brother and kinsman's widow, and her estate, belonged, and who were the proper witnesses of the refusal of the one to do it, and of the other's doing it and from hence the Jews e gather, that the blessing of the bride and bridegroom at their marriage is not to be done by less than ten persons:

and said, sit down here, and they sat down; and so made a full court.

e Misnah Megillah, c. 4. sect. 3. T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 7. 1. Midrash Ruth, fol. 35. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Every city was governed by elders (see Deuteronomy 19:12; Judges 8:14). For the number “ten,” compare Exodus 18:25. Probably the presence of, at least, ten elders was necessary to make a lawful public assembly, as among modern Jews ten (a minyon) are necessary to constitute a synagogue.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ruth 4:2. He took ten men — Probably it required this number to constitute a court. How simple and how rational was this proceeding!

1. The man who had a suit went to the city gates.

2. Here he stopped till the person with whom he had the suit came to the gate on his way to his work.

3. He called him by name, and he stopped and sat down.

4. Then ten elders were called, and they came and sat down.

5. When all this was done, the appellant preferred his suit.

6. Then the appellee returned his answer.

7. When the elders heard the case, and the response of the appellee, they pronounced judgment, which judgment was always according to the custom of the place.

8. When this was done, the people who happened to be present witnessed the issue.

And thus the business was settled without lawyers or legal casuistry. A question of this kind, in one of our courts of justice, in these enlightened times, would require many days' previous preparation of the attorney, and several hours' arguing between counsellor Botherum and counsellor Borum, till even an enlightened and conscientious judge would find it extremely difficult to decide whether Naomi might sell her own land, and whether Boaz or Peloni might buy it! O, glorious uncertainty of modern law!


 
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