ted citizens were asked to hear
Boaz's case, and to be at once judges and responsible witnesses, and
to ratify the proceedings. In their presence, and in the hearing of
the people who gathered near, Boaz stated the facts, saying to the
"redeemer":

_"Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, seeketh the
parcel of land which was our brother Elimelech's: and I thought to
advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the
elders of my people."_

And then Boaz went on and asked the man if he would redeem it, and the
man said that he would do so. He further explained to him the customs
and conditions of the law, and told him if he took the land he must
also take Ruth the Moabitess to be his wife.

But this was a part of the bargain that the man did not want to
perform, so he turned his right of redemption over to Boaz, giving as
his reason, that he would not mind buying the field if it would become
his own personal property, but if he should marry Ruth the field he
bought would not belong to him; and so he would have paid out money
for something which would bring him little or no benefit.

It is not at all unlikely that he refused to marry Ruth because she
was a Moabitess, fearing that a marriage with an alien might mar his
reputation and position in the city.

When the man had announced his decision, it was confirmed by the usual
custom in all cases of redeeming and exchanging. The one giving up the
claim took off his sandal and gave it to the one who received the
claim. The matter was thus ratified, as though a bond had been drawn
up and signed.

[Illustration: "HE DREW OFF HIS SANDAL AND HANDED IT TO BOAZ."]

In this way the unnamed kinsman of Elimelech refused to redeem Ruth
and her land, and as a proof of it he drew off his sandal and handed
it to Boaz before the ten elders and all the people, thus transferring
to him the legal right to be the "redeemer."

Boaz then called all present to witness that he had that day bought
all that was Elimelech's and all that was Chilion's and all that was
Mahlon's, and also that Ruth the Moabitess was to be his wife. And all
the elders and all the people who were in the gate said they would be
witnesses.

[Illustration: VIEW IN PALESTINE NEAR BETHLEHEM.]
_From a Photograph._

And because Boaz had acted so honorably, all present united in asking
the blessing of God upon his marriage. So, with the approval and best
wishes of his neighbors and