Topical Encyclopedia
Introduction:Boaz is a prominent figure in the Old Testament, known for his role in the Book of Ruth. He is a man of wealth, integrity, and faith, living during the time of the Judges. Boaz's account is significant in the lineage of King David and ultimately, Jesus Christ.
Background and Lineage:Boaz is introduced in the Book of Ruth as a "man of standing" from the clan of Elimelech (
Ruth 2:1). He resides in Bethlehem, a town in Judah. Boaz is a descendant of Perez, the son of Judah and Tamar, which places him in the genealogical line leading to King David (
Ruth 4:18-22).
Role in the Book of Ruth:Boaz's narrative unfolds during a time of famine in Israel, which had led Elimelech, Naomi, and their sons to Moab. After the deaths of her husband and sons, Naomi returns to Bethlehem with her Moabite daughter-in-law, Ruth. Ruth's loyalty to Naomi and her faith in the God of Israel are central themes in the account.
Upon their return, Ruth gleans in the fields of Boaz to provide for herself and Naomi. Boaz notices her and shows her favor, instructing his workers to leave extra grain for her to gather (
Ruth 2:8-9). His actions demonstrate his kindness and adherence to the Mosaic Law, which commanded landowners to leave gleanings for the poor and the foreigner (
Leviticus 19:9-10).
Kinsman-Redeemer:Boaz's role as a kinsman-redeemer is pivotal. The concept of the kinsman-redeemer is rooted in the Levitical law, which provided a way to preserve family lineage and property (
Leviticus 25:25). Naomi identifies Boaz as a potential redeemer for her family, and Ruth approaches him at the threshing floor, requesting his protection and redemption (
Ruth 3:9).
Boaz agrees to redeem Ruth, but first, he must address a closer relative who has the first right of redemption. In a public transaction at the city gate, the nearer kinsman relinquishes his right, allowing Boaz to marry Ruth (
Ruth 4:1-10). This act of redemption not only secures Ruth and Naomi's future but also integrates Ruth, a Moabite, into the covenant community of Israel.
Marriage to Ruth and Legacy:Boaz marries Ruth, and they have a son named Obed. Obed becomes the grandfather of King David, establishing Boaz as a key figure in the Davidic line (
Ruth 4:13-17). This lineage is significant in the New Testament, as it leads to the birth of Jesus Christ, fulfilling the Messianic prophecies (
Matthew 1:5-16).
Character and Significance:Boaz is portrayed as a man of noble character, embodying the virtues of kindness, generosity, and faithfulness. His actions reflect a deep commitment to God's law and compassion for others. Boaz's willingness to redeem Ruth and Naomi highlights the themes of redemption and divine providence that run throughout the Book of Ruth.
Boaz's account is a testament to God's sovereignty and grace, demonstrating how He works through ordinary people to fulfill His redemptive purposes. Through Boaz, the lineage of the Messiah is preserved, underscoring the importance of faithfulness and obedience in God's plan for salvation.
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
Boazor Booz, in strength
Smith's Bible Dictionary
Boaz(fleetness).
- A wealthy Bethlehemite kinsman to Elimelech the husband of Naomi. He married Ruth, and redeemed the estates of her deceased husband Mahlon. (Ruth 4:1) Boaz is mentioned in the genealogy of Christ, (Matthew 1:5) (B.C. 1250, but there is great difficulty in assigning his date.)
- The name of one of Solomon's brazen pillars erected in the temple porch. [JACHIN] It stood on the left, and was eighteen cubits high. (1 Kings 7:15;21;2 Chronicles 3:15;Jeremiah 52:21)
ATS Bible Dictionary
BoazRuth 2:1, a wealthy Bethlehemite, a descendant of Judah, through whom is traced the regular succession of Jewish kings,Matthew 1:5. His conduct in the case of Ruth proves him to have been a man of fine spirit and of strict integrity. He admitted the claim which Ruth had upon him as a near kinsman: under the obligations of the Levitical law, he married the poor gleaner, and thus became one of the ancestors of David, and also of David's Son and Lord. He was the father of Obed, Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse of David. The whole narrative is a beautiful picture of the simplicity of the age, when artificial courtesies had not usurped the place of natural and sincere expressions of love.
Boaz was also the name of one of the two brazen pillars which Solomon erected in the porch of the temple, the other being calledJACHIN. These columns were about thirty-five feet high,1 Kings 7:15,16,21.
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Alacrity.
(1.) The husband of Ruth, a wealthy Bethlehemite. By the "levirate law" the duty devolved on him of marrying Ruth the Moabitess (Ruth 4:1-13). He was a kinsman of Mahlon, her first husband.
(2.) The name given (for what reason is unknown) to one of the two (the other was called Jachin) brazen pillars which Solomon erected in the court of the temple (1 Kings 7:21;2 Chronicles 3:17). These pillars were broken up and carried to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar.
Jachin and Boaz
The names of two brazen columns set up in Solomon's temple (1 Kings 7:15-22). Each was eighteen cubits high and twelve in circumference (Jeremiah 52:21, 23;1 Kings 7:17-21). They had doubtless a symbolical import.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
BOAZbo'-az (bo`az; Booz; "quickness" (?)Ruth 2-41 Chronicles 2:11, 12;Matthew 1:5Luke 3:32):
(1) A resident of Bethlehem and kinsman of Elimelech, Naomi's husband. InRuth 2:1 he is described as a gibbor chayil, a phrase which can mean either "a mighty man of valor" or else "a man of position and wealth." The latter is probably the sense in which the phrase is applied to Boaz (compare1 Samuel 9:1). He had fields outside the town, and to them Ruth went to glean. Boaz noticed her and extended special kindness and protection to her, bidding her remain with his female workers, and charging the men not to illtreat her, and also giving her of the reapers' food at mealtime. Boaz awoke one night and found Ruth lying at his feet. He praised her virtue, and promised to take charge of her if her dead husband's next-of-kin failed to do so. He laid her case before the next-of-kin, and finally redeemed the family property himself and bought as well the right to take Ruth in marriage. The son of Boaz and Ruth was Obed, father of Jesse, and grandfather of David.1 Chronicles 2:11, 12 makes Boaz a descendant of Hezron, and so probably a chief of the Hezronite clan in Bethlehem. Jewish tradition identifies Boaz with Ibzan (Judges 12:8-10).
Boaz "is set before us as a model of piety, generosity and chastity" (H. P. Smith, Old Testament History, 398). He found virtue and rewarded it. HPM, sections 501-8, gives a picture of the life of "a well-to-do landed proprietor of central Palestine," much of which could aptly be taken as a description of Boaz.
(2) The name of one of the two bronze pillars erected in front of Solomon's temple, the other being Jachin (1 Kings 7:212 Chronicles 3:17).
SeeJACHIN AND BOAZ;TEMPLE.
David Francis Roberts
JACHIN AND BOAZ
ja'-kin (yakhin, "he shall establish"; bo`az, "in it is strength,"1 Kings 7:15-222 Kings 25:16, 17;2 Chronicles 3:15-17Jeremiah 52:17): These were the names of the two bronze pillars that stood before the temple of Solomon. They were not used in supporting the building; their appearance, therefore, must have been solely due to moral and symbolic reasons. What these are it is not easy to say. The pillars were not altar pillars with hearths at their top, as supposed by W.R. Smith (Religion of the Semites, 191, 468); rather they were "pillars of witness," as was the pillar that witnessed the contract between Jacob and Laban (Genesis 31:52). At difficulty arises about the height of the pillars. The writers in Kings and Jeremiah affirm that the pillars before the porch were 18 cubits high apiece (1 Kings 7:15Jeremiah 52:21), while the Chronicler states that they were 35 cubits (2 Chronicles 3:15). Various methods have been suggested of reconciling this discrepancy, but it is more probable that there is a corruption in the Chronicler's number. On the contruction of the pillars and their capitals, see TEMPLE. At the final capture of Jerusalem they were broken up and the metal of which they were composed was sent to Babylon (2 Kings 25:13, 16). In Ezekiel's ideal temple the two pillars are represented by pillars of wood (Ezekiel 40:49).
W. Shaw Caldecott
Greek
1003. Boos --Boaz, an Israelite...Boaz, an Israelite. Part of Speech: Proper Noun, Indeclinable Transliteration: Boos
Phonetic Spelling: (bo-oz') Short Definition:
Boaz Definition:
Boaz, son of
...4503. Rhouth -- Ruth, a Moabitess and an ancestor of Christ
... Part of Speech: Proper Noun, Indeclinable Transliteration: Rhouth Phonetic Spelling:
(hrooth) Short Definition: Ruth Definition: Ruth, wife ofBoaz and mother...
4533. Salmon -- Salmon, an Israelite
... Proper Noun, Indeclinable Transliteration: Salmon Phonetic Spelling: (sal-mone')
Short Definition: Salmon Definition: Salmon, son of Nahshon and father ofBoaz...
Strong's Hebrew
1162.Boaz -- "quickness," an ancestor of David, also a pillar......Boaz. 1163 . "quickness," an ancestor of David, also a pillar before the temple.
Transliteration:
Boaz Phonetic Spelling: (bo'-az) Short Definition:
Boaz.
...8009. Salmah -- Salmon, father ofBoaz
... 8008, 8009. Salmah. 8010 . Salmon, father ofBoaz. Transliteration: Salmah
Phonetic Spelling: (sal-maw') Short Definition: Salmon....
8007. Salma -- father ofBoaz, also the founder of Bethlehem
... 8006, 8007. Salma. 8008 . father ofBoaz, also the founder of Bethlehem.
Transliteration: Salma Phonetic Spelling: (sal-maw') Short Definition: Salma....
8012. Salmon -- father ofBoaz
... 8011, 8012. Salmon. 8013 . father ofBoaz. Transliteration: Salmon Phonetic
Spelling: (sal-mone') Short Definition: Salmon. Word...
Library
Boaz and Ruth.
...BOAZ AND RUTH. When Naomi returned to Bethlehem she was poor....Boaz saw
Ruth gleaning, and asked one of his servants who she was....
Ruth.
... It was about the beginning of the barley harvest. There was a good and great man
in Bethlehem namedBoaz, and he was of the family of Naomi's husband....
The Story of Ruth, the Gleaner
... There was living in Bethlehem at that time a very rich man namedBoaz.... It so happened
that she was gleaning in the field that belonged toBoaz, this rich man....
Ruth and Naomi.
... and sons. There lived in Bethlehem a man namedBoaz, who was a relative
of Naomi's husband, and who was also very wealthy. He had...
Ruth
... The love"stronger than country"of Ruth for Naomi, the gracious figure ofBoaz as
he moves about the fields with a word of blessing for the reapers, the...
The Devotion of Ruth
... the barley harvest. Now Naomi was related through her husband toBoaz,
a very wealthy man of the family of Elimelech. Ruth, the...
Judges and Ruth.
... (2)Boaz the rich Bethlehemite accepting this strange woman in an illustration
of the redemptive work of Jesus.... III. Ruth andBoaz, Chs.2-4....
Ruth the Gleaner.
... Now whenBoaz, the farmer, came down to the village to see how the work went on
in his field, he called out, "God be with you" to his reapers; and they answered...
Ruth
... SERMON X. RUTH. RUTH ii.4. And, behold,Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto
the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee....
A Full Reward.
... The beauty of the narrative ofBoaz saluting his reapers with, "Thy LORD be with
you," and their reply, "The LORD bless thee," must delight every reader....
Thesaurus
Boaz (25 Occurrences)... Jachin and
Boaz. The names of two brazen columns set up in Solomon's temple
(1 Kings 7:15-22).
... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
BOAZ.
...Boaz's (1 Occurrence)
... Multi-Version ConcordanceBoaz's (1 Occurrence). Ruth 2:3 And she goeth
and cometh and gathereth in a field after the reapers, and...
Bo'az (24 Occurrences)
Bo'az.Boaz, Bo'az.Boaz's . Multi-Version Concordance... Matthew 1:5 Salmon became
the father ofBoaz by Rahab.Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth....
Obed (13 Occurrences)
... (1.) A son ofBoaz and Ruth (Ruth 4:21, 22), and the grandfather of David (Matthew
1:5).... Matthew 1:5 Salmon became the father ofBoaz by Rahab....
Salmon (7 Occurrences)
... sal'-mon, (salmon, "investiture" (Ruth 4:21), salmah, "clothing" (Ruth 4:20), salma'
(1 Chronicles 2:11, 51, 54); Salmon): (1) The father ofBoaz, the husband...
Glean (12 Occurrences)
... Ruth 2:8 ThenBoaz said to Ruth, "Listen, my daughter. Don't go to glean in another
field, and don't go from here, but stay here close to my maidens....
Reapers (15 Occurrences)
... Ruth 2:3 She went, and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and she
happened to come to the portion of the field belonging toBoaz, who was of the...
Elimelech (6 Occurrences)
... God his king, a man of the tribe of Judah, of the family of the Hezronites, and
kinsman ofBoaz, who dwelt in Bethlehem in the days of the judges....
Jachin (8 Occurrences)
... 10). Jachin andBoaz. The names of two brazen columns set up in Solomon's
temple (1 Kings 7:15-22). Each... Crichton. JACHIN ANDBOAZ. ja...
Kinsman (29 Occurrences)
... Ruth 2:1 Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family
of Elimelech, and his name wasBoaz. (WEB KJV JPS ASV WBS NAS RSV)....
Resources
What is the story of Ruth and Boaz? | GotQuestions.orgWhat are Jachin and Boaz? | GotQuestions.orgWho was Ruth in the Bible? | GotQuestions.orgBible Concordance •
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