Bible study · Ruth 4:1-22
Ruth 4: The name of the dead
Read Ruth 4:1-22 before you meet.
In a few lines
At the gate a man the book never names says, "I can’t redeem it" (4:6), and Boaz takes Ruth "to raise up the name of the dead" (4:10). The women name the child Obed, and the book that began in famine ends on one name: David (4:22).
The verse to carry
“The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you today without a near kinsman. Let his name be famous in Israel.”
Ruth 4:14
To talk about
1. The nearer kinsman said, "I can’t redeem it for myself, lest I endanger my own inheritance" (4:6). When has stepping in for someone else felt like a risk to what's yours? What did you do?
2. Naomi once said, "the LORD has brought me home again empty" (1:21). Now the women say, "Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you today without a near kinsman" (4:14). Where have you seen God fill something you thought was empty?
3. The book ends with a list of names from Perez to David (4:18-22). Whose faithfulness before you has shaped your life, and who might be shaped by yours?