There was one other serious impediment in the way of the marriage of Ruth and Bo'az. Another Is'ra-el-ite, who was a nearer kinsman to Mah'lon, was entitled to the heart and hand of Ruth; only after he had given up all claims to this right and responsibility could Bo'az legally proceed with the marriage which he desired so much.
It is Bo'az who takes the leading part in the final act of this fascinating drama. Throughout the story his character has stood out in superb glory, but now it shines forth in the brilliance of the noonday sun. We have seen him as a successful farmer; honoring, and honored by, his workmen; we have looked upon him in his generous regard for the poor, quick to perceive virtue and to honor it; he has lived and walked before us as a deeply religious and wholly righteous man, wise and self-controlled; and we have admired him as a manly and sincere lover, always pure in thought and deed.
Now we are to behold him as a hero dealing fairly with a rival, meeting with honor every requirement of the laws of his people, and acting as a redeemer for the woman he loved. Going at once to the place of civil judgment, he acted in a spirit of candor and fair dealing. In the presence of witnesses he stated the facts, giving the lawful heir to Mah'lon's inheritance, which included the obligation of taking Ruth as a wife, a fair opportunity to claim all that the law allowed him.
When the kinsman of Mah'lon refused to carry out his responsibilities in the Lev'i-rate Marriage, Bo'az paid the required redemption fee, and he and Ruth were married at once.
There was born to them a son whom they called O'bed, who later became the father of Jes'se, and the grandfather of Da'vid, the great king of Is'ra-el. Thus Bo'az and Ruth became the ancestors of a long line of kings who ruled over Is'ra-el and Ju'dah, and of the Mes-si'ah who came into the world to save mankind from sin and to head a great Spiritual Kingdom.
