BOAZ (Heb. בֹּעַז), the son of Salmah, great-grandfather of King David. Boaz was descended from Nahshon, the son of Amminadab (Ruth 4:20-22; i Chron. 2:10-15), prince of the tribe of Judah in the generation of the wilderness (Num. 1:7). He lived in Beth-Lehem in the time of the Judges and is described as a “man of substance,” that is, a wealthy landowner employing many young men and women on his estate (Ruth 2:1). *Ruth, the Moabite daughter-in-law of Naomi, came to glean in his fields, and Boaz expressed his appreciation for her kindness and devotion to the widowed Naomi. Being a kinsman of Elimelech, Ruth’s late father-in-law, Boaz undertook to redeem the latter’s inheritance. He then married Ruth (ibid., 2:11-12; 3:12; 4:1-15).
[Nahum M. Sarna]
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In the Aggadah
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Boaz was a prince of Israel (Ruth R. 5:15) and the head of the bet din of Beth-Lehem. He is, therefore, sometimes identified with the judge Ibzan of Beth-Lehem (Judg. 12:8) who lost his sixty children during his lifetime (bb 91a). Ruth and Naomi arrived in Beth-Lehem on the day on which Boaz’ wife was buried (ibid.). He had a vision that Ruth would be the ancestress of David (Shab. 113b). When Ruth told him that as a Moabite she was excluded from marrying him (Deut. 23:4), Boaz responded that this prohibition applied only to the males of Moab and not to the females (Ruth R. 4:1). Although a prince, Boaz himself supervised the threshing of the grain and slept in the barn in order to prevent profligacy (Ruth R. 5:15). When awakened by Ruth, he believed her to be a devil, and only after touching her hair was he convinced to the contrary since devils are bald (Ruth R. 6:1). The six measures of barley which he gave her were a symbol of her destiny to become the ancestress of six pious men, among them David and the Messiah (Sanh. 93a-b). Boaz was 80 years old and Ruth 40 when they married (Ruth R. 6:2), and although he died the day after the wedding (Mid. Ruth, Zuta 4:13), their union was blessed with a child, Obed, David’s grandfather. In recognition of his merits, certain customs that Boaz originated were retained and received heavenly approval – the use of the Divine name in greeting one’s fellow man (Ruth 2:4; Ber. 9:5) and the ceremony of pronouncing benedictions on a bridal couple in the presence of ten men (Ket. 7a).
bibliography:
S. Yeivin, in: Eretz Israel, 5 (1958), 97-104; W. Rudolph, Ruth (19622), 36; J.A. Montgomery, in: jqr, 25 (1934/35), 265; R.B.Y. Scott, in: jbl, 58 (1939), 143ff.; M. Burrows, ibid., 59 (1940), 445-6; F. Dijkema, in: Nieuw Theologisch Tijdschrift, 24 (1953), 111-8; em, 2 (1965), 282-3 (incl. bibl.). in the aggadah: Ginzberg, Legends, 4 (1947), 30-34; 6 (1946), 187-94.
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