Ruth 4:5

“Then said Boaz, etc.] In order to try the kinsman, whether he would abide by his resolution, he acquaints him with what he had as yet concealed: what day thou buyest the field of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead; the wife of Mahlon, who was dead, the eldest son of Naomi, and so his widow, Ruth the Moabitess, had the reversion of the estate; wherefore the purchase must be made of her as well as of Naomi, and the purchase could not be made of her without marrying her; which, though no law obliged to, yet it seems to be a condition of the purchase annexed to it by Naomi, that she would sell it to no man, unless he would consent to marry Ruth, for whose…”

“Observe the action of the Levirate law. If there had been no one interested but Naomi, she would have sold the land unclogged by any condition, the law of Levirate having no existence in her case. But there was a young widow upon whom the possession of the land would devolve at Naomi’s death, and who already had a right of partnership in it, and the law of Levirate did apply in her case. It was, therefore, the duty of the גאל gā'al to marry her and raise up seed to his brother, i. e. his kinsman. And he could not exercise his right of redeeming the land, unless he was willing at the same time to fulfill his obligations to the deceased by marrying the widow. This he was unwilling to do.…”

“Buy it - According to the law, Deu 25:5. To raise, &c - To revive his name, which was buried with his body, by raising up a seed to him, to be called by his name. Ruth 4:6”

“4:5 your purchase . . . requires that you marry Ruth (literally on the day you purchase . . . you acquire Ruth): In the Hebrew manuscripts that we have, the body of this verse reads I acquire, but a scribal correction in the margin reads you acquire, a difference of one letter. (The scribe believed you acquire was the original reading and that the body of the text contained an error.) Some interpreters believe the body of the Hebrew text (I acquire) is the original reading of the text, indicating that the marriage between Boaz and Ruth was already set to occur (see study note on 3:11). Most translators, however, believe that the marginal correction (you acquire) represents the original…”

“What day: Or rather, according to the emendations proposed by Houbigant and Dr. Kennicott, and which have been confirmed by a great many manuscripts since collated, and agreeably to the ancient versions, "In the day thou purchasest the land from the hand of Naomi, thou wilt also acquire Ruth, the Moabitess, the wife of the dead," etc. This is Boaz's statement of the case to his kinsman, before the people and elders. to raise up: Rut 3:12, Rut 3:13; Gen 38:8; Deu 25:5, Deu 25:6; Mat 22:24; Luk 20:28 Ruth 4:6”