Who was Boaz?

Ruth 2:8-12

⁸ So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me.

⁹ Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”

¹⁰ At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”

¹¹ Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before.

¹² May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

New International Version (NIV)

The answer

Boaz was a wealthy, God-fearing landowner in Bethlehem, a relative of Naomi’s husband Elimelech, who became Ruth’s husband and the redeemer of her deceased husband’s family (Ruth 2:1; Ruth 4:9-10).

• He protected and provided for Ruth. When she came to glean in his fields, Boaz kept her close to his workers, instructed the young men not to harm her, and made water available to her. He also recognized her faithful care for Naomi and prayed that God would reward her for taking refuge under His wings (Ruth 2:8-12).
• He acted honourably as kinsman-redeemer. Boaz first gave a closer relative the opportunity to redeem Elimelech’s land. When that man declined, Boaz settled the matter publicly before the town elders, redeemed the family property, and married Ruth, Mahlon’s widow, so that her deceased husband’s name and inheritance would be preserved (Ruth 4:1-10).
• He became an ancestor of David and Jesus. Boaz and Ruth had a son named Obed, who became the father of Jesse and grandfather of David. Boaz himself was the son of Salmon and Rahab, and Matthew names both Rahab and Ruth in Jesus’ genealogy (Ruth 4:17-22; Matthew 1:5).

Boaz’s story combines practical kindness, integrity, and responsibility toward family with God’s wider purpose: through his marriage to Ruth, a Moabite widow was brought into the family line leading to King David and ultimately to Jesus Christ.

Answered from Scripture · reviewed November 12, 2026

Scripture cited

• Ruth 2:8-12
• Ruth 2:1-7
• Ruth 4:1-22
• Matthew 1:1-6