And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself: and, behold, a woman lay at his feet.
The midnight awakening belongs to the beautiful, brief story of Ruth, a pastoral tale set in the time of the judges. That story closes with the ancestry of the Lord Jesus, into which Ruth, a Moabite woman, is brought.
At this point in the account Naomi has directed Ruth to call the attention of Boaz to his duty as goel, or nearest kinsman, toward her deceased husband. Boaz is willing to take on that obligation, but he explains that a nearer relative holds the prior right to redeem the family inheritance and to raise up the dead man's name.
The midnight awakening belongs to the beautiful, brief story of Ruth, a pastoral tale set in the time of the judges. That story closes with the ancestry of the Lord Jesus, into which Ruth, a Moabite woman, is brought.
At this point in the account Naomi has directed Ruth to call the attention of Boaz to his duty as goel, or nearest kinsman, toward her deceased husband. Boaz is willing to take on that obligation, but he explains that a nearer relative holds the prior right to redeem the family inheritance and to raise up the dead man's name.