Ruth 4:3
And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech’s: And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech’s:
At the city gate before ten elders of the city as witnesses, Boaz told the kinsman nearer than himself that Naomi who had come back from Moab was selling the parcel of land that was Elimelech's, offering him the first right to redeem it because there was none to redeem it beside him and Boaz was next after him. Naomi had returned from Moab and was selling a parcel of land that had belonged to Elimelech, the family inheritance having passed out of her hands and left her in need. The sale gave Boaz and the nearer kinsman the opportunity to redeem it under Israelite custom, as part of the arrangement to keep a family's inheritance in Canaan from passing outside the family when a man died without an heir.
Israel's law gave the right to redeem a person or inherited land lost through poverty to the nearest blood relative who was able to redeem it, requiring not merely a near relative but the one nearest in blood relationship. The land could be sold, but the sale functioned as a lease under the law of the inalienability of landed property based on the Jubilee, and the family's kinsman-redeemer had the right and, if able, the duty to redeem it so the inheritance would be preserved. The bringing of Naomi's parcel of Elimelech's land before the kinsman for redemption by the near of kin proves that the Jubilee was observed.
The work of the near kinsman is a type of the Lord, illustrating the kinship required for redemption and pointing forward to Christ, who had the right to redeem and gave His life to do so. This redemption law explains the need for Christ to share human flesh and blood, by which He became humanity's nearest of kin and the one able to redeem people and their lost inheritance. Through that kinsman redemption God's care for the Seed is seen, for the Moabitess Ruth became a progenitor according to the flesh of the Lord, and the verse belongs to a beautiful pastoral picture of sweet, simple home life among the children of Israel.