Skip to content

Elimelech's Redeemer

Elimelech's Redeemer (Unnamed kinsman-redeemer of Ruth, Naomi, Elimelech)

The unnamed kinsman-redeemer of Elimelech, Naomi, and Ruth, who had the first right to redeem Elimelech's land and marry Ruth according to the custom of levirate marriage. He ultimately declines to do so, allowing Boaz to fulfill this role instead.

Associations

Family

graph TD; style person/elimelechs_redeemer fill:#2fa4e7,stroke:#333,stroke-width:4px; person/obed(["Obed"]) person/ruth(["Ruth"]) person/boaz(["Boaz"]) person/mahlon(["Mahlon"]) person/kilion(["Kilion"]) person/elimelech(["Elimelech"]) person/naomi(["Naomi"]) person/elimelechs_redeemer(["Elimelech's Redeemer"]) click person/obed "../../person/obed/" click person/ruth "../../person/ruth/" click person/boaz "../../person/boaz/" click person/mahlon "../../person/mahlon/" click person/kilion "../../person/kilion/" click person/elimelech "../../person/elimelech/" click person/naomi "../../person/naomi/" click person/elimelechs_redeemer "../../person/elimelechs_redeemer/" person/naomi <-->|married to| person/elimelech person/naomi -->|parent of| person/ruth person/elimelech -->|related to| person/boaz person/elimelech -->|parent of| person/mahlon person/ruth -->|parent of| person/obed person/elimelech -->|parent of| person/kilion person/ruth <-->|married to| person/kilion person/naomi -->|parent of| person/obed person/ruth -->|related to| person/elimelechs_redeemer person/boaz <-->|married to| person/ruth person/naomi -->|related to| person/elimelechs_redeemer person/elimelech -->|related to| person/elimelechs_redeemer person/naomi -->|parent of| person/kilion person/naomi -->|parent of| person/mahlon

Vocational / functional

graph TD; style person/elimelechs_redeemer fill:#2fa4e7,stroke:#333,stroke-width:4px; role/redeemer(["redeemer"]) person/boaz(["Boaz"]) person/elimelechs_redeemer(["Elimelech's Redeemer"]) click role/redeemer "../../role/redeemer/" click person/boaz "../../person/boaz/" click person/elimelechs_redeemer "../../person/elimelechs_redeemer/" person/elimelechs_redeemer -->|role as| role/redeemer person/boaz -->|role as| role/redeemer

Textual / symbolic

graph TD; style person/elimelechs_redeemer fill:#2fa4e7,stroke:#333,stroke-width:4px; person/boaz(["Boaz"]) symbol/unsandaled_one(["unsandaled one"]) person/elimelechs_redeemer(["Elimelech's Redeemer"]) object/city_gate(["city gate"]) click person/boaz "../../person/boaz/" click symbol/unsandaled_one "../../symbol/unsandaled_one/" click person/elimelechs_redeemer "../../person/elimelechs_redeemer/" click object/city_gate "../../object/city_gate/" person/boaz <.->|associated with| object/city_gate object/city_gate <.->|associated with| person/elimelechs_redeemer person/elimelechs_redeemer -->|example of| symbol/unsandaled_one

  1. The redeemer of whom Boaz had spoken is not named, but he is likely a close relative of Elimelech, possibly a brother or cousin. He has the first right of right/responsibility of redeem the land and marry Ruth according to the custom of levirate marriage (Robert Whiting, 2025). 

  2. The "unsandaled one" is a reference to Leviticus 25:9, "she shall pull off his sandal from his foot, and she shall spit in his face," which describes a shameful practice where the kinsman-redeemer is publicly humiliated, apparently it had been normalized by this time into an accepted cultural practice (Robert Whiting, 2025).