3:9 Spread your wings over your servant. See text note. Ezek. 16:8 explains the idiom. Ruth asks directly for the favor of marriage, although Naomi’s instructions were not quite so bold (v. 4).

redeemer. The law does not specify marriage as the responsibility of such a person, though an extension of Lev. 25 can readily be envisioned. Mahlon’s name and property will be preserved (4:10), suggesting the levirate marriage, but it is difficult to see how Deut. 25:5–6 could be strictly applied. See Introduction: Interpretive Difficulties and note on 2:20. Again, Ruth goes far beyond Naomi’s specified plan.