Ruth 4

Ruth 4:1

Gate] Gates of Cities were the ordinary places of audience, and judicature, Deut. XVII. 2, 8. 2 Sam. XIX. 8. Prov. XXXI. 23. Jer. XXXVIII. 7. Lam. V. 13. And the usual maner of Prophets was to publish their Prophecies in the Gates, either of the Temple, or of the Citie of Jerusalem, Jer. VII. 2. and XIX. 2. and XXVI. 10. and sometimes of the Kings house; as places of greatest concourse of people, Jer. XVII. 19. and XXII. 1, 2.

Ruth 4:6

Lest I marre mine own inheritance] Want an heire, if I shall have but one childe by her: or having many, she being young, and poor, weaken mine owne inheritance, in dividing it among so many, specially if he were now a widower, and had children by his former wife.

Ruth 4:7

A man plucked off his shoe] These Ceremonies then used in buying, and bargaining of land, in reedeeming, and changing, had some resemblance to that Law, Deut. XXV. 8, 9. But with didifferences. See, Psal. LX. 8. The Ceremonies that respected the person of Ruth, are here not mentioned, but may seeme either omitted, or else transacted with much alteration from the first institution as those times now were.