Boaz

Boaz was a wealthy and honorable landowner of Bethlehem from the clan of Elimelech, the deceased husband of Naomi (Ruth 2:1). He showed exceptional kindness (hesed) to the Moabite widow Ruth when she gleaned in his fields, instructing his workers to leave extra grain for her and inviting her to eat with his reapers. When Naomi identified him as a kinsman-redeemer, Boaz undertook the legal process at the city gate to marry Ruth and redeem Elimelech's land (Ruth 4), after the nearer kinsman declined. Their son Obed became the father of Jesse and grandfather of King David (Ruth 4:17–22; Matthew 1:5). Boaz is celebrated in the book of Ruth as a model of generosity, integrity, and covenantal faithfulness extending even to a foreign widow.