The warp and woof of ancient Israelite culture was the idea of redemption. On the one hand, you have the exodus which was Redemption par excellent from slavery in Egypt. On the other hand, you have all these other little redemptions going on such as redeeming widows, redeeming slaves, redeeming animals (clean/unclean), redeeming housing, farms, land, etc. Redemption was a very big deal for them.  They took it very seriously.  So, the question is who will redeem Ruth, and also Naomi and ultimately the name of Mahlon.

Well. Boaz and Ruth meet at the feet. Then Boaz tells Ruth that there is a kinsman redeemer that is closer than he is and that he needed to settle business with that guy first. So, Boaz goes out to the city gate and sits with the Elders and then sees the kinsman redeemer and says?

Boaz: “Hey. Mr. So-and-So …”

You: “Huh? Come again?”

Boaz: “Ok – Hey. Mr. No-Name . . .”

You: “What? Can we try that again?”

Boaz: “Hey. Mr. Joe Schmo, John Doe, Joe Blow, Joe Doe. . .  better?”

You: “Still confused.”

Boaz: “How about a blank? Hey Mr. ________”

City Gate Elder: “Uh. No Boaz. In Hebrew, we do do spaces, but not that many.”

Boaz: “How about peloni almoni? It’s quirky but…”[1]

So, Mr. Peloni Almoni shows up and sits down with Boaz. And Boaz apprises him of the situation with Ruth, Naomi and of Mahlon’s name having to be preserved. You know the story. The guy says no and so chooses to reject redeeming her. I.e. He knocks redemption! The very fabric of Israelite society. Oh Jiminy! Not good. 

~ This is an honor/shame, collectivist culture, and Peloni Almoni does something dishonorable. I mean in this culture you are concerned about redeeming even the firstborn donkey, an unclean animal, and yet, he fails to redeem a human being. Boy-O! He fails to redeem someone who is regarded as a woman of character (eshet khayil). He fails to redeem the woman who was Naomi’s “invisible angel” accompanying her from Moab to Judah. He fails to redeem the woman who would be the great-grandmother of none other than David. He also fails to redeem Elimelech’s line and Mahlon’s name. And…And so?

So??? ===> Knock his name out of the Bible!!!!! His name also will not be propagated. He will not be remembered any more.

Peloni Almoni is not a name. It is something like a “Mr. Yeah. Whatever!” {My words. RR}. It is a reduplicative word like hurly burly, heebie jeebies, niminy piminy, or namby pamby. The author of Ruth decided to nix his actual name and add something else which pokes fun at him. Since Peloni Almoni would not preserve Mahlon’s name, likewise his name also would not be preserved. Its poetic justice. The Israelites would have known exactly what was going on and approved. We 21^st century people do not quite get it.

And the best part of it all.  God is behind this all because God is the ultimate author.

Application (even though this is not a sermon):

Transactional: When God provides opps for redemption, then share the Gospel. Don’t knock it.

Transformational: In the text, Boaz knows that peloni almoni might marry Ruth. His composure is that of being concerned but not consumed. Why? He knows that God is in charge. How do we hand control over to God? It begins with prayer.

Transformational: Redemption Redirects Rejection towards a better end. When you live life under God, all rejection becomes redirection. This does not mean that there will be no pain (Joseph!), but redemption’s end is better. Rejection resulted in first off relief and then further many blessings for Boaz, Ruth, and Naomi.

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[1] I know that most Bible translations use the term friend, but that is not the term there. You can empathize with the translator however in that if s/he writes in peloni almoni, you’ll be confused. If however s/he writes in Mr. So-and-So, you’ll be blinking. Using friend is safe.

BTW, what does the name “Ruth” mean btw?                            

Ans. Friend.