What does Ruth 4:11 mean?

When Naomi returned to Bethlehem, her old friends were excited to see her (Ruth 1:19). Despite her despised Moabite heritage, Ruth quickly gained a reputation in the city as an honorable woman because of her care for her mother-in-law (Ruth 2:11; 3:11). Boaz is also known as a worthy man, perhaps even a military hero (Ruth 2:1). To see the three of them together is almost more than the people can stand.

The people and the ten elders declare "we are witnesses." They affirm that Boaz has bought Naomi's land, he has accepted Ruth as his wife, and he will provide Naomi's deceased husband with an heir to re-inherit that land.

That Ruth is "coming into [Boaz's] house" means they affirm Ruth's declaration that she abandoned her people and her gods and declared herself to be an Israelite and a worshiper of Yahweh (Ruth 1:16–17). God's pronouncement that Moabites will be barred from the assembly of the Israelites until the tenth generation is avoided; Ruth is grafted in (Deuteronomy 23:3–6). This was exactly the intent of the law: not as racial prejudice, but to ensure that only those loyal to the One True God were part of Israel.

Rachel and Leah were Jacob's wives. Together with their handmaidens, they gave Jacob thirteen children (Genesis 30:21; 35:23–26). The people pray blessings of fertility on Ruth.

"Ephrathah" is a name somehow associated with Bethlehem, but the exact relationship is unknown. It may have been a pre-Israelite name for the district. The phrase "May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem" is a typical example of synonymous parallelism, which is common in Hebrew poetry.

This blessing of fertility, and a misinterpretation of Boaz's comment on kindness (Ruth 3:10), leads many biblical scholars to speculate that until this point, Boaz had never married or had married but not had sons. As a "worthy man" (Ruth 2:1) it seems unlikely Boaz had not married before. If he had sons, it would seemingly make more sense for Boaz to marry Ruth to one of them. But the text doesn't say. In all the genealogies that mention Boaz, Obed is the only son mentioned (Ruth 4:18–22; 1 Chronicles 2:11–15; Matthew 1:1–16; Luke 3:23–38). It's unknown if this is because Boaz had no other sons or because those chronologies are focused on the genealogical march to David and ultimately to Jesus.