The legal decision made ( 4:1–6 ) · The escalating tension and suspense finally reach a climactic outcome. By taking the reader directly to the city gate, the place where legal decisions are heard and decided, the author highlights Boaz’s urgency in attending to the matter as anticipated by Naomi (3:18). Reaching a decision entails assembling Boaz and the redeemer to sit and discuss the matter in the company of ten elders, the number required for legal and marriage benedictions (4:1–2). Once Boaz fully airs the matter with the nameless kinsman-redeemer, the latter determines he cannot fulfill his obligations for personal reasons (4:3–6). The curious omission of the redeemer’s personal name represents the author’s way of giving a high profile to the act of redemption, the necessary event t…