Foundation Text

Matthew 1:5; Hebrews 2:14-17

Greek Key Terms

• G1080 γεννάω (gennaō) - "to beget, give birth to"
• G1005 Βοόζ (Booz) - "Boaz"
• G4503 Ῥούθ (Hrouth) - "Ruth"
• G2841 κοινωνέω (koinōneō) - "to share in, participate"
• G4561 σάρξ (sarx) - "flesh"
• G129 αἷμα (haima) - "blood"
• G3348 μετέχω (metechō) - "to partake, share"
• G80 ἀδελφός (adelphos) - "brother"
• G3666 ὁμοιόω (homoioō) - "to make like, become similar"
• G2433 ἱλάσκομαι (hilaskomai) - "to make propitiation, atone"

Context: Matthew 1:5 includes Boaz in Jesus' genealogy: "Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth." This places the kinsman-redeemer in Christ's direct lineage. Hebrews 2:14-17 explains why Christ became human: "Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death...For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, in order to make atonement for the sins of the people."

OT-to-OT Development

• Matthew's genealogy fulfills the Ruth genealogy (Ruth 4:18-22), extending it to Christ.
• Hebrews' incarnation theology reflects the goel principle: to redeem, one must be kin. Christ "shared in" (μετέχω) our nature to qualify as Redeemer.
• The four women in Matthew's genealogy (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Uriah's wife) all represent "irregular" situations where grace operated outside normal channels—anticipating the Gentile mission.

Connections

• TO OT: Ruth 4:17-22 (Boaz's genealogical place), Leviticus 25:25, 47-49 (goel must be kinsman), Isaiah 59:20 (Redeemer will come to Zion)
• FROM NT: Romans 8:3-4 (God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh), Galatians 4:4-5 (born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem), Philippians 2:7 (taking the form of a servant)
• PARALLEL: John 1:14 (the Word became flesh and dwelt among us)

Christological Connection: These texts make explicit what the go'el relation required and what Boaz embodied — the NT lands its warrant on the relation, never on Boaz's person. (1) Genealogical Link: "Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth"—Christ descends from the kinsman-redeemer. Matthew's interest is lineage, not typology: Boaz appears in the genealogy as an ancestor, and the NT nowhere types him. (2) Shared Humanity: "He too shared in their humanity" (μετέσχεν)—Christ became our kinsman. Like Boaz was kin to Elimelech's family, Christ became kin to humanity. (3) To Destroy the Enslaver: Boaz redeemed Ruth from poverty and widowhood; Christ's incarnation "destroy[s] him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil" (Heb 2:14). (4) Made Like Brothers: "He had to be made like His brothers in every way." The goel had to be related. Christ's incarnation was not optional but necessary—"He had to be." (5) To Make Atonement: The incarnation purpose: "to make atonement for the sins of the people." Boaz paid the redemption price for land and widow; Christ paid with "His own blood" (Heb 9:12). The kinsman-redeemer trajectory reaches its fulfillment in Christ.

Connection Method(s): Typology (Institutional / relation, Backward-Looking) — the type fulfilled here is the divinely-appointed go'el relation (Lev 25:25), read retrospectively from the NT, not Boaz-the-man as a forward-looking personal type: Ruth draws no prospective signal on his person and no NT text types him. Hebrews 2:14-17 supplies the kinsman premise only — incarnation → shared flesh and blood → a merciful and faithful high priest who makes atonement. Its own antitype is high-priesthood and atonement (ἱλάσκεσθαι, v. 17), not the go'el ransom-price: redemption by go'el is purchase, a price paid across to free a debtor, while propitiation is sacrifice, blood offered up on an altar, and Hebrews reasons incarnation → kinship → priesthood → atonement without ever citing Lev 25 or Ruth. Heb 2:15's deliverance of those "held in slavery by their fear of death" does answer the go'el slave-redemption clause (Lev 25:47-49), so the passage carries kin and bondage-deliverance — but not the blood-price, which rides 1 Pet 1:18-19 and Eph 1:7, while the ability rides the Isaianic YHWH-go'el title. Also Promise-Fulfillment (Matt 1:5) — the Ruth genealogy reaching its term in the Messiah. Also Longitudinal Theme (Redemption) — the composite warrant is distributed across the texts that carry each leg; no one of them is "the mechanism."

Trajectory Table: 015 - Boaz (Kinsman-Redeemer)