Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye [are] witnesses this day.
Ver. 10. Moreover Ruth the Moabitess.] But a proselyte: not such as were Solomon's mistresses of Moab, who caused him to sin, Neh 13:26 but such as was Jether, by nature an Ishmaelite, 1Ch 2:17 but by his faith and religion an Israelite. 2Sa 17:25
Have I purchased to be my wife.] Neither could he pay too dear for such a purchase, since procul prae unionibus precium eius, "her price is far above rubies." Pro 31:10 A good wife was one of the first real and royal gifts bestowed on Adam.
And from the gate of his place.] Hence some note that Elimelech had been a man of authority among them, an elder and judge in the gate.