BIBLE VERSE STUDY
Ruth 4:17 — The Naming of Obed and the Line of David
The women of the town name Ruth's son Obed, declaring him a son born to Naomi, and the verse identifies Obed as the grandfather of David.
Scripture
17And the women her neighbors gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
What this passage means
The verse reports a communal act of naming. The women neighbors — the same circle that had blessed Naomi in 4:14–15 — are the ones who 'gave him a name,' speaking the formula 'A son is born to Naomi.' In the Hebrew narrative the naming is attributed to these women, not to Boaz or Ruth, which signals that the child is being received into the wider community as Naomi's heir and restorer.
The name 'Obed' is given within the speech of the women, who say 'and they called his name Obed.' The verse itself then appends a genealogical gloss: 'he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.' This is the only place in the book of Ruth where the name David appears, and it functions as the interpretive key for the entire narrative — Boaz's redemption, Ruth's loyalty, and Naomi's restoration all point forward to the line from which David will come.
By stating 'a son born to Naomi' rather than 'a son born to Ruth,' the women treat the child as the continuation of Elimelech's family line. The verse thereby completes the book's central concern with continuing the name of the dead upon his inheritance (see 4:10). The child is simultaneously Boaz's biological son, Ruth's firstborn, and Naomi's heir.
Context
Verse 17 sits at the hinge between the story proper and the genealogy that closes the book (4:18–22). In 4:13 Boaz takes Ruth as his wife and she bears a son. In 4:14–16 the women bless Jehovah for not leaving Naomi without a 'near kinsman' (goʾel), call the child a 'restorer of life' and 'nourisher of her old age,' and Naomi takes the child into her bosom as nurse. Verse 17 is the narrative capstone: the women perform the naming and the text identifies the child as David's grandfather.
The genealogy in 4:18–22 traces the line Perez → Hezron → Ram → Amminadab → Nahshon → Salmon → Boaz → Obed → Jesse → David. By placing the genealogy immediately after the naming, the book shows that the naming in 4:17 is not a private event but the moment at which the child is inserted into the official line of Israel.
Common questions
Why do the women, and not the parents, name the child?
The text attributes the naming to the 'women her neighbors,' matching the naming customs reflected elsewhere in the Old Testament where community members, especially women, participate in naming a newborn. Here it also signals that the child is being received as Naomi's heir by the wider community, not merely as Boaz and Ruth's private child.
Why does the verse say 'a son born to Naomi' instead of 'born to Ruth'?
The phrasing identifies the child as the continuation of Elimelech's household line. Because Ruth married into that family and Boaz performed the role of kinsman-redeemer to raise up the name of the dead (4:10), the child is counted as Naomi's family heir — the restorer promised in 4:15.
Why does the verse mention David?
The genealogical tag 'he is the father of Jesse, the father of David' is the interpretive climax of Ruth. It reveals that the preceding chapters — the famine, the gleaning, the redemption at the gate, the birth of Obed — all lead to the lineage from which Israel's king David will come. This is the only mention of David in the book.