Rut 4:1

1. Went… up to the gate Not from the harvest field, for, according to Ruth 3:15, (see note,) he went into the city after he sent Ruth away, but he went up from his house in the city. The gate itself may have been on no higher elevation than his own house, but, being the place of judgment, and therefore a place of honour in the eyes of the people, his going to it is spoken of as a going up.

Sat him down there As one that had an important case for judgment. From the earliest times the gates of cities were the places where the courts of justice were held. The custom probably grew out of the fact that the gates were places easy of access to all the people, and witnesses and other persons concerned could come there with least inconvenience. See note on Matthew 16:18. Compare also Genesis 23:10; Genesis 23:18; Genesis 34:20; Deuteronomy 16:18-20; Deuteronomy 17:8; Jos 20:4 ; 1 Kings 22:10.

Ho, such a one An idiomatic expression. פלני אלמני , Peloni almoni; that is, Mr. Such a one, of such a place. Boaz probably called the kinsman by his proper name, but the author of this book has substituted for it this idiomatic phrase.