“Salmon was
The father of Boaz
By Rahab.
Boaz was
The father of Obed
By Ruth.
Obed was
The father of Jesse.
Jesse was
The father of King David.”
Σαλμὼν δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Βόες ἐκ τῆς Ῥαχάβ, Βόες δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰωβὴδ ἐκ τῆς Ῥούθ, Ἰωβὴδ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰεσσαί, Ἰεσσαὶ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Δαυεὶδ τὸν βασιλέα.
The genealogy at the end of Ruth, chapter 4, goes from Judah to David. Salmon (Σαλμὼν) or Salma became the father of Boaz (Βόες) with Rahab (Ῥαχάβ) the mother. Boaz became the father of Obed (Ἰωβὴδ) with Ruth (Ῥούθ) the mother. Obed became the father of Jesse (Ἰεσσαί). The Greek text used the term ‘begat’ (ἐγέννησεν) to represent the relationships between these 5 men. However, it seems perfectly acceptable to simply call them the father instead of saying “fathered them.” It is interesting to note that the mention of the mothers in a genealogy was rare. Already, there had been a mention of Tamar, the daughter-in-law of Judah. Ruth was a Moabite non-Jewish widow, with her Jewish mother-in-law Naomi who married Boaz in a beautiful love story in Ruth. However, there was no mention of Boaz’ mother Rahab in that story. Probably it was not the same Rahab mentioned in Joshua, chapters 2 and 6. Jesse then had had 7 sons and 2 daughters. The youngest son was David who became king (Δαυεὶδ τὸν βασιλέα).
