Discovery BoxRuth 4:12 
Context4:12 May your family 1 become like the family of Perez 2 – whom Tamar bore to Judah – through the descendants 3 the Lord gives you by this young woman.”
Ruth 4:18
Context4:18 These are the descendants 4 of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron,
1 tn Heb “your house” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).
2 tn Heb “and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, from the offspring whom the
sn Perez is an appropriate comparison here, because (1) he was an ancestor of Boaz, (2) he was born to Tamar by a surrogate father (Judah) after the death of her husband, and (3) he had an unbroken line of male descendants extending over several generations (see vv. 18-22).
3 tn Heb “from the seed” (KJV, ASV both similar); NASB, NIV “through the offspring”; NRSV “through the children.”
4 tn Or “generations” (so KJV, NASB); NIV, NLT “family line.”
sn The concluding genealogy demonstrates that the prayers of blessing made earlier were fulfilled. Boaz’s line did become like the line of Perez, and both Boaz and Obed became famous. God’s blessing upon Ruth and Boaz extended beyond their lifetime and immediate family, for their great descendant, David, became the greatest of Israel’s kings, and his descendant in turn, Jesus the Messiah, became greater still.
