The Tetragrammaton  =  hwhy = YaHuWaH

Ruwth

Background:

Besides being a love story in its own right and a true historical account of the rescue of the lineage of King Dawiyd and the Messiah, the book of Ruwth is also an allegory of Messiah's benefits to those “returning to Aluah from among the Gentiles” (cf. Acts 15:19), made possible only by our Kinsman Redeemer from the tribe of Yahuwdah. The book is an epic recounted each year at Shabuoth (Pentecost), which is the first day of the wheat harvest and the end of the barley harvest. Some think the prophet Shemuel wrote this chronicle.

1:1 It happened in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. A certain man of Bayith Lechem Yahuwdah went to sojourn in the country of Mow'ab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.

When the judges ruled: essentially an age of warlords, shortly after Yahuwshua's conquest of Kanaan. Based on Judges 6:3, some date this famine to the time of Gid’on. Bayith Lechem means “House of Bread”. Mow'ab: the land of one of Lot’s sons, meaning “from father” or “away from Father”. It is east of the Dead Sea between Mt. Nebo and the Arnon River canyon. 4:11 tells us that this was Bayith Lechem Ephrathah (where Messiah would also be born, Micha 5:2), and Judges 12 identifies Ephrathites with Ephrayimites, so the allegorical level of this story refers to the Northern Kingdom, which had left the Land because they had left the covenant. They had plenty, but when King Yarab’am set up alternative worship sites, there was a famine for hearing YaHuWaH’s words. (Amos 8:11) These are the “lost sheep of the House of Ysra'al”. (YirmeYahuw 50:6; Mat. 15:24) To leave the Land of Ysra'al is always a “descent” in Hebrew terms. The Book of Judges details these times when “there was no king in the Land”. When YaHuWSHuWaH went out among the nations to seek the lost sheep (Luke 15), that was where the food was, for He had the bread of life, as with Yoseph during the famine in Ya'aqob’s day. Ysra'al is only fed by coming to Him.

1:2 The name of the man was Eliymelek, and the name of his wife No'omiy, and the name of his two sons Machlown and Kilyown, Ephrathiy of Bayith Lechem Yahuwdah. They came into the country of Mow'ab, and continued there. 1:3  Eliymelek No'omiy’s husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. 1:4 They took them wives of the women of Mow'ab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruwth: and they lived there about ten years. 1:5 Machlown and Kilyown both died, and the woman was bereaved of her two children and of her husband. 1:6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Mow'ab: for she had heard in the country of Mow'ab how that YaHuWaH had visited his people in giving them bread. 

Returned also means “repented” in Hebrew. Though Ruwth herself had never literally been in Yahuwdah before, this term (which also means “repented”) shows that she symbolizes the Northern Kingdom (now indistinguishable from those with whom they mixed) that had left the Covenant, but is now turning away from the “fields” (which symbolize the world, Matt. 13:38) and rejecting Mow'ab (being away from the Father).

1:7 She went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Yahuwdah. 1:8 No'omiy said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house:YaHuWaH deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead, and with me.  1:9 YaHuWaH grant you that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband.”  Her husband: i.e., a new husband.

Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voice, and wept. 1:10 They said to her, “No, but we will return with you to your people.”

1:11 No'omiy said, “Go back, my daughters. Why do you want to go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? 1:12 Go back, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, ‘I have hope,’ if I should even have a husband tonight, and should also bear sons; 1:13 would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from having husbands? No, my daughters, for it grieves me much for your sakes, for the hand of YaHuWaH has gone out against me.”

1:14 They lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruwth joined with her. 1:15 She said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people, and to her god. Follow your sister-in-law.”

1:16 Ruwth said, “Don’t press me to leave you, and to return from following after you, for where you go, I will go; and where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your Aluah my Aluah; 1:17 where you die, will I die, and there will I be buried. YaHuWaH do so to me, and more also, if anything but death part you and me.”

1:18 When she saw that she was steadfastly minded to go with her, she left off speaking to her.

1:19 So they two went until they came to Bayith Lechem. It happened, when they were come to Bayith Lechem, that all the city was moved about them, and the women said, “Is this No'omiy?”

1:20 She said to them, “Don’t call me No'omiy. Call me Mara; for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 1:21 I went out full, and YaHuWaH has brought me home again empty; why do you call me No'omiy, seeing YaHuWaH has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?” 1:22 So No'omiy returned, and Ruwth the Mow'abiy, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the country of Mow'ab: and they came to Bayith Lechem in the beginning of barley harvest.

Barley harvest: Just after Passover, in the spring, the time grafting (Romans 11:17ff) is most successful. Passover is the time when more Gentiles take an interest in YaHuWaH’s festivals than any other time, so it is a season of ripeness. This is the first of two feasts of Firstfruits, the second of which we will encounter later in this account. This is the season of resurrection, for YaHuWSHuWaH was resurrected just before the first day of the Firstfruits of the Barley Harvest - and rose to the Father on the day of Firstfruits as the wave offering (1 Cor. 15:23), and indeed people began returning to YaHuWaH from among the Gentiles right away. (Acts 3:26) But a Levitical firstfruit offering was brought into the Temple on each of the 49 days from then until Shabuoth (Pentecost) from a different area of Ysra'al, so there are more firstfruits than just the Messiah alone. Barley is an unmistakable crop, and tares growing in it can easily be identified and removed without uprooting the barley. It is unlike wheat (which can look just like tares or darnel, Mat. 13:25ff). It corresponds with the altar that is built prior to the rest of the Temple, and of uncut stones—those not shaped by human standards, but only by a river, i.e., the water of the Word. Barley is the first crop in Ysra'al, and thus corresponds to Ephrayim, whom YaHuWaH calls His firstborn (the same word as firstfruits in Hebrew).

2:1 No'omiy had a kinsman of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Bo'az.

Bo'az means “swiftness of movement”. In Rev. 1:1, YaHuWSHuWaH says the events surrounding His return will take place “in rapid succession”. MatithYahuw 1:5 identifies him as the son of Rahab, the prostitute from Yericho who also joined the people of Ysra'al during Yahuwshua’s conquest. He was wealthy or mighty because his grandfather Nakhshon (4:18) was a “prince of the tribe of Yahuwdah” while they were still in the wilderness. (Numbers 2:3)

 2:2 Ruwth the Mow'abiy said to No'omiy, “Let me now go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.”She said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 

She diligently made use of a privilege Aluah had granted to the poor in His command that harvesters should leave the corners of their fields ungleaned for the needy to gather, Lev. 19:9, 10. 

2:3 She went, and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and she just happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Bo'az, who was of the family of Elimelech.

The rabbis say, “Coincidence is not a kosher word!”

2:4 And, lo and behold, Bo'az came from Bayith Lechem, and said to the reapers, “ YaHuWaH be with you.”

They answered him, “ YaHuWaH bless you.”  Notice that in that age, YaHuWaH’s name was used for everyday greetings.

2:5 Then said Bo'az to his servant who was set over the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?”

2:6 The servant who was set over the reapers answered, “It is the Mow'ab woman who came back with No'omiy from the fields of Mow'ab. 2:7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So she came, and has continued even from the morning until now, except that she sat down in the house a little while.”

2:8 Then Bo'az said to Ruwth, “Listen, my daughter. Don’t go to glean in another field, and don’t go from here, but stay here close to my maidens. 

YaHuWSHuWaH told us to “stay in Him and let His Words—the protective limits of YaHuWaH’s instruction--remain in us (Yahuwchanan/John 15:7). The field symbolizes the world (Mat. 13:38), which is a dangerous place if we are outside the camp, without protection of a community based on Torah.

2:9 Let your eyes be on the field that they reap, and go after them. Haven’t I commanded the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go to the vessels holding the water, and drink from that which the young men have drawn.”

Though she was a foreigner and had none of the responsibilities of the employees, she was given all the same privileges they had. “The sons of the Kingdom (Ephrayim) are free.” (Matt. 17:26; 20:1-16) Ephesians 2:11-19 explains this story. YashaYahuw 55:1 opens this invitation for those who cannot pay to come and drink freely. (Compare Yahuwchanan/John 7:37)

2:10 Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take knowledge of me, seeing I am a foreigner?”

2:11 Bo'az answered her, “It has fully been shown me, all that you have done to your mother-in-law since the death of your husband; and how you have left your father and your mother, and the land of your birth, and have come to a people that you didn’t know before. 2:12 May YaHuWaH repay you for your deeds, and a full reward be given you from YaHuWaH, the Aluah of Ysra'al, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

Deeds: Her “work” consisted of seeking YaHuWaH’s refuge. (Yoch. 6:27) Wings: the outermost corners of one’s garment on which the reminders to obey YaHuWaH’s commands are found. (Num. 15:38-39) Find refuge: compare 3:9; Psalm 91; Mal. 4:2; Mat. 9:21.

2:13 Then she said, “Let me find favor in your sight, my master, because you have comforted me, and because you have spoken kindly to your handmaid, though I am certainly not to be compared to one of your handmaidens!”

2:14 At meal time Bo'az said to her, “Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your morsel in the vinegar.”

Dip your morsel: A symbol of friendship (Rev. 3:20)--the meaning of Ruwth's name--but also a foreshadowing of Messiah's suffering, according to Jewish sources. Note the similarity to the moment with Yehudah at His last Passover (Mark 14:20).

She sat beside the reapers, and he passed her parched grain, and she ate, and was satisfied, and left some of it. 2:15 When she had risen up to glean, Bo'az commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, but don’t do it in a way that causes her embarrassment; 2:16 but rather pull out some for her from the bundles, and leave it, and let her glean, and don’t rebuke her.”

2:17 So she gleaned in the field until evening; and she beat out that which she had gleaned, and it was about an efah of barley [a little over a bushel]. 2:18 She took it up, and went into the city; and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth and gave to her that which she had left after she had eaten her fill.

2:19 Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? Where have you worked? Blessed be he who noticed you.”

She told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Bo'az.” 2:20 No'omiy said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of YaHuWaH, who has not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead.” No'omiy said to her, “The man is a close relative to us; in fact, he is one of those qualified to be our kinsman-redeemer!

Kinsman-redeemer: designated by the laws of lineage as one who could purchase land an impoverished relative had lost in order to keep it in the family (Lev. 25:25-26). He would also marry the childless widow of one who had no living brother, to bring him an heir (Deut. 25:5-6; Num. 27:8-11). On a larger scale, Adam, the legal representative of us all, forfeited the legal right to be ruler of the earth, but YaHuWSHuWaH, the Second Adam and his faithful kinsman, redeemed it.

2:21 Ruwth the Mow'abiy said, “Yes, he said to me, ‘You shall stay close to the servants that are mine until they have ended all my harvest.’”

2:22 No'omiy said to Ruwth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maidens, and that the men not meet you in any other field.” 2:23 So she stayed close to the maidens of Bo'az, to glean to the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and she lived with her mother-in-law.

The end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest both occur at the Festival of Shabuoth, which foreshadows the ingathering from among all nations--symbolized by leavened bread--between Messiah's first and second comings. It comes after 49 days of counting, paralleling YaHuWSHuWaH’s command to stay in Yahrushalom until this day, when they would be empowered from on high. (Acts 1:4-8) The leaven represents the mixture of ritually unclean Gentiles with Ysra'al in this harvest of souls from which the hard-to-distinguish tares must be removed (Mat. 9:37) in contrast to the earlier, unleavened harvest. The end of the wheat harvest is not until Sukkoth, at the end of the summer. But we have not reached that point yet. (3:2) Did she wait until Sukkoth—through the whole summer? Yet in the next chapter he is still dealing with the barley harvest. The key is that the word “ends” here is the same as “brides” in Hebrew; it is like Ya'aqob’s experience: his first bride came at the end of one “harvest” period, but his next came right afterward, at the beginning of his next “harvest”. Bo'az obtains his bride right between the two:

3:1 No'omiy her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not indeed look into arranging a settlement for you - that it may be well with you? 3:2 Now isn’t Bo'az our kinsman, with whose maidens you were? Behold, he winnows barley tonight in the threshing floor. 

Winnowing barley is easier in the evening when there is more breeze. Wind is the same as Ruwach in Hebrew, and winnowing thus depicts teaching the word by putting it out where the Ruwach can separate away the useless chaff. Thus it also symbolizes YaHuWaH's separating the righteous from the wicked. (Matt. 3:12; YermiYahuw 15:7)

3:3 Therefore wash yourself, anoint yourself, get dressed, and go down to the threshing floor, but don’t make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.  3:4 It shall be, when he lies down, that you shall mark the place where he shall lie, and you shall go in, and uncover his feet, and lay down; then he will tell you what you shall do.”

In the darkness she could not have distinguished him from those who were with him if she had not marked the spot in daylight. This compares to the readiness of the five wise virgins. (Mat. 25) Uncover his feet: this symbolizes digging out what the festivals (called “feet” in Exodus 23:14) mean, and they are all about YaHuWSHuWaH taking us under His wings. We can trust His judgment, for He knows what needs to be done about our plight.

3:5 She said to her, “All that you say I will do.” 3:6 She went down to the threshing floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law told her. 3:7 When Bo'az had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. She came softly, uncovered his feet, and laid her down. 3:8 It happened at midnight, that the man was startled and turned himself; and behold, a woman lay at his feet.  3:9 He said, “Who are you?”

Feet are symbolic of the Pilgrimage Festivals (Passover/Unleavened Bread, Shabuoth, and Sukkoth), since they are actually called “three feet” or “three paces” in Ex.23:14. So this act symbolizes the Northern Kingdom coming back and finding rest in the appointed times YaHuWaH had commanded.

She answered, “I am Ruwth your handmaid. Therefore spread your skirt over your handmaid; for you are qualified to be a kinsman-redeemer.”

Spread your skirt over: Not a proposition, but a request that he fulfill his lewirate duty (Deut. 25:5-9) by extending his protection to his relatives’ family. (Compare note on 2:12 and ZecharYahuw 8:23.) The House of Ysra'al are YaHuWSHuWaH’s kinsmen. The covering also bespeaks His authority.

3:10 He said, “Blessed are you by YaHuWaH, my daughter. You have shown more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as you didn’t follow young men, whether poor or rich.

She chose the old man—the ancient Adam, whom YaHuWSHuWaH is reconstructing—over the young (the image of the Beast), and this brought her YaHuWaH’s added blessing.

 3:11 Now, my daughter, don’t be afraid; I will do to you all that you say; for all the city of my people does know that you are a worthy woman. 

A worthy woman: eyshet chayil, the same phrase used in Prov. 31:10. Who can find one? Bo'az could, and he represents YaHuWSHuWaH, who found the spark of value in the dirtied Northern Kingdom.

3:12 Now it is true that I am a near kinsman; however there is a kinsman nearer than I.

The plot thickens! Another man legally had the first option on fulfilling this role. The sin of Adam, our nearer kinsman, stands legally in the way of YaHuWaH's love, but like Esau, this elder brother of YaHuWSHuWaH lost his rights, so YaHuWSHuWaH, who, like Adam, is called YaHuWaH's Son, fulfilled the covenant that Adam broke. But there is another who goes back even further: haSatan, the King of Tyre (Yehezqel 28).who usurped the earth after the creation of Adam.

 3:13 Stay this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform for you the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman’s part. But if he will not do the part of a kinsman for you, then will I do the part of a kinsman for you, as YaHuWaH lives. Lie down until the morning.”

3:14 She lay at his feet until the morning. She rose up before one could discern another. For he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” 3:15 He said, “Bring the mantle that is on you, and hold it.” She held it; and he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her; and he went into the city.

Like the six water pots full of water these six measures represent the 6000 years allotted to man. 

Both the House of Yahuwdah and the fullness of the Gentiles are brought in within the first six millennia of earth’s history. (Compare Yahuwch. 6:13).

3:16 When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did it go, my daughter?”

She told her all that the man had done to her. 3:17 She said, “He gave me these six measures of barley; for he said, ‘Don’t go empty to your mother-in-law.’”

3:18 Then she said, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will fall; for the man will not rest, until he has finished the thing this day.”

4:1 Now Bo'az went up to the gate, and sat down there. Behold, the near kinsman of whom Bo'az spoke came by; to whom he said, “Come over here, friend, and sit down!” He turned aside, and sat down. 

Such a distinguished personage: the King of Tyre, or Heylel (Lucifer, YashaYahuw 14), was once the highest of YaHuWaH’s creations. This title relates to “going to and fro”, which describes haSatan. (Gen. 8:7; Iyob/Job 1:7; 1 Kefa/Peter 5:8) But the root meaning is “forsaken one”, which Heylel was after becoming lifted up with pride. But if he is still sitting in the gate, i.e., still in the heavenlies, where the elders sit, this is prior to that fall—or simultaneous with it. This deal was struck “before the foundation of the earth”, when all who belong to Mashiyach were “chosen in Him”. (Eph. 1:4)

4:2 He took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here.” They sat down.

Ten men: a minyan, or quorum needed for legal business or public prayer; cf. Gen. 18:32; YermiYahuw 15:1; Zech. 8:23. It also corresponds to the eyfah Ruwth had gathered (2:17), representing the congregation on the heavenly mountain where haSatan had to report. (YashaYahuw 14:13)

 4:3 He said to the near kinsman, “No'omiy, who has come back out of the country of Mow'ab, is selling the parcel of land, which was our brother Eliymelek’s.  4:4 I thought to disclose it to you, saying, ‘Buy it before those who sit here, and before the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know. For there is no one to redeem it besides you; and I am after you.”

He said, “I will redeem it.”

4:5 Then Bo'az said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of No'omiy, you must buy it also from Ruwth the Mow'abitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance.”

4:6 The near kinsman said, “I can’t redeem it for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption for yourself; for I can’t redeem it.” 

“My own inheritance” would have to be divided between his previous children and Ruwth's, who would legally be Machlown's heirs.

4:7 Now this was the custom in former time in Ysra'al concerning redeeming and concerning exchanging, to confirm all things: a man took off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor; and this was the manner of attestation in Ysra'al.  4:8 So the near kinsman said to Bo'az, “Buy it for yourself.” He took off his shoe.

HaSatan and his incarnation the Counterfeit Messiah are the “fowler” of Psalm 91 who tries to snare us. Thus they are like Esau, the hunter, the older brother of Ya'aqob (the heel-grabber), who nonetheless obtained what he had first right to, being more worthy of it. By being bruised on His heel, YaHuWSHuWaH crushed haSatan’s head. (Gen. 3:15) The evil inclination affected the way YaHuWSHuWaH had to walk, for death had no right to Him, but He had to deal with our sin, but he eventually took haSatan’s crown because He sued haSatan for His wrongful death. HaSatan had to hand it over, according to the Judge, and now YaHuWSHuWaH has the keys to sin and death which haSatan once had.

4:9 Bo'az said to the elders, and to all the people, “You are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Kilyown’s and Machlown’s, from the hand of No'omiy.

"All authority in heaven and earth" was given to YaHuWSHuWaH (Matt. 28:18), who redeemed the cursed earth from Satan, who had gained it by Adam's forfeiture.

 4:10 Moreover Ruwth, the wife of Machlown, I have purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, that the name of the dead not be cut off from among his brothers, and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses this day.”

Not be cut off: The importance of this particular line being continued is that it guaranteed the advent of the Messianic throne. But on a larger scale, once a descendant of Ya'aqob is cut off from his inheritance, he cannot reclaim it on his own; only an immediate relative who still has rights can choose to provide a foot back in the door. Since the Northern Kingdom forfeited its rights in the Land by willfully departing from the covenant, they could not reclaim that connection without someone from Yahuwdah, the tribe that remained generally faithful to the Torah, and He in particular having obeyed it completely, could make it possible for the descendants of the apostates to return. The Renewed Covenant is YaHuWaH’s amazing, roundabout solution to the restoration of the scattered tribes to their original inheritance, and like Ruwth, the nations with whom the House of Ysra'al mixed also benefit from this redemption if they choose to take the option of joining themselves to Ysra'el’s Aluah. (YashaYahuw 55:5; Eph. 2:12ff) So Ruwth represents the fulfillment of YaHuWaH’s promise to graft all nations into Abraham’s seed. (Gen. 22:18)

4:11 All the people who were in the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May YaHuWaH make the woman who has come into your house like Rachel and like Leah, which two built the house of Ysra'al; and treat you worthily in Ephrathah, and be famous in Bayith Lechem. 4:12 Let your house be like the  House of Perets, whom Tamar bore to Yahuwdah, of the seed which YaHuWaH shall give you from this young woman.”

Like the House of Parets: a seemingly unflattering blessing, considering the circumstances of Tamar's bearing Parets (Gen. 38). But, as in the case of Bo'az, it was a roundabout means by which YaHuWaH established the continuation of the Messianic line, which had been threatened by Yahuwdah's failure to allow his son's widow the proper levirate redemption. The "seed" refers not only to the immediate redemption, but also to the descendant of hers who would fulfill the prophecy of the “Seed of the Woman” (Gen. 3:15).

4:13 So Bo'az took Ruwth, and she became his wife; and he went in to her, and YaHuWaH gave her conception, and she bore a son. 4:14 The women said to No'omiy, “Blessed be YaHuWaH, who has not left you this day without a redeemer; and let his name be famous in Ysra'al. 4:15 He shall be to you a restorer of life, and sustain you in your old age, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.” 

A restorer of life: a dead man’s lineage was resurrected. Better than seven sons: compare 1 Shmuel 1:8.

4:16 No'omiy took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse to it. 4:17 The women, her neighbors, gave him a name, saying, “There is a son born to No'omiy;” and they named him Owbed. He is the father of Yishay, the father of Dawiyd.

4:18 Now this is the history of the generations of Paretz: Parets became the father of Chetsrown,  4:19 and Chetsrown became the father of Ram, and Ram became the father of Ammiynadab, 4:20 and Ammiynadab became the father of Nahchown, and Nahchown became the father of Salmon, 4:21 and Salmon became the father of Bo'az, and Bo'az became the father of Owbed, 4:22 and Owbed became the father of Yishai, and Yishai became the father of Dawiyd.

Now this is the history of the generations of Paretz: 

This discourse pattern signals the continuity of the Messianic genealogy, which is reiterated several times throughout Genesis. Herein also lies the key to the strange blessing in v. 12: after Adam's fall, this word "generations" is spelled "defectively" - missing a "waw",  (though pronounced the same way) in every case until this one, where the full spelling is restored. Owbed's birth sealed the guarantee that the throne of his grandson David, and thus Messiah's throne, would be established. The missing letter - the "waw" has the numeric value of 6, the number of man. Through this recombining of the Two Houses of Ysra'al, one new man was formed. (Eph. 2:15).