the law to place the nearest kinsman in an impossible position. The unnamed goel now realized that he had two responsibilities and not one, and that both belonged together. He had a responsibility to Elimelech’s property, and a responsibility to the widow of one of Elimelech’s sons. Since he was the nearest of kin on whom both responsibilities fell, he could hardly accept one without the other. ‘Either he must play the part of the kinsman, or he must not.’18 Usually, we may suppose, if a man left
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