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what might be the modern equivalent of a city gate as a place for community decision making?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

Ruth 4:1-2

Now Boaz went up to the gate, and sat down there. Behold, the kinsman-redeemer of whom Boaz spoke came by. And he said, "Ho, such a one! Turn aside, sit down here." He turned aside, and sat down. He took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, "Sit down here." They sat down.

This passage describes Boaz, a wealthy landowner, going to the city gate to resolve a complex legal and social issue concerning inheritance and marriage for Ruth and Naomi. The city gate was the traditional place where legal and community decisions were made by elders.

What spaces in our contemporary world hold a similar function for community decisions, even if less formally?

Keep thinking

Read alongside it

  • Deuteronomy 21:19

    Describes elders and legal proceedings taking place at the city gate.

  • Proverbs 31:23

    Mentions a respected person sitting among the elders at the gate.

  • Amos 5:15

    Calls for justice at the gate, highlighting its role in legal matters.

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