[Avodah] Another approach to Ruth's geirus

[Akiva Miller via Avodah]

.
R' Zev Sero wrote:

> It seems obvious to me that the issue was discharging
> Machlon's and Kilyon's obligations, and Ruth was such an
> obligation. Whether or not she was ever his lawful wife, he
> owed her, and unless she was taken care of his obligations
> would not be settled.
> Thus, even if you wish to say that M&K thought their marriages
> were legitimate, it's not necessary to believe that Boaz
> agreed with them.

I honestly don't know enough about this whole "redeemer" business to
respond intelligently. I wish I did. This geulah is probably too
complicated to explain in a few paragraphs, so instead, here's a
related question which is probably simpler:

What obligations are you referring to? If Ruth had not converted, then
there was no kiddushin. I'll repeat that: Even if it is mutar to marry
a woman AZ-nik (not from the Seven Nations) that marriage is one of
convenience, maybe even love, but not of kiddushin, and I'm not aware
of any halachic obligations that the husband has toward such a wife.
I'm certainly not aware of any obligations that the husband's
relatives would have.

I can see obligations that the Goel would have towards the husband
himself, and we see in pasuk 4:4, that Ploni Almoni was willing to buy
the field from Naami in order to meet those obligations to Elimelech.
But in 4:5, Boaz pointed out that buying it from Naami would be
insufficient. He'd have to buy it from both Naami and Ruth, at which
point Ploni declined and Boaz himself accepted the responsibility.

My question is: *What* responsibility? What responsibility does the
Goel (whoever he might be) have towards Ruth, if Ruth's conversion was
absent or invalid?

(I anticipate an answer similar to: "Regardless of the status of the
family, Elimelech's field was owned by both Naami and Ruth, so if we
want the field to return to Elimelech's family, then the money must be
paid to the owners, namely both Naami and Ruth." But if that is so,
then Ploni or Boaz could have redeemed it right away when Elimelech
left. Why did they wait ten years?)

Akiva Miller