Boaz said there was a redeemer nearer than he was. He promised to settle the matter, either by that man redeeming or by Boaz redeeming if the nearer redeemer refused. Boaz explains this in Ruth 3:12–13.
Boaz responds by blessing Ruth and praising her loyalty, saying her latest act of kindness is even greater than her earlier loyalty to Naomi. He reassures her not to fear and promises to do what she has asked, because the whole town knows she is an honorable woman. This scene continues the nighttime meeting at the threshing floor in Ruth 3, where Ruth has approached Boaz with a request tied to family responsibility and future security. The story’s tension shifts from whether Boaz will respond well to whether the right person will act.
Boaz’s first response is verbal: he blesses Ruth in Yahweh’s name and addresses her as “my daughter” (verse 10). The text presents him as respectful and protective, not threatened or scandalized by her approach.
A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.
Start with Ruth 3:12-13, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
12Now it is true that I am a near kinsman; however there is a kinsman nearer than I.
13Stay this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform to 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 to you, then will I do the part of a kinsman to you, as Yahweh lives: lie down until the morning.