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Ruth 2:17

in Ruth 2

So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. And when she beat out what she had gleaned, it was about an ephah of barley.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

So she gleaned in the field until even; and she beat out that which she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.

KJV

So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.

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This verse in Ruth 2

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
And beat out that she had gleaned - Namely, with a stick, as the word implies (compare Deu 24:20; Isa 27:12). This method is still commonly practiced. Ruth gleaned enough to support herself and her mother-in-law for five days Exo 16:16.

This site's exposition

So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening

on Ruth 2:17-18

The yield, "about an ephah of barley", is one of the book's few measures, and Exodus 16:36 fixes an ephah at ten omers. An omer was one person's manna for a day, so one day of gleaning carried home ten days of bread, a yield Matthew Henry and Keil and Delitzsch call remarkable. In town she first hands Naomi "what she had saved from her meal".

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

So she gleaned in the field until even,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Ruth had gathered it ear by ear, but, when she had put it all together, it was an ephah of barley, about four pecks. Many a little makes a great deal. It is an encouragement to industry that in all labour, even that of gleaning, there is profit, but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

and beat out that she had gleaned--When the quantity of grain was small, it was beat out by means of a stick. an ephah--supposed to contain about a bushel.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

An ephah of barley - Not less than seven gallons and a half; a good day’s work. On Hebrew measures of capacity, see the note on Exo 16:16.

The words behind it

11 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַתְּלַקֵּ֥טand she gleaned

    vatelaketH3950 →37 times

  • בַּשָּׂדֶ֖הin the field

    basadehH7704 →334 times

  • עַד־until

    ʾad-H5704 →1261 times

  • הָעָ֑רֶבthe evening

    haarevH6153 →

  • וַתַּחְבֹּט֙and she beat out

    vatachbotH2251 →

  • אֵ֣ת<obj.>

    ʾetH853 →10935 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־[that] which

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • לִקֵּ֔טָהshe had gleaned

    liketahH3950 →37 times

  • וַיְהִ֖יand it was

    vayhiH1961 →3559 times

  • כְּאֵיפָ֥הabout an ephah

    keeifahH374 →

  • שְׂעֹרִֽים׃barley<s>

    seorimH8184 →34 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

4 in all, six open

The walk

7 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Proverbs 31:27

    She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

    it leads to

    • 1 Timothy 5:10

      and well known for good deeds such as bringing up children, entertaining strangers, washing the feet of the saints, imparting relief to the afflicted, and devoting herself to every good work.

    • Titus 2:4

      In this way they can train the young women to love their husbands and children,

    • 2 Thessalonians 3:6

      Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who leads an undisciplined life that is not in keeping with the tradition you received…

    • Proverbs 14:1

      Every wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.

    • 1 Thessalonians 4:11

      and to aspire to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you.

  • Through

    Exodus 16:36

    (Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.)

    it leads to

    • Exodus 16:16

      This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. You may take an omer for each person in your tent.’”

    • Exodus 16:32–33

      Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Keep an omer of manna for the generations to come, so that they may see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I…

Where this verse is studied

About Ruth

Ruth and Boaz — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Ruth and Boaz — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Ruth: the study guide →Read Ruth 2 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Ruth 2 →