Ruth 2:17
“So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Ruth gleans until evening and threshes out about an ephah of barley, a remarkable amount.
What Does Ruth 2:17 Mean?
Ruth works faithfully until evening, then beats out the grain she has gathered, and it comes to about an ephah of barley, a strikingly large amount, far more than a gleaner could normally hope to collect in a single day. The deliberate kindness of Boaz, combined with Ruth's diligence, has yielded an extraordinary harvest.
The abundance tells its own story. What began as a humble hope, to glean a little after the reapers, has become a heaping measure that will feed Ruth and Naomi for many days. Faithful labor met with hidden grace produces overflow. This is the way God often blesses: He honors honest effort and adds to it a generosity beyond all expectation. Ruth carried home not just barley but evidence of a providence at work on her behalf. The empty hands of two widows are being filled to overflowing, and the harvest in the basket is a sign of the redemption still to come.
In the Original Language
ephah (אֵיפָה), 'ephah' — a large dry measure of grain; the amount marks Ruth's gleaning as far beyond an ordinary day's gathering.