RUTH 2:17 Interlinear View

1. Hebrew word
2. Hebrew lemma
3. OET-LV words
4. OET-RV words
5. Strongs
6. Role/Morphology
7. Gloss
8. CAPS codes
9. OET tags
10. OET word #
1. וַ,תְּלַקֵּט
2. 180118,180119
3. And she gleaned
4. So
5. 3950
6. SV-C,Vpw3fs
7. and,she_gleaned
8. S
9. Y-1307
10. 124478
1. בַּ,שָּׂדֶה
2. 180120,180121
3. in the field
4. countryside
6. S-Rd,Ncmsa
7. in_the=field
8. -
9. Y-1307
10. 124479
1. עַד
2. 180122
3. until
4. until
5. 5704
6. S-R
7. until
8. -
9. Y-1307
10. 124480
2. 180123
3. -
4. -
6. -x-maqqef
8. -
9. -
10. 124481
1. הָ,עָרֶב
2. 180124,180125
3. the evening
4. evening
5. 6153
6. S-Td,Ncmsa
7. the,evening
8. -
9. Y-1307
10. 124482
1. וַ,תַּחְבֹּט
2. 180126,180127
3. and she beat out
4. -
5. 2251
6. SV-C,Vqw3fs
7. and,she_beat_out
8. -
9. Y-1307
10. 124483
1. אֵת
2. 180128
3. DOM
4. -
5. 853
6. O-To
7. DOM
8. -
9. Y-1307
10. 124484
1. אֲשֶׁר
2. 180129
3. that which
4. -
6. O-Tr
7. [that]_which
8. -
9. Y-1307
10. 124485
2. 180130
3. -
4. -
6. -x-maqqef
8. -
9. -
10. 124486
1. לִקֵּטָה
2. 180131
3. she had gleaned
4. -
5. 3950
6. V-Vpp3fs
7. she_had_gleaned
8. -
9. Y-1307
10. 124487
1. וַ,יְהִי
2. 180132,180133
3. and he/it was
4. -
5. 1961
6. SV-C,Vqw3ms
7. and=he/it_was
8. -
9. Y-1307
10. 124488
1. כְּ,אֵיפָה
2. 180134,180135
3. about an ʼēyfāh
4. -
5. 374
6. S-R,Ncfsa
7. about,an_ephah
8. -
9. Y-1307
10. 124489
1. שְׂעֹרִים
2. 180136
3. barley(s)
4. barley
5. 8184
6. S-Ncfpa
7. barley(s)
8. -
9. Y-1307
10. 124490
2. 180137
3. -
4. -
6. -x-sof-pasuq
8. -
9. -
10. 124491

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 2:1–23: Ruth gathered grain in a field belonging to Boaz

This third section in the book of Ruth tells how Ruth met Boaz. Since Naomi and Ruth were poor at this time, Ruth asked Naomi for permission to glean in the grain fields in order to find them some food.

Ruth chose a field in which to glean. Although she did not know it, the man who owned that field, Boaz, was a relative of Elimelech. Boaz had heard about Ruth already, but he had not met her. He was sympathetic and kind to her that day, and told her to continue to work in his field during the rest of the harvest time.

That evening, Ruth returned home and told Naomi that the owner of the field where she had gleaned was called Boaz and that he had treated her well. Naomi was very pleased. She encouraged Ruth to continue to work there just as Boaz had invited her to do.

Here are some other examples of section headings:

Ruth Meets Boaz (ESV)

Ruth Works in the Field of Boaz (NET)

2:17a

So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening.

¶ So Ruth gleaned in the field until it began to get dark.
¶ And so Ruth gathered grain in that field the entire day.

So: The Hebrew conjunction that the BSB translates as So here introduces what Ruth did as a result of what Boaz had said in 2:16.

Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening: Ruth worked gathering grain until dusk or evening, when it began to get dark.

Here are some other ways to translate this verse part:

So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. (NIV)

Ruth worked in the field until evening. (CEV)

2:17b

And when she beat out what she had gleaned,

Then she took a stick and beat the barley stalks she had picked up.
When evening came, she separated the barley grain from the stalks she had gathered.

And when she beat out what she had gleaned: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as beat out refers to the process of separating grain from its stalks and husks or chaff. This process is also called threshing. Ruth beat the heads of grain, probably with a stick, to separate out the good grain, the seed kernels. This would make her load lighter, and she would only have to carry the good grain home.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

Then she separated the grain from its husks. (GW)

Then after she had pounded the grain off the stalks (CEV)

Then she threshed the barley she had gathered (NIV)

2:17c

it was about an ephah of barley.

There was enough grain to fill a fifteen-liter container.
The grain weighed about twelve kilograms.

it was about an ephah of barley: After the threshing, Ruth ended up with approximately an ephah of barley. An ephah was a basket of a standard size that the Israelites used for measuring and carrying dry materials. Scholars are not certain as to how much an ephah held in modern measurements.

The following estimates are the most likely possibilities:

by quantity:
15 liters, or approximately 4 gallons, or half a bushel
by weight:
12 kilograms, or 25 pounds

However, the exact amount is not the important point. The main point is that this was a very large amount for someone to glean in one day. You should make this clear in your translation. Apparently Boaz’s workers had obeyed his instructions and left extra stalks of grain for Ruth to pick up. She herself must have worked hard to obtain this large amount.

There are several ways of translating the ancient measurement of ephah:

You can transliterate the Hebrew word ephah. If you do this, you should include a footnote to explain how much this. Use a unit of measurement that would be meaningful to your readers. You could include this information in the text itself. For example:
an ephah, that is, half a bushel
You can use a word from your language that represents a measure that is more or less the same volume as the Hebrew ephah
You can use an approximate measure. For example:
Then after she had pounded the grain off the stalks, she had a large basket full of grain. (CEV)

Translate this unit of measurement in the way that best indicates to your readers that this was a lot of grain.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: translate-unknown

וַ⁠תַּחְבֹּט֙

(Some words not found in UHB: and,she_gleaned in_the=field until the,evening and,she_beat_out DOM which/who gleaned and=he/it_was about,an_ephah barley )

Ruth would have beaten the barley stalks with a big stick until the kernels of edible grain came off. She would then keep only the kernels of grain. Alternate translation: [She beat the edible kernels of grain off of the stalks from]

Note 2 topic: translate-bvolume

כְּ⁠אֵיפָ֥ה

(Some words not found in UHB: and,she_gleaned in_the=field until the,evening and,she_beat_out DOM which/who gleaned and=he/it_was about,an_ephah barley )

An ephah is a unit of measurement equal to about 22 liters. Use the normal measurement for grain in your language. Alternate translation: [about 22 liters of] or [over half a bushel of]

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.

OET interlinear RUTH 2:17

Hebrew word order

Section 2:1–23: Ruth gathered grain in a field belonging to Boaz

2:17a

2:17b

2:17c

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)