RUTH 2:17 Parallel Verse View

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Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Καὶ συνέλεξεν ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ ἕως ἑσπέρας, καὶ ἐῤῥάβδισεν ἃ συνέλεξε, καὶ ἐγενήθη ὡς οἰφὶ κριθῶν.
(Kai sunelexen en tōi agrōi heōs hesperas, kai eɽɽabdisen ha sunelexe, kai egenaʸthaʸ hōs oifi krithōn. )

BrTr So she gleaned in the field till evening, and beat out that she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.

ULT So she gleaned in the field until the evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.

UST So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley that she had gathered, to separate the kernels from the stalks. The barley kernels were enough to fill a large basket.

2:17 An ephah is approximately 20 dry quarts or 22 liters (probably about 29 pounds or 13.2 kilograms of barley).

OEB So she gleaned in the field until evening, then beat out what she had gleaned. It was about a bushel of barley.

WEBBE So she gleaned in the field until evening; and she beat out that which she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah[fn] of barley.

2:17 1 ephah is about 22 litres or about 2/3 of a bushel

WMBB So she gleaned in the field until evening; and she beat out that which she had gleaned, and it was about an efah[fn] of barley.

2:17 1 efah is about 22 litres or about 2/3 of a bushel

NET So she gathered grain in the field until evening. When she threshed what she had gathered, it came to about thirty pounds of barley!

LSV And she gleans in the field until the evening, and beats out that which she has gleaned, and it is about an ephah of barley;

FBV Ruth worked in the field until the evening. When she beat out the grain that she had picked up it was a large amount.[fn]

2:17 “Large amount,”: literally, “an ephah,” a unit of measurement of uncertain quantity, estimated at between 22 and 45 liters.

T4T So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. Then she ◄threshed/beat with a stick► the barley that she had gathered, to separate the kernels from the stalks, and the barley filled a large basket.

LEB So she gleaned in the field until the evening and she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.

BBE So she went on getting together the heads of grain till evening; and after crushing out the seed it came to about an ephah of grain.

Moff No Moff RUTH book available

JPS 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.

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.

DRA She gleaned therefore in the field till evening: and beating out with a rod and threshing what she had gleaned, she found about the measure of an ephi of barley, that is, three bushels:

YLT And she gleaneth in the field till the evening, and beateth out that which she hath gleaned, and it is about an ephah of barley;

Drby And she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out what she had gleaned; and it was about an ephah of barley.

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

SLT And she will gather in the field till the evening, and she will beat out what she gathered, and it will be about an ephah of barley.

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

KJB-1769 So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.
(So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley. )

KJB-1611 So she gleaned in the field vntill euen, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an Ephah of barley.
(So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an Ephah of barley.)

Bshps And so she gathered in the fielde vntil euen, and threshed that she had gathered, and it was in measure vpon an Epha of barlye.
(And so she gathered in the field until even, and threshed that she had gathered, and it was in measure upon an Epha of barley.)

Gnva So she gleaned in the fielde vntill euening, and she thresshed that shee had gathered, and it was about an Ephah of barly.
(So she gleaned in the field until evening, and she thresshed that she had gathered, and it was about an Ephah of barley. )

Cvdl So she gathered in the felde vntyll euen and she shaked out what she had gathered, and it was allmost an Epha of barlye:
(So she gathered in the field until even and she shaked out what she had gathered, and it was almost an Epha of barley:)

Wycl Therfor sche gaderide in the feeld `til to euentid; and sche beet with a yerde, and schook out tho thingis that sche hadde gaderid; and sche foond of barly as the mesure of ephi, that is, thre buschels.
(Therefore she gathered in the field till to eventide/evening; and she beet with a rod/stick, and shoek out those things that she had gathered; and she found of barley as the measure of ephi, that is, three bushels.)

Luth Also las sie auf dem Felde bis zum Abend und schlug es aus, was sie aufgelesen hatte; und es war bei einem Epha Gerste.
(So read they/she/them on/in/to to_him field until for_the evening/night and hit/beat(v) it out, what/which they/she/them on/in/togelesen had; and it what/which at/in on Epha barley.)

ClVg Collegit ergo in agro usque ad vesperam: et quæ collegerat virga cædens et excutiens, invenit hordei quasi ephi mensuram, id est, tres modios.[fn]
(Collegit therefore in/into/on field until to evening: and which collegerat rod/staff killns and excutiens, he_found barley as_if ephi measure, that it_is, three handfuls. )

2.17 Quasi ephi. Cum in lectione per sanctæ Trinitatis confessionem discit catholicam fidem. In ephi mensura, quæ tres modios continet, signatur una divinitatis substantia, et trium personarum proprietas.

2.17 As_if ephi. Since in/into/on lectione through holy Trinitatis confession discit Catholic/universalm faith. In ephi measure, which three handfuls contains, is_signed together of_divinity substance, and three of_persons properlytas.

SOTN 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.

Parallel RUTH 2:17

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

2:17a

2:17b

2:17c

The Setting of Ruth