Ruth 2:17

So she gathered grain in the field until evening. When she threshed ¹  what she had gathered, it came to about thirty pounds ²  of barley!

So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah.

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

So Ruth gathered barley there all day, and when she beat out the grain that evening, it came to about half a bushel.

Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. When she threshed out what she had gathered, she ended up with nearly a full sack of barley!

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.

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

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

So she gathered grain in the field until evening. When she threshed ¹  what she had gathered, it came to about thirty pounds ²  of barley!

¹ tn Heb “she beat out” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT). Ruth probably used a stick to separate the kernels of grain from the husks. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63.

² tn Heb “there was an ephah.” An ephah was a dry measure, equivalent to one-tenth of a homer (see HALOT 43 s.v. אֵיפָה). An ephah was equivalent to a “bath,” a liquid measure. Jars labeled “bath” found at archaeological sites in Israel could contain approximately 5.8 gallons, or one-half to two-thirds of a bushel. Thus an ephah of barley would have weighed about 29 to 30 pounds (just over 13 kg). See R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 179.

sn This was a huge amount of barley for one woman to gather in a single day. It testifies both to Ruth’s industry and to Boaz’s generosity.