Bible Encyclopedia: Gleaning

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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

GLEANING

glen'-ing (laqat, `alal): The custom of allowing the poor to follow the reapers in the field and glean the fallen spears of grain is strikingly illustrated in the story of Ruth (Ruth 2:2-23). This custom had back of it one of the early agricultural laws of the Hebrews (Leviticus 19:9; Leviticus 23:22 Deuteronomy 24:19-21). Breaking this law was a punishable offense. The generosity of the master of the crop determined the value of the gleanings, as the story of Ruth well illustrates (Ruth 2:16). A reaper could easily impose upon the master by leaving too much for the gleaners, who might be his own children. The old Levitical law no longer holds in the land, but the custom of allowing the poor to glean in the grain fields and vineyards is still practiced by generous landlords in Syria. The writer has seen the reapers, even when they exercised considerable care, drop from their hands frequent spears of wheat. When the reapers have been hirelings they have carelessly left bunches of wheat standing behind rocks or near the boundary walls. The owner usually sends one of his boy or girl helpers to glean these. If he is of a generous disposition, he allows some needy woman to follow after the reapers and benefit by their carelessness. It is the custom in some districts, after the main crop of grapes has been gathered, to remove the watchman and allow free access to the vineyards for gleaning the last grapes.

Gideon touched the local pride of the men of Ephraim when he declared that the glory of their conquest surpassed his, as the gleanings of their vineyards did the whole crop of Abiezer (Judges 8:2). Gleaned is used of a captured enemy in Judges 20:45.

Figurative: Israel, because of her wickedness, will be utterly destroyed, even to a thorough gleaning and destruction of those who first escape (Jeremiah 6:9). The same picture of complete annihilation is given in Jeremiah 49:9, 10.

James A. Patch

Strong's Hebrew

3951. leqet -- a gleaning
... 3950, 3951. leqet. 3952 . a gleaning. Transliteration: leqet Phonetic
Spelling: (leh'-ket) Short Definition: gleaning. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/3951.htm - 6k

5955. oleloth -- a gleaning
... a gleaning. Transliteration: oleloth or oleloth Phonetic Spelling: (o-lay-law')
Short Definition: gleanings. ... gleaning of the grapes, grape-gleanings. ...
/hebrew/5955.htm - 6k

3491. yethur -- range
... Word Origin another reading for tur, qv. range Passive participle of yathar; properly,
what is left, ie (by implication) a gleaning -- range. see HEBREW yathar. ...
/hebrew/3491.htm - 5k

3950. laqat -- to pick or gather up, glean
... Word Origin a prim. root Definition to pick or gather up, glean NASB Word Usage
gather (15), gathered (8), glean (8), gleaned (4), gleaning (1), picked (1). ...
/hebrew/3950.htm - 6k

Library

Boaz and Ruth.
... When Naomi returned to Bethlehem she was poor. The poor were allowed at harvest
time to follow the reapers; gleaning or gathering up the stray ears of corn. ...
/.../anonymous/mother stories from the old testament/boaz and ruth.htm

On the Words, and Rose Again from the Dead on the Third Day, and ...
... Prepare thyself, be rising at the dawn: all their gleaning is destroyed [1686] :
the gleaning, that is, of the Jews, with whom there is not a cluster, nay not ...
/.../cyril/lectures of s cyril of jerusalem/lecture xiv on the words.htm

The Story of Ruth, the Gleaner
... the reapers had left. It so happened that she was gleaning in the field
that belonged to Boaz, this rich man. Boaz came out from ...
/.../marshall/the wonder book of bible stories/the story of ruth the.htm

Ruth, the Gleaner
... should help her. He would begin by helping the sweet-faced daughter-in-
law who had chanced to come gleaning upon his land. So he ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/steedman/the babe in the bulrushes/ruth the gleaner.htm

Ruth
... Then he saw Ruth, who had happened to light upon his field, gleaning after the reapers,
and found out who she was, and bid her glean without fear, and abide by ...
/.../kingsley/the water of life and other sermons/sermon x ruth.htm

God, when one Believes in Him as You and I Do...
... of others with property only sufficient for their needs; there are some, finally,
without any personal possession but their hands, and gleaning for themselves ...
/.../lamartine/atheism among the people/v god when one believes.htm

The Son of the Maker is Like unto his Father as Maker!
... [460] She hasted and was a heifer to Boaz, that should bring forth Thee, the fatted
Calf. She went gleaning for her love of Thee; she gathered straw. ...
/.../ephraim/hymns and homilies of ephraim the syrian/hymn vii the son of.htm

The Pharisees' Sabbath and Christ's
... Moses had not forbidden such gleaning, but the casuistry which had spun its
multitudinous webs over the law, hiding the gold beneath their dirty films, had ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture b/the pharisees sabbath and christs.htm

Judges and Ruth.
... II. The Return to Jerusalem, 1:6-22. III. Ruth and Boaz, Chs.2-4. 1. Gleaning the
fields of Boaz, Ch.2. 2. Ruth married to Boaz, Chs.3-4. A. A bold act, Ch.3. ...
/.../the way of salvation in the lutheran church/chapter vii judges and ruth.htm

The Kingdom Conquering
... this book? 3. Write a paragraph of one hundred words about gleaning, based
upon this book and other portions of Scripture. 4. In ...
/.../palmer/a birds-eye view of the bible/iii the kingdom conquering.htm

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Gleaning

The gleaning of fruit trees, as well as of corn-fields, was reserved for the poor. [CORNER]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Glean.

2. (n.) The act of gathering after reapers; that which is collected by gleaning.

Thesaurus

Gleaning (10 Occurrences)
... 1. (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Glean. 2. (n.) The act of gathering after reapers; that
which is collected by gleaning. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. GLEANING. ...
/g/gleaning.htm - 12k

Grape (20 Occurrences)
... Isn't the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? ... If
grape pickers came to you, wouldn't they leave some gleaning grapes? ...
/g/grape.htm - 13k

Reaping (10 Occurrences)
... In John's vision he saw an angel reap the earth (Revelation 14:15, 16). See
AGRICULTURE; GLEANING. James A. Patch. Multi-Version Concordance ...
/r/reaping.htm - 13k

Grape-gatherers (2 Occurrences)
... Multi-Version Concordance Grape-gatherers (2 Occurrences). Jeremiah 49:9 If
grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? ...
/g/grape-gatherers.htm - 7k

Pickers (2 Occurrences)
... Multi-Version Concordance Pickers (2 Occurrences). Jeremiah 49:9 If grape gatherers
came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? ...
/p/pickers.htm - 7k

Grapes (74 Occurrences)
... (BBE). Judges 8:2 He said to them, "What have I now done in comparison with you?
Isn't the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? ...
/g/grapes.htm - 31k

Ruth (19 Occurrences)
... At Bethlehem Ruth employed herself in gleaning in the field during the harvest and
was noticed by Boaz, the owner of the field, a near kinsman of her father-in ...
/r/ruth.htm - 26k

Thieves (25 Occurrences)
... (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV). Jeremiah 49:9 If grape gatherers
came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? ...
/t/thieves.htm - 14k

Gleanings (8 Occurrences)

/g/gleanings.htm - 9k

Wouldn't (67 Occurrences)
... your commandments. (WEB). Jeremiah 49:9 If grape gatherers came to you,
would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by ...
/w/wouldn't.htm - 26k

Bible Concordance

Gleaning (10 Occurrences)

Leviticus 19:9 "'When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.
(Root in WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Leviticus 23:22 "'When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap into the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest: you shall leave them for the poor, and for the foreigner. I am Yahweh your God.'"
(Root in WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Judges 8:2 He said to them, "What have I now done in comparison with you? Isn't the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Ruth 2:23 So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law.
(See RSV)

Isaiah 17:5 And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the standing corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; yea, it shall be as when one gleaneth ears in the valley of Rephaim.
(See NAS)

Isaiah 17:6 Yet gleanings will be left there, like the shaking of an olive tree, two or three olives in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outermost branches of a fruitful tree," says Yahweh, the God of Israel.
(Root in WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Isaiah 24:13 For it will be so in the midst of the earth among the peoples, as the shaking of an olive tree, as the gleanings when the vintage is done.
(Root in WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Jeremiah 49:9 If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, wouldn't they destroy until they had enough?
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Obadiah 1:5 "If thieves came to you, if robbers by night-oh, what disaster awaits you-wouldn't they only steal until they had enough? If grape pickers came to you, wouldn't they leave some gleaning grapes?
(WEB JPS ASV DBY YLT NAS RSV)

Micah 7:1 Misery is mine! Indeed, I am like one who gathers the summer fruits, as gleanings of the vineyard: There is no cluster of grapes to eat. My soul desires to eat the early fig.
(Root in WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NIV)

Subtopics

Gleaning

Gleaning: Figurative

Gleaning: Laws Concerning

Gleaning: Ruth in the Field of Boaz

Related Terms

Grape (20 Occurrences)

Reaping (10 Occurrences)

Grape-gatherers (2 Occurrences)

Pickers (2 Occurrences)

Grapes (74 Occurrences)

Ruth (19 Occurrences)