What Does Ruth 2:15 Mean in the King James?

And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not:

Ruth 2:15 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

Provision reaches into the sheaves, and the people guarding it are forbidden to make Ruth’s access humiliating.

THE MEANING

The reader encounters provision that reaches beyond the margins: Ruth may gather among the sheaves, while those around her are told not to shame her. Access and dignity belong together; need does not cancel her right to gather without humiliation.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The false belief this undoes is that a person who needs help must accept humiliation as the price of receiving it.

THE ROOT

תַכְלִימוּהָ

takhlīmūhā

GROWS FROM

כלם

k-l-m

To shame, disgrace, or put to shame.

In English, “reproach” can sound like spoken criticism, while this root also names the state of being shamed and the act that causes it. The command therefore guards Ruth’s dignity as she gathers in plain view.

ALSO GROWS

hikhlim: Put to shame

הִכְלִים

This form shows the active shaming of another, the action the command forbids.

nikhlam: Be put to shame; be ashamed

נִכְלָם

This form shows the receiver’s side of the same root, the humiliation Ruth is spared.

kelimmah: Shame; disgrace

כְּלִמָּה

This noun names the condition the command prevents, a wider consequence than a mere rebuke.

תְּלַקֵּט

təlaqqēṭ

GROWS FROM

לקט

l-q-ṭ

To gather or pick up, including gleaning.

“glean” in this verse is təlaqqēṭ. The image of gleaning holds both the act of gathering and the gleanings themselves. Boaz widens the place of that gathering to include the sheaves.

ALSO GROWS

lāqaṭ: Gather; pick up

לָקַט

This verb is the seed behind Ruth’s act of gathering.

leqeṭ: Gleanings; what is gathered

לֶקֶט

This noun names the gathered portion itself, linking Ruth’s action with what sustains her.

THE PATTERN

Abundance is opened so that people in need can share in its provision.

And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 19:10 · KJVThe harvest is deliberately left open so that the poor and the stranger can gather from it.

When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.

Deuteronomy 24:19 · KJVA sheaf within the harvest becomes provision for those who might otherwise be excluded from it.

But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

Luke 14:13 · KJVThe guest list opens to people in need, bringing them into the abundance of the feast.

THE THREAD

And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 19:10 · KJV

The Hebrew verb translated “glean” shares the root ⁨לקט⁩ (lāqaṭ), meaning gather or pick up, with Ruth’s gathering. Leviticus leaves a portion for the poor and stranger; Ruth shows that gathering extended into the sheaves while her dignity was protected.

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