What Does Ruth 3:2 Mean in the King James?
And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The word for “kindred” grows from “know,” placing a recognized relationship beside barley being scattered for winnowing.
THE MEANING
The verse holds two things together: a family connection already known and barley being winnowed tonight. At the threshing floor, the harvest is separated, grain freed from what cannot nourish.
THE ROOT
מֹדַעְתָּנוּ
mōdaʿtēnū
GROWS FROM
ידע
to know, recognize, perceive
The word translated “kindred” belongs to the family of words for knowing. The relationship is presented as a recognized connection, not just a label for family status.
ALSO GROWS
yādaʿ: to know, recognize
יָדַע
The verb at the root of the word connects kinship with being known.
daʿat: knowledge, knowing
דַּעַת
This noun from the same root shows the shared seed behind knowing and the recognized relationship named here.
זֹרֶה
zōreh
GROWS FROM
זרה
to scatter or disperse; in this setting, to winnow
“winnoweth” in this verse is zōreh. The word for winnowing carries the action of scattering: grain is tossed so the chaff can be carried away. The verse’s harvest reaches usable grain through separation, by releasing what cannot nourish.
ALSO GROWS
zārâ: to scatter, disperse, or winnow
זָרָה
This verb is the root itself and shows the scattering held inside the act of winnowing.
mizreh: a winnowing fan or shovel
מִזְרֶה
This tool from the same root is used to toss grain so the wind can separate it from chaff.
THE PATTERN
Winnowing makes a harvest usable by separating grain from chaff.
The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.THE THREAD
And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.Ruth 2:1 uses the same Hebrew word family for Boaz’s relation to Naomi’s husband, rooted in knowing. Ruth 3:2 repeats that recognized connection and places him at work in the barley harvest, making kinship part of the scene from the start.
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