Ruth and Na’omi represent the poor of Bethlehem, and as widows they have no visible means of support so Ruth does what was the norm for that era, she decides to go out and “glean”. Gleaning was the “food stamp program” of ancient times; gleaning gave the poverty stricken the opportunity to obtain food. But we have to keep in mind is that in this agricultural society
gleaning occurred simultaneously with harvesting. So just as a farmer has to sow, then tend, and then wait for the crop to grow up and ripen before he can harvest it and use the produce so it was for gleaners. The poor had to work behind the reapers (the harvesters), immediately picking up what the reapers left behind, with the idea of gathering more than they would use in a single day. They would need to store up the produce (usually grain) that they gleaned to use during the bulk of the time that was the planting and growing cycle, when there was no gathering of food (no harvesting) occurring.
Tom Bradford
8 сен 2024
