Ruth 2:15 (KJV)

What does Ruth 2:15 mean?

Boaz tells his harvest workers to let Ruth gather grain even among the bundled stalks and not to shame her for doing so. He gives her permission to glean in a place where the workers might otherwise have challenged her.

The key phrase is “even among the sheaves.” The Hebrew word עֹמֶר (omer), translated “sheaves,” means a bundle of cut stalks. Ruth is allowed to gather grain among the bundles already collected by the harvesters, rather than being confined to scattered leftovers behind them. Boaz makes that wider permission explicit to his workers.

The Hebrew behind Ruth 2:15

• “glean” — לָקַט (laqat): This means to gather or pick up. In a harvest setting, gleaning means collecting grain left by the reapers. The word appears twice: Ruth gets up to continue gathering, and Boaz tells his workers to allow her to do so.

• “commanded” — צָוָה (tsavah): This means to command or give instructions. Boaz is directing the conduct of his own workers. Ruth’s access among the sheaves rests on the landowner’s express order.

• “young men” — נַעַר (naar): This word can mean a young man, servant, or attendant. Here the plural refers to Boaz’s male harvest workers—the people whose actions would determine whether Ruth could gather without interference.

• “reproach” — כָּלַם (kalam): This word concerns shaming or humiliating someone. “Reproach her not” forbids the workers from treating Ruth’s presence among the sheaves as something disgraceful or deserving a rebuke.

Why Ruth 2:15 matters

• Boaz expands an earlier permission. In Ruth 2:7, Ruth had asked to gather after the reapers. Here Boaz expressly allows her “even among the sheaves,” bringing her closer to the gathered harvest.

• The instruction protects Ruth’s dignity as well as her access to grain. “Let her glean” grants permission; “reproach her not” governs how the workers must treat her while she gathers.