What Does “Glean” Mean in the Bible?
To gather the ears of grain left in the field after the harvest. The Law of Moses let the poor do this.
A detail
- “Ears of grain”: the top of the wheat or barley, where the grains are. The Douay-Rheims calls them “ears of corn.”
Where it appears in the Bible
Ruth 2:2-3; Leviticus 19:9-10
What the Bible says
Ruth 2:2-3
2And Ruth the Moabitess said to her mother in law: If thou wilt, I will go into the field, and glean the ears of corn that escape the hands of the reapers, wheresoever I shall find grace with a householder that will be favourable to me. And she answered her: Go, my daughter. 3She went therefore and gleaned the ears of corn after the reapers. And it happened that the owner of that field was Booz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
Leviticus 19:9-10
9When thou reapest the corn of thy land, thou shalt not cut down all that is on the face of the earth to the very ground: nor shalt thou gather the ears that remain. 10Neither shalt thou gather the bunches and grapes that fall down in thy vineyard, but shalt leave them to the poor and the strangers to take. I am the Lord your God.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Source: Leviticus 19:9-10