📖 Biblical Definition
To glean is to gather grain or fruit left behind by reapers after the main harvest. Under Mosaic law, the corners of the field and the dropped sheaves were not to be harvested by the owner — they were to be left for the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the stranger to glean: "And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard" (Leviticus 19:9-10; cf. Deuteronomy 24:19-22). The law’s mercy-shape is built into the harvest itself. Ruth the Moabitess gleans in Boaz’s field (Ruth 2) — and a Gentile widow becomes the great-grandmother of King David.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
To gather what reapers left; the law's mercy-shape.
expand to see more
To gather grain or other produce left in the field by the reapers. In Mosaic law, an obligation on the landholder to leave corners and dropped sheaves for the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the stranger. The law of gleaning encoded mercy directly into agricultural practice; Ruth's gleaning in Boaz's field becomes the means of her redemption.
📖 Key Scripture
Leviticus 19:9-10 — "And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard... thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God."
Deuteronomy 24:19 — "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."
Ruth 2:2-3 — "And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Lost as agricultural practice and as legal/moral category; modern "glean" survives only as a metaphor for picking up bits of information.
expand to see more
When you say "I gleaned a few things from the meeting," you are using the dim metaphor. The biblical practice was real: literal grain, left literally on the field, gathered literally by the literally poor. The mercy was structural — not optional.
Recover the principle: built-in margin for the poor is part of righteous agriculture, righteous business, righteous life. Don't reap the corners. Leave room for grace to land.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew laqat.
expand to see more
['Hebrew', 'H3950', 'laqat', 'to gather, glean']
Usage
"Don't reap the corners; leave gleaning room."
"Ruth gleaned and was redeemed in Boaz's field."
"Mercy structured into agriculture is the law's heart."