Bible Strands
Ruth 1:22
So Naomi returned from the land of Moab with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess. And they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records Naomi and Ruth arriving in Bethlehem immediately following Naomi’s declaration of emptiness in Ruth 1:21. This arrival occurs at the start of the barley harvest, marking the end of their journey from Moab.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַתָּשָׁב (va.tāšōḇ) literally means "and she returned," directly echoing the return language of Ruth 1:21. The prepositional phrase מִשְּׂדֵי (mišśəḏê) translates to "from the regions/fields of," geographically locating their departure point.
The thread — The harvest timing links to Ruth 2:23, which extends the barley season until the wheat harvest concludes, and to Exodus 9:31, where ripe barley marks a specific agricultural phase. The narrative movement from foreign land to Judah parallels the broader biblical pattern of return and covenant reckoning noted in 2 Samuel 21:9.
Why it lands — The text states that Naomi’s arrival coincides with the barley harvest, placing her stated emptiness within a concrete agricultural and geographic reality. It requires the reader to note how physical movement and seasonal cycles frame the next phase of provision and judgment without offering immediate resolution.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Beth–lehem in the beginning of barley harvest.
Cross-references
- Ruth 2:23 So Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean grain until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
- 2 Samuel 21:9 And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill before the LORD. So all seven of them fell together; they were put to death in the first days of the harvest, at the beginning of the barley harvest.
- Exodus 9:31 (Now the flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley was ripe and the flax was in bloom;