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שׁ ָב ְדוּ ן ֶמ ֶשׁ תי ֵז ץ ֶר ֶא ןוֹמּ ִרְו ה ָנ ֵא ְתוּ ן ֶפ ֶגְו ה ָרֹע ְשׂוּ הּ ָט ִח ץ ֶר ֶא

Les Saidel Barley Dr. Yael Ziegler

n the third chapter of the book of Why is it written, “He gave me chapter 2 (in which Boaz and Ruth
Ruth, as Ruth prepares to depart these six barleys”? Why six bar- resolve Naomi’s problem of lack of
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Ithe threshing floor, Boaz carefully leys? If it actually means six bar- food) and chapter 3 (in which Boaz
measures six barleys and places them leys, is it Boaz’s custom to give a and Ruth resolve Naomi’s problem of
in Ruth’s cloak. Why does Boaz gift of six barleys? It means six the lack of progeny) together facilitate
give Ruth barley? This is the second se’ah of barley. And is it the way chapter 4, in which Naomi’s tragic
time that Boaz gives Ruth food, 1 of a woman to carry six se’ah of predicament will find a felicitous
underscoring his role as benefactor of barley? It means that he gave her resolution.
the indigent Moabite woman. a hint that six children would be
born from her in the future, each This theme mirrors a broader theme
Oddly, the verse leaves out the unit of of them blessed with six bless- in the Tanach. G-d promises Avra-
measure of the barley that Boaz gives ham land and progeny, the twin pil-
her. While in chapter 2, Ruth carries ings. These are they: David, Mes- lars of national existence. Without
siah, Daniel, Chananiah, Mishael,
home an ephah of barley, six ephah and Azariah. (Sanhedrin 93a–b). sustenance (zera haAdama), a nation
of barley would likely be prohibitively cannot exist in the present, but with-
heavy. The Talmud suggests that Boaz One literary clue that may point to out progeny (zera haAdam), there is
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gave Ruth six se’ah (or approximately this interpretation is the unusual verb no future. The restoration of Naomi’s
one-third of an ephah), which would employed to describe Boaz placing the blessings bodes well for the nation of
be enough to sustain Ruth and Naomi barley stalks in Ruth’s garment. The Israel during this dismal period of the
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for 10 days. Nevertheless, the omission verb, vayashet – placed, appears once Judges, fostering hope that the book
leaves open the possibility that Boaz again at the end of the book. Oved, the of Ruth will produce David, who will
actually gave Ruth six barleys – that child born to Ruth and Boaz, is placed restore Avraham’s blessings to the fal-
is, six stalks of barley, a minuscule by Naomi in her bosom, using the very tering nation of Israel..
amount indeed! By giving her grain same verb. It transpires, therefore,
that will not suffice for even one meal, that the correspondence between the
Boaz conveys to Ruth that he intends barley and the promise of children has 1 See Ruth 2:14.
to act immediately. Before Ruth has a textual basis. Boaz places the six bar- 2 Sanhedrin 93b.
finished consuming the paltry grain leys in Ruth’s outstretched garment. In 3 See Malbim on Ruth 3:15.
in six barley stalks, Boaz will already a strikingly pictorial manner, Ruth’s 4 Ruth 3:17.
have made new arrangements for her wrap filled with barley creates a dis- 5 Ibid 3:15.
provision. 3 cernible bulge, suggesting a promise of
pregnancy and fullness.
The six barleys may function more as
a symbol than sustenance. Boaz offers In Ruth, the motif of food runs par-
Ruth a symbol of his intangible prom- allel to the motif of children. Both
ise of marriage and redemption. This emerge from a zera, a seed, and both
approach is coherent with the broader are essential for reversing Naomi’s
theme of chapter 3 (as opposed to tragedy. Without food, there is no sur-
chapter 2, where Boaz promises Ruth vival in the short term, and lacking
food) and appears in several rabbinic children, Naomi will not have survived Dr Yael Ziegler teaches Tanach at leading
interpretations of the verse: in the long term. The combination of institutions in Israel

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