What does לָקַט (lāqaṭ) mean in the Bible?
Gathering brings together things that are available to be picked up. In harvest passages it can describe gleaning, but the verb is not confined to the grain left for vulnerable people.
Hebrew · H3950
לָקַט
Gathering brings together things that are available to be picked up. In harvest passages it can describe gleaning, but the verb is not confined to the grain left for vulnerable people.
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לָקַטH3950
Pronunciationlāqaṭ
What does לָקַט (lāqaṭ) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for לָקַט (H3950) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H3950?
The BSB source-word alignment has 37 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include or gather (3), and glean (2), Gather (2), gathered (2), she had gleaned (2).
Where does לָקַט (lāqaṭ) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 31:46. Its strongest book concentrations include Ruth (12), Exodus (9), Leviticus (3), 2 Kings (2).
What This Word Actually Means
Gathering brings together things that are available to be picked up. In harvest passages it can describe gleaning, but the verb is not confined to the grain left for vulnerable people. Exodus uses it for collecting the manna God provides, under instructions about each day's supply. Leviticus prohibits landowners from collecting the gleanings that must remain for the poor and the foreigner.
Ruth gathers grain in Boaz's field, where his workers receive instructions to leave additional stalks and refrain from rebuking her. The same action thus belongs to different arrangements of provision and responsibility. Attention to who gathers, what is gathered, and what instructions govern access keeps the study from reducing food security to individual effort.
God's provision and human generosity are visible in the wider passages, while the verb itself names the act of collecting.
How the Bible Uses It
Manna collection, protected gleanings, and Ruth's gathering show different relationships between available food and those who receive it. The verb's broad collecting sense must remain larger than its particular harvest use.
- Exod.16.4
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test whether or not they will follow My instructions.
The Lord promises bread and commands daily collection, making gathering part of a stated test of whether Israel will follow His instructions about the supplied food.
- Lev.19.9
When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.
The landowner must refrain from collecting the harvest's gleanings; the following verse names the poor and the foreigner as beneficiaries of what remains.
- Ruth.2.16
Rather, pull out for her some stalks from the bundles and leave them for her to gather. Do not rebuke her.”
Boaz orders workers to pull stalks from the bundles for Ruth to gather and forbids rebuke, actively enlarging her access beyond whatever she might otherwise find.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itor gather3×Leviticus 19:9, Leviticus 19:10, Leviticus 23:22
and glean2×Ruth 2:2, Ruth 2:8
Gather2×Genesis 31:46, Jeremiah 7:18
gathered2×Exodus 16:18, Exodus 16:21
she had gleaned2×Ruth 2:17, Ruth 2:18
to gather2×Exodus 16:27, 2 Kings 4:39
to glean2×Ruth 2:15, Ruth 2:23
and gather1×Exodus 16:4
and gathered it1×Numbers 11:8
and gleaned1×Ruth 2:3
and to gather1×Song Of Solomon 6:2
as one gleans1×Isaiah 17:5
as they gather1×Exodus 16:5
collected1×Genesis 47:14
did you glean1×Ruth 2:19
for her to gather1×Ruth 2:16
gathered around1×Judges 11:3
have gathered [the scraps]1×Judges 1:7
is to gather1×Exodus 16:16
let me glean1×Ruth 2:7
picked up the arrow1×1 Samuel 20:38
she gathers1×Ruth 2:15
So Ruth gathered grain1×Ruth 2:17
Some gathered1×Exodus 16:17
they gather it up1×Psalms 104:28
they gathered1×Exodus 16:22
which he gathered1×2 Kings 4:39
will be gathered1×Isaiah 27:12
you may gather1×Exodus 16:26
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 31:46לִקְט֣וּtoGatherVerb - Qal - Imperative - masculine pluralGenesis 47:14וַיְלַקֵּ֣טtocollectedConjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singularExodus 16:4וְלָֽקְטוּ֙toand gatherConjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common pluralExodus 16:5יִלְקְט֖וּtoas they gatherVerb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine pluralExodus 16:16לִקְט֣וּtois to gatherVerb - Qal - Imperative - masculine pluralExodus 16:17וַֽיִּלְקְט֔וּtoSome gatheredConjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine pluralExodus 16:18לָקָֽטוּ׃togatheredVerb - Qal - Perfect - third person common pluralExodus 16:21וַיִּלְקְט֤וּtogatheredConjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine pluralExodus 16:22לָֽקְט֥וּtothey gatheredVerb - Qal - Perfect - third person common pluralExodus 16:26תִּלְקְטֻ֑הוּtoyou may gatherVerb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural | third person masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowGenesis 31:46
Aligned rows37
Books represented12
Genesis2Exodus9Leviticus3Numbers1Judges2Ruth121 Samuel12 Kings2Psalms1Song Of Solomon1Isaiah2Jeremiah1
Source forms
לִקְט֣וּ2xliq·ṭūGenesis 31:46, Exodus 16:16
תְלַקֵּ֑ט2xṯə·laq·qêṭLeviticus 19:10, Leviticus 23:22
אֲלַקֳטָה־1x’ă·la·qo·ṭāh-Ruth 2:7
וַאֲלַקֳטָּ֣ה1xwa·ʾă·la·qoṭ·ṭå̄hRuth 2:2
וַיְלַקֵּ֣ט1xway·laq·qêṭGenesis 47:14
וַיְלַקֵּ֞ט1xway·laq·qêṭ1 Samuel 20:38
וַיְלַקֵּ֥ט1xway·laq·qêṭ2 Kings 4:39
וַֽיִּלְקְט֔וּ1xway·yil·qə·ṭūExodus 16:17
Parsing patterns
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular3xGenesis 47:14, 1 Samuel 20:38, 2 Kings 4:39
Preposition-l | Verb - Piel - Infinitive construct3xRuth 2:15, Ruth 2:23, 2 Kings 4:39
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - second person masculine singular3xLeviticus 19:9, Leviticus 19:10, Leviticus 23:22
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular2xRuth 2:3, Ruth 2:17
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural2xExodus 16:4, Numbers 11:8
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural2xExodus 16:17, Exodus 16:21
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct2xExodus 16:27, Ruth 2:8
Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine plural2xJudges 1:7, Jeremiah 7:18
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Ask whether available help can actually be reached without intimidation, rather than measuring generosity by supplies alone.
- Use gleaning as a contextual example of care without imposing ancient field access as the only valid assistance model.
Avoid claiming...
- Ruth's gleaning does not prove that inability to work forfeits a person's claim to compassionate care; the provision laws address vulnerable neighbors.
- Gathering manna does not establish salvation by productive effort, since the bread arrives through the Lord's prior promise and gift.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Gathering by picking up scattered items; theologically significant for covenant care of the poor through gleaning practices.
Source Gloss
properly, to pick up, i.e. (generally) to gather ; specifically, to glean
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Gathering by picking up scattered items; theologically significant for covenant care of the poor through gleaning practices.
properly, to pick up, i.e. (generally) to gather; specifically, to glean BDB: pick Usage: gather (up), glean.
Grammatical Forms
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups3Aligned forms16
Pielintensive active — emphasizes thoroughness or repeated action10×
ImperfectLev 19:9 · Lev 19:10 · Lev 23:22 · Ruth 2:154×
PerfectRuth 2:17 · Ruth 2:18 · Ruth 2:193×
Participle activeJer 7:18 · Judg 1:72×
CohortativeRuth 2:71×
Qalbasic active stem — the word in its most common, direct sense5×
Sequential imperfectExod 16:16 · Gen 31:462×
PerfectExod 16:18 · Exod 16:222×
ImperfectExod 16:51×
Pualintensive passive — intensive action received by the subject1×
ImperfectIsa 27:121×
Word Origins
לָקַט is a primitive root - no further derivation.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Ruth's gathering is real labor within an arrangement shaped by someone else's generosity. Boaz does more than permit her presence: he directs his workers to make stalks available and protect her from rebuke. Leviticus similarly addresses the owner who could collect everything but must leave part of the harvest for others. Exodus presents a different situation, in which the Lord supplies manna and instructs the people how to collect it.
These passages resist a story in which provision is simply the reward for industrious hands. Collecting matters, yet access, restraint, gift, and protection also matter. A teacher can honor Ruth's work while asking whether a community's own practices make necessary provision accessible. The gospel must not be recast as gleaning enough merit to secure God's acceptance.
Anchor passage
Ruth.2.16
Doctrinal connections
- Exodus 16:4 presents daily collection as obedience within the Lord's promised provision of bread.
- Leviticus 19:9-10 places restraint upon landowners under the Lord's command to leave food for vulnerable neighbors.
- Ruth 2:15-16 joins greater material access with explicit protection from insult and rebuke.
- Ruth 2:17-18 shows the gathered barley and saved meal becoming provision shared with Naomi.
- Psalm 104:28 describes creatures gathering what God gives within praise for His sustaining care.
- John 6:32-35 distinguishes the Father's gift of the true bread from any account of salvation earned by collecting food.
The Hebrew verb has a collecting or picking-up range. Gleaning is one contextual use; manna, stones, and other collected materials prevent the harvest sense from being imposed on every occurrence.
From Old to New Testament
Jesus' bread discourse in John 6 explicitly recalls the manna setting before identifying Himself as the bread of life. The connection follows that stated comparison; Ruth's gleaning can illuminate material generosity without becoming a claim that salvation is collected through sufficient personal effort.