The word "gleaner" is being used lately to denote something that remains mysterious--partly because the people using the word don't seem to know what it means. The origin of its new popularity is assumed to be the Biblical injunction against interfering with the gleaners-- but the intentions and identity of the sect or cult teaching this remain obscure.
No matter. "Gleaner" has a meaning. A "gleaner" came along after fields were harvested and picked through the rows of cut stalks for any grain that might remain. In some societies it was considered to be the least that anyone could do for the poor--to permit them to gather what had fallen on the ground when grain was harvested.
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