In a Fang oral adaptation the Hebrew that is translated in English as “gate” or “meeting place at the town gate” or similar is translated in a culturally specific way.

Case / Case (2019) explain: “The gate of a walled town in Old Testament times functioned as the place for business transactions, where the town’s leaders presided, and where visitors might find a host. The Fang traditionally have a similar gathering place at the entrance to each village: a simple roofed enclosure called an abáá. Here the men eat, talk, and make decisions, and here visitors wait for a welcome upon entering the village. Thus, in texts where the town gate functions in a similar way, the translator rendered this as the abáá, conjuring similar associations in the minds of Fang listeners as the town gate would have done for original listeners. Thus, Boaz discussed Ruth’s fate with the unnamed kinsman at the abáá of Bethlehem.”