Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 19:9
And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest.
9 11. Cp. Lev 23:22. The law of gleaning: a portion of the produce of the soil is to be left for the poor. A similar law is found in Deu 24:19-21. The word translated ‘ the fallen fruit ’ (‘every grape,’ A.V.) occurs only here in O.T., but is of common occurrence in Mishnaic Heb. to denote a particular object as distinguished from the general name of the class to which it belongs. The traditional interpretation is that the grapes were to be gathered in bunches, but a single grape was to be left, as well as those that fell to the ground during the gathering. The law is expressed in 2nd pers. sing. and in Lev 23:22.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
See Deu 24:19-21. Grape signifies fallen fruit of any kind; and vineyard a fruit garden of any kind. Compare Deu 23:24.
The poor – is the poor Israelite – the stranger is properly the foreigner, who could possess no land of his own in the land of Israel.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Lev 19:9-10
Thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field.
A sermon to gleaners
The subject of gleaning in the fields may appear to some to be a very lowly one, and an address delivered exclusively to those who have been engaged in it, unnecessary: but a little reflection will suffice to remove such objections, if they ever existed in the mind of any person. Gleaning is not a humbler employment than that of a fisherman, and if the Lord turned the latter so as to convey instruction to His followers, there is no reason why the former should be beneath the notice of His ministers, in their efforts to reach the consciences of men. The custom of gleaning in the fields is very ancient. It is probable that it prevailed in the land of Canaan long before it was taken possession of by the children of Israel, and it is not unlikely that they found it there and adopted the practice. The nations who dwelt in this land were so wicked and abandoned that they were marked for destruction by the sword of Israel and of God. Their fields were fertile far beyond any fertility which now exists, as it was not an uncommon thing for grain to be reaped a hundred times beyond what was sown. The vines were so fruitful and the clusters were so large that the two men who went out as spies from the camp of the Israelites at Kadesh-Barnea, returned from the valley of Eschol carrying one bunch of grapes on a staff upon their shoulders as a specimen of what they saw growing in the vineyards. The gleaning of such fields and of such vineyards must have afforded no insignificant reward. When the Jews obtained possession of the land, after they had driven out the nations which were before them, God recognised gleaning in the Mosaic Law, and laid down rules for its regulation. The text which I have chosen from the nineteenth chapter of Leviticus contains part of this law; the rest will be found in Deu 24:1-22. God sanctioned the practice, and commanded that some grain and olives and grapes should be left to be gleaned by the poor, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and thus He required the Jews to pay to those who are more immediately depending for support on His bounty, a sort of tribute in acknowledgment of the tenure under which they held their land. The Jews paid no rent, because God Himself was the owner, having given it to them without price or reward; and when He commanded them to leave something for the poor gleaners in harvest, He did so that He might be able to bless His people in all the work of their hands. The reason why the Almighty sanctioned the practice of gleaning is very similar to this notion. He commanded His people to allow their fields to be gleaned, that they might always be kept in remembrance that they had been bondmen in Egypt. The recollection of this slavery was also preserved among them by the Sabbath, and by the command to do strict justice between man and man, as if the Almighty intended that the people, after they had attained to national power and prosperity, should be continually reminded of the rock from whence they were hewn, and of the hole of the pit from whence they were digged. The sight of poor persons gleaning in the fields always reminded the Jews that they had been in slavery in Egypt, and that like them they had been depending upon others for a hard and uncertain living. In fact, both the gleaners and the owners of the fields had been bondmen, and both were alike the receivers of Gods bounty, although in different ways and in different degrees. More than three thousand years have rolled past since this law was enacted, but the principle which it contains is just as applicable to gleaners now as it was then. The poor Jew, gleaning in the fields of his rich brethren, had been a slave, but after he got into the Promised Land he became free; and exactly so, every gleaner who now searches in the fields of the farmers for heads of grain is free. I mean to tell you that you are politically free, and that you do not owe obedience to any master, except you bind yourselves to serve him for some payment. You were never slaves, as the Jews had been in Egypt, when they were forced to serve in a cruel bondage. But, let me ask you, are you really free? When you were gleaning in the fields this harvest, could you say with truth that you had once been slaves, but that you were now free? A person gleaning in the fields in harvest may be free, but she is a slave, bound hand and foot, if sin have the dominion over her. A woman gathering heads of grain in the fields may be free, but she is a slave if she spend her hard-won earnings in the public-house, drinking out of the cup which cheers, but swallowing along with the drink liquid fire and death. That gleaner is free who goes out and comes in without any to forbid, but she is a slave to the custom of gleaning, which is otherwise lawful, if, for the sake of the trifle which she may obtain in this way, she neglects her children, her husband, and her home. Every gleaner is as free as the air of heaven, but they are all slaves to their own passions if they are unable to agree together in the same field, and begin to use abusive language, to quarrel about rights which have no existence, except in the goodwill of the farmer, exhibiting scenes which could only find a parallel in the fields of the degraded Canaanites before they were driven out by the Jews. There is not a gleaner in the land who is not absolutely free, but every one of them is bound in fetters far stronger than fetters of iron or of brass, if, with this privilege of gleaning in another mans fields at their command, they have thankless hearts, and entertain no gratitude to God for His mercy, nor to the farmers for their benevolence. This brings me in natural consequence to speak about the persons on whose behalf God made the law about gleaning. They are the poor, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. I do not know whether those who go out to glean in the fields in these days could be arranged into these four classes; but they at least furnish a guide as to the persons to whom the Almighty especially extends His care. He told His people that the poor should never cease out of the land, therefore He commanded them, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor and to thy needy in thy land. The poor are the objects of Gods special protection, as long as they lead lives of holiness and humility, contented with their lot, and confident in the mercy of Heaven. If they are profligate and ungodly, dishonest and discontented, idle and careless, not one of the promises in Scripture will apply to them any more than they do to any of Gods open and avowed enemies.
2. The next class of persons who were permitted to glean in the fields were strangers, from whatever country they might have come, as was Ruth, who was a daughter of Moab. God also made provision for them, knowing how unhappy is the lot of that man who is an exile from his native land. He commanded His people not on any account to do them an injury: Thou shalt neither vex a stranger nor oppress him, for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. God by His providence watches over strangers, and never fails to reward those who help them, whether by allowing them to glean in the fields in harvest-time, or in any other manner.
3. The next class who were allowed to glean were the fatherless, whose parent was dead. If the Jew drove off from his fields in harvest a poor fatherless child, who wanted to glean some heads of corn, I have no doubt that he was guilty of a sin and a crime. There is no obligation upon any Christian man to allow such a one to search over his fields at this season of the year, but when he does permit the fatherless to glean up what the reapers have left behind, I make no doubt that he does that which is pleasing in the sight of God, and he will be able to understand, from the description of the judgment in the twenty-fifth chapter of St. Matthew, that the reward will far outbalance the kindness.
4. The only other class whom God allowed to be gleaners were widows. Like the poor, the stranger, and the fatherless, God always remembers them. Let them always remember, that, whether they may be in a cornfield among other gleaners, like Ruth in the field of Boaz, or, like the woman of Sidon, alone in a cottage with scarce enough food to eat, or, like the widow of Nain, following in tears an only son to the grave, God watches over them, and commands His angels to give them an invisible but effectual protection. There is little more to be said on this subject of gleaning, beyond one other consideration, which we shall do well to lay seriously to heart. We reflected upon the great harvest of men, which is to be gathered in by the angelic reapers at the end of this dispensation. That will be a harvest after which there will be no gleaning. (O. B. Courtenay, M. A.)
Harvest gleanings
How notable are the provisions made in the Mosaic Law for the poor.
1. The Sabbatical year (Exo 23:10-11; cf. Deu 15:12; Deu 15:15).
2. The equalisation of the atonement money for poor and rich, thus establishing the value of the poor as equal to the rich (Exo 30:12).
3. The same minute directions for the poor mans offerings, showing Gods equal interest in his sacrifice (chap. 2. &c.)
4. And here the command that the harvest and vintage gleanings should be left (Lev 19:9-10). Notice–
I. That the humane laws of modern times, respecting gleaning privileges, are all based upon this Mosaic command. Everywhere there is a popular feeling that the farmer should allow, and was not entitled to prevent the poor from gathering what the reaper left behind. In England the custom of gleaning had very nearly passed into a legal right, for there is an extra judicial dictum of Lord Hall, in which he says that those who enter a field for this purpose are not guilty of trespass; and Blackstone (3:12) seems to adopt his opinion. But that has since been twice tried, and decided in the negative in the Court of Common Pleas; the Court finding it to be a practice incompatible with the exclusive enjoyment of property, and productive of vagrancy and many mischievous consequences. It is still, however, the custom all over England to allow the poor to glean, at least after the harvest is carried (Chambers).
II. That a benevolent helpfulness in respect of the poor is a special obligation of those who enjoy plenty.
1. With God in thought the rich will spare of their abundance that the poor may be fed. You owe all to Him, especially in harvest; and, therefore, share with the needy His gifts to you.
2. Amid harvest rejoicings, gratitude should incite to generosity. As ye have received, give! Seek occasion to gladden others–those in need. God is lavish; let your hands be open also (Psa 145:16).
3. Kindness to the poor has especial assurances of Divine approval (Psa 9:18; Psa 12:5).
III. That this generous consideration for the poor is a token of gods regard for the lowly.
1. Their maintenance engaged the Divine attention. For them the corner of the field was claimed from the reapers, and to them was assigned the right to clear the ground. It was their part in the national soil, the poor had this heritage in the land. And God enjoins on His Church now to care for the poor. They are Christs bequeathment to His disciples. The poor always ye have with you.
2. Their salvation is prominently sought in the gospel. To the poor the gospel is preached. And God hath chosen the poor rich in faith. He who showed concern for their physical supply and maintenance, as emphatically manifests His desire that they be blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ. Therefore–
(1) The poor should cherish a grateful and trustful hope in their God.
(2) They should value the high mercies of redemption in Christ beyond all the kindnesses of His providence. For the favours of providence only affect them temporally, but the riches of His grace are of eternal consequence.
(3) Let none, because of lowliness or poverty, despond of Gods favour. All His regulations prove that He careth for you. Look unto Him with assurance. (W. H. Jellie.)
A margin for the benefit of the poor
I think one of the most beautiful traits in the provision and economy of God in the Old Testament Scriptures is the constant reference to the poor. The permanency of the rich and the poor is what Christ Himself has declared; there will be rich and poor as long as this dispensation lasts, and any attempt to break down the distinction entails calamity on the nation that makes it. The distinction does exist, and will exist as long as men live and intellectual energies differ in degree–for the fact is, men are not all equal, they may talk as they will that all men are equal. In one sense, before God, all men are equal; but in another respect they are not. One man has more physical energy or more mental energy than another. One man has more skill than another, one man more activity than another; and several things are constantly keeping up that broad and palpable distinction between them that have and them that have not. But just as the Israelite reaper left some ears of corn for the poor and for the stranger, so you, in estimating your labours, which are to you for all practical purposes your cornfields, in arranging your profits, your gains, your losses, ought to have a balance or a margin for the benefit of the poor, the destitute, and the needy. God especially blessed a nation that took care of the poor; and God still provides for and pronounces blessed those that consider the poor. I know that what are called poors rates are extremely objectionable, because, when you pay your poors rates you give a tax, and when the poor get in the workhouse, the bread that it buys they take as a right, and the consequence is, all benevolence on your part is quenched, and all gratitude on the part of the poor is ruined also. But then, such is the hardness of the human heart in so many cases, that a wise and merciful Government is bound to make the law, and to compel that as a right which many would much rather give as the act of benevolence and kindness. But because you do pay poors rates you still must leave a margin to give something; for those rates are not yet intolerable, and on all occasions we should be delighted that we have an opportunity of making the heart of the widow rejoice and the orphan sing for joy. (J. Cumming, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 9. When ye reap the harvest] Liberty for the poor to glean both the corn-fields and vineyards was a Divine institution among the Jews; for the whole of the Mosaic dispensation, like the Christian, breathed love to God and benevolence to man. The poor in Judea were to live by gleanings from the corn-fields and vine yards. To the honour of the public and charitable spirit of the English, this merciful law is in general as much attended to as if it had been incorporated with the Gospel.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
9, 10. And when ye reap the harvestof your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy fieldTheright of the poor in Israel to glean after reapers, as well as to theunreaped corners of the field, was secured by a positive statute; andthis, in addition to other enactments connected with the ceremoniallaw, formed a beneficial provision for their support. At the sametime, proprietors were not obliged to admit them into the field untilthe grain had been carried off the field; and they seem also to havebeen left at liberty to choose the poor whom they deemed the mostdeserving or needful (Rth 2:2;Rth 2:8). This was the earliestlaw for the benefit of the poor that we read of in the code of anypeople; and it combined in admirable union the obligation of a publicduty with the exercise of private and voluntary benevolence at a timewhen the hearts of the rich would be strongly inclined to liberality.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And when ye reap the harvest of your land,…. Of the land of Canaan, when come into it, which having sown, and it was harvest, either barley harvest or wheat harvest, or both, and especially the latter, to which reaping seems best to agree:
thou shall not wholly reap the corner of the field; but a part was to be left for the poor. This follows upon the peace offerings: and, as Aben Ezra observes, as the fat of them was to be given to God, so somewhat of the harvest was to be given for the glory of God to the poor and stranger. In the Misnah is a whole treatise, called “Peah”, which signifies “the corner”, in which there are many decisions concerning this affair; and among the rest, whereas it is not fixed in the law how large the corner should be, what quantity should be left, how many ears of corn, or what a proportion of the field, this is there determined by the wise men, who say, they do not leave less than a sixtieth part; for though they say there is no measure (certain) for the corner, yet the whole is according to the largeness of the field, or according to the multitude of the poor, or according to the plenty of the increase l, so that, as these were, more or less were left: and though the place to be left is called a corner, it was a matter indifferent in what part of the field it was; for so it follows, they give (or leave) the corner at the beginning of the field, or in the middle m; and Ben Gersom observes, that the corner was at the end of the field, where the harvest is finished; and it is plain where the harvest is finished, he says, the corner should be left; for the law does not precisely determine, only that part of the corner should be left to the poor; and it is of no consequence to the poor whether it is in the middle of the field or in the end of it; but Maimonides n thinks it was to be left at the end of the field, that the poor might know where to come for it: and in the above treatise the times are also set when the poor should come and gather it, which they might not do at any time; and there were three times on a day they had leave to come, in the morning, in the middle of the day, and at the evening sacrifice o, i.e. about three o’clock in the afternoon; the morning was appointed, as the commentators say p, for the sake of women that had young children, who were then asleep, the middle of the day for the sake of nurses, and the evening for the sake of ancient persons:
neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest; ears of corn which fall from the hand or sickle of the reaper, or in gathering the reaps to bind up in sheaves. In the above treatise it is asked, what is a gleaning? that which falls in reaping; if the reaper reaps his handful, or plucks up an handful, and a thorn strikes him, and it falls out of his hand to the ground, lo, it is the owner’s; but if out of the middle of his hand, or out of the middle of the sickle, it is the poor’s; if from the further part of his hand, or of the sickle, it is the owner’s; but if from the top of his hand (or tip of his fingers) or the point of the sickle, it is the poor’s q: and it is further said r,
“two ears are a gleaning, but three are not,”
and so Jarchi on the text, that is, when three fall together; this is according to the school of Hillel, but according to the school of Shammai, if there were three ears that fell together, they were the poor’s, if four they belonged to the owner.
l Misn. Peah, c. 1. sect. 2. m Ibid. sect. 3. n Hilchot Mattanot Anayim, c. 2. sect. 12. o Misn. Peah. c. 4. sect. 5. p Maimon & Bartenora in ib. q Ib. sect. 10. r Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Peah, c. 6. sect. 5.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Laws concerning the conduct towards one’s neighbour, which should flow from unselfish love, especially with regard to the poor and distressed.
Lev 19:9-10 In reaping the field, “thou shalt not finish to reap the edge of thy field,” i.e., not reap the field to the extreme edge; “neither shalt thou hold a gathering up (gleaning) of thy harvest,” i.e., not gather together the ears left upon the field in the reaping. In the vineyard and olive-plantation, also, they were not to have any gleaning, or gather up what was strewn about ( peret signifies the grapes and olives that had fallen off), but to leave them for the distressed and the foreigner, that he might also share in the harvest and gathering. , lit., a noble plantation, generally signifies a vineyard; but it is also applied to an olive-plantation (Jdg 15:5), and her it is to be understood of both. For when this command is repeated in Deu 24:20-21, both vineyards and olive-plantations are mentioned. When the olives had been gathered by being knocked off with sticks, the custom of shaking the boughs ( ) to get at those olives which could not be reached with the sticks was expressly forbidden, in the interest of the strangers, orphans, and widows, as well as gleaning after the vintage. The command with regard to the corn-harvest is repeated again in the law for the feast of Weeks or Harvest Feast (Lev 23:20); and in Deu 24:19 it is extended, quite in the spirit of our law, so far as to forbid fetching a sheaf that had been overlooked in the field, and to order it to be left for the needy. (Compare with this Deu 23:24-25.)
Lev 19:11-13 The Israelites were not to steal (Exo 20:15); nor to deny, viz., anything entrusted to them or found (Lev 6:2.); nor to lie to a neighbour, i.e., with regard to property or goods, for the purpose of overreaching and cheating him; nor to swear by the name of Jehovah to lie and defraud, and so profane the name of God (see Exo 20:7, Exo 20:16); nor to oppress and rob a neighbour (cf. Lev 6:2), by the unjust abstraction or detention of what belonged to him or was due to him, – for example, they were not to keep the wages of a day-labourer over night, but to pay him every day before sunset (Deu 24:14-15).
Lev 19:14 They were not to do an injury to an infirm person: neither to ridicule or curse the deaf, who could not hear the ridicule or curse, and therefore could not defend himself (Psa 38:15); nor “to put a stumblingblock before the blind,” i.e., to put anything in his way over which he might stumble and fall (compare Deu 27:18, where a curse is pronounced upon the man who should lead the blind astray). But they were to “fear before God,” who hears, and sees, and will punish every act of wrong (cf. Lev 19:32, Lev 25:17, Lev 25:36, Lev 25:43).
Lev 19:15 In judgment, i.e., in the administration of justice, they were to do no unrighteousness: neither to respect the person of the poor ( , to do anything out of regard to a person, used in a good sense in Gen 19:21, in a bad sense here, namely, to act partially from unmanly pity); nor to adorn the person of the great (i.e., powerful, distinguished, exalted), i.e., to favour him in a judicial decision (see at Exo 23:3).
Lev 19:16 They were not to go about as calumniators among their countrymen, to bring their neighbour to destruction (Eze 22:9); nor to set themselves against the blood of a neighbour, i.e., to seek his life. does not mean calumny, but, according to its formation, a calumniator ( Ewald, 149 e).
Lev 19:17 They were not to cherish hatred in their hearts towards their brother, but to admonish a neighbour, i.e., to tell him openly what they had against him, and reprove him for his conduct, just as Christ teaches His disciples in Mat 18:15-17, and “not to load a sin upon themselves.” does not mean to have to bear, or atone for a sin on his account (Onkelos, Knobel, etc.), but, as in Lev 22:9; Num 18:32, to bring sin upon one’s self, which one then has to bear, or atone for; so also in Num 18:22, , from which the meaning “to bear,” i.e., atone for sin, or suffer its consequences, was first derived.
Lev 19:18 Lastly, they were not to avenge themselves, or bear malice against the sons of their nation (their countrymen), but to love their neighbour as themselves. to watch for (Son 1:6; Son 8:11, Son 8:12), hence (= ) to cherish a design upon a person, or bear him malice (Psa 103:9; Jer 3:5, Jer 3:12; Nah 1:2).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Verses 9, 10:
An important aspect of morality is compassion toward the poor and the disadvantaged. The law in this text is repeated again in Le 23:22; and in De 24:19-22. The passage in Deuteronomy includes the olive yard along with the vineyard.
“Vineyard,” kerem, “an enclosed place, olive or vineyard.”
“Neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard” is literally, “Neither shalt thou gather the scattering of thy vineyard,” denoting either the grapes or the olive berries.
Ruth chapter 2 is an example of the application of this law by the Godly in Israel.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
THE SECOND TABLE OF THE LAW 19:918
TEXT 19:918
9
And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleaning of thy harvest.
10
And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather the fallen fruit of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am Jehovah your God.
11
Ye shall not steal; neither shall ye deal falsely, nor lie one to another.
12
And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of thy God: I am Jehovah.
13
Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbor, nor rob him: the wages of a hired servant shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
14
Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind; but thou shalt fear thy God: I am Jehovah.
15
Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty; but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor.
16
Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor: I am Jehovah.
17
Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart: thou shalt surely rebuke thy neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.
18
Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am Jehovah.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 19:918
422.
Name the ten commandments and designate which ones were on the first table and directed toward God, and which ones were on the second table and directed toward man.
423.
The poor and the stranger will receive more than grain and grapes from this regulation. What was it?
424.
Why did God feel it necessary to repeat these commandments in this place?
425.
Lev. 19:12 contains two misuses of the name of God. Discuss what they are.
426.
Why not wait until the next day to pay a hired servant?
427.
What perversity in man would tempt him to curse the deaf (who couldnt hear his cursing) or trip a blind man (who would not know who did it)?
428.
How easily we are influenced by appearance, either with the poor or the mighty. Discuss Lev. 19:15.
429.
Gossip can be deadly. Discuss the danger in Lev. 19:16.
430.
To hold your tongue and hate your neighbor is wrong. You should rebuke him. Discuss Lev. 19:17.
431.
Isnt it surprising to read here the words you shall love your neighbor as yourself? Cf. Rom. 12:17; Rom. 12:19; Mat. 5:43-46. Discuss.
PARAPHRASE 19:918
When you harvest your crops, dont reap the corners of your fields, and dont pick up stray grains of wheat from the ground. It is the same with your grape cropdont strip every last piece of fruit from the vines, and dont pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. Leave them for the poor and for those traveling through, for I am Jehovah your God. You must not steal nor lie nor defraud. You must not swear to a falsehood, thus bringing reproach upon the name of your God, for I am Jehovah. You shall not rob nor oppress anyone, and you shall pay your hired workers promptly. If something is due them, dont even keep it overnight. You must not curse the deaf nor trip up a blind man as he walks. Fear your God; I am Jehovah! Judges must always be just in their sentences, not noticing whether a person is poor or rich; they must always be perfectly fair. Dont gossip. Dont falsely accuse your neighbor of some crime, for I am Jehovah. Dont hate your brother. Rebuke anyone who sins; dont let him get away with it, or you will be equally guilty. Dont seek vengeance. Dont bear a grudge; but love your neighbor as yourself, for I am Jehovah.
COMMENT 19:918
Lev. 19:9-18 Acceptableness with God is the total point of the three chapters of 18, 19, 20. Personal conduct as related to marriage and attitudes and actions as concerns the family are discussed. Now we hear of the treatment of the poor and strangers. Our worship of God is reflected in all our daily conduct or we cannot say he is Lord of all. The mercy shown to the poor is so like that we all receive from Him. Dignity and respect even for the poorest is provided by God. A certain amount of the harvest belongs to the poor; they are not begging, they are only taking that which is lawfully theirs.
The extent of the corners and the gleanings were very carefully defined at different periods in Hebrew history. The word glean as related to the grapes meant infants i.e. those branches or twigs of grapes upon which there were only one or two grapes. These were to be left for the needy. The scattered grapes which fell from the clusters when the large ones were cut were to be left and not gathered except by the poor.
The use of the eighth commandment against stealing used as it is in its context could refer to the seriousness of taking that which belongs to the poorit is nothing short of theft!
The hasty, thoughtless use of the name of Almighty God is something religious people need to consider very often. How easy it is to treat the Holy as common. In the midst of all the rights and ceremonies the name of God was often used lightly.
Deceit and deception was the way of life for many in the days of the prophetsand earlier. Oppression and violence was often used in defrauding. It was in such environment these regulations were given.
The day laborer, or as he is often called, the hireling needs his money as soon as he earns it. His wife and family expect him to bring home sufficient money for their food. The law asks that his wages be given to him on the same day of his work. There are numerous references to this same kind treatment. Cf. Deu. 24:14-15; Jer. 37:13; Mal. 3:5; Jas. 5:4. The scribes of Jesus day said, He who treats a hireling with harshness sins as grievously as if he hath taken away life, and transgresses five precepts.
To curse or revile one who cannot defend himself was mean and selfish. Deaf people can be exasperating, but it is not their fault. Were we unable to hear, we perhaps would react in even a less communicative manner. Kindness, tenderness is the only form of communication understood by everyone. Perhaps reviling those who are absent and thus unable to reply is another form of this wrong (Cf. Psa. 38:14-15).
Thoughtfulness and help to those physically less fortunate than ourselves is expected by God who deals kindly with such blind people as ourselves. Deu. 27:18 places a curse upon those who lead the blind astray. The figurative use of this law, would also obtain, i.e. deceiving the naive and the ignorant. Cf. Rom. 14:13. The concluding phrase, but you shall fear (or reverence) your God: I am the Lord means that we might take advantage of the deaf and blind here but we have no advantage with God. He hears what we say and He sees what we do. To ignore His omnipresence and omniscience is to be deaf and; blind ourselves.
Lev. 19:15 takes us into a law court. Perhaps it is only a minor personal case, but in whatever circumstance the judge is not to exercise his authority in an arbitrary manner. To be very plain about the subject: he is not to allow his sympathy for the poor or his admiration of the mighty to cloud his judgment. The poor must be penalized and the rich rewarded if this is what fairness and impartiality demands. Cf. Exo. 23:3; Jas. 2:2-9.
Giving evidence about our neighbor in court is one thing; it is entirely something else to recite such information to any and all who want to hear it. When such happens it is always distorted and rapidly becomes slander. How devastating is slander! Cf. Jer. 6:28; Eze. 22:9; 1Sa. 22:9; 1Sa. 22:18. Ginsburg says: This dangerous habit, which has ruined the character and destroyed the life of many an innocent person was denounced by the spiritual authorities in the time of Christ as the greatest sin. Three things they declared remove a man from this world, and deprive him of happiness in the world to comeidolatry, incest, and murder. But slander surpasses them all! It kills three persons with one actthe person who slanders, the person who is slandered, and the person who listens to the slander.
The phrase neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor (Lev. 19:16) is not clear in meaning upon the first reading. The paraphrase renders it, Dont falsely accuse your neighbor of some crime. The Amplified Bible follows this same line of thought by saying, nor shall you (secure yourself by false testimony or by silence and) endanger the life of your neighbor. It speaks against false testimony whether such is given by refusing to get involved and thus allowing falsehood to prevail or by giving false testimony. In either case it was serious enough to endanger the life of our neighbor. An unwillingness to help our neighbor when he is in need is in itself standing by while the blood of our neighbor is being shed.
From external acts we turn to internal motivations. Lev. 19:17 discusses the cause of injury: You shall not hate your brother in your heart. Even if we are the recipients of punishment in a case in which we feel we were unjustly judged, we cannot harbor hatred toward those who gave us the decision. Whereas we might not be able to overthrow the decision, we can at least get it out of our heart into words directed to our brother. We need to express ourselves. Lets not be like Absalom who spoke unto Amnon neither good nor bad, for Absalom hated Amnon. 2Sa. 13:22. Speak to your brothersay to him, Why hast thou thus dealt with me? Our Lord said, If thy brother sin against thee rebuke him, and if he repent forgive him. Luk. 17:3. At whatever juncture, do not hate him. We must be very careful in rebuking our brother that we do not in this very act, sin ourselves. It is not revenge that we seek, but understanding and reconciliations. Even if our brother does not repent, we have expressed all of our heart to him and it thus becomes much easier to forget and forgive freely from the heart.
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. We need to be reminded again and again that if we hate ourselves, if we are living in a constant state of self-loathing or self-depreciation we will indeed hate, loathe and depreciate our neighbors. We do project our own self-estimation upon neighborsthey are the unhappy recipients. The love of ourselves originates in our acceptance of Gods acceptance of us. When I believe He loves me, it becomes much easier to love myself and thus love my neighbor. Cf. Rom. 12:17; Rom. 12:19; Mat. 5:43-46.
FACT QUESTIONS 19:918
427.
What is the one concept developed in chapters 18, 19, 20?
428.
How was dignity and respect shown to the poor?
429.
What grapes were left for the poor?
430.
How is the eighth commandment related to treatment of the poor?
431.
Profaning of the name of God is often done among religious people. Why? How?
432.
The day laborer must be paid on the same day he does the work. Why?
433.
How serious was it to treat a laborer harshly?
434.
Why would some be tempted to curse a deaf person? Is there a double application of this law?
435.
Why does God expect us to deal kindly with those who are physically handicapped?
436.
Explain in your own words Lev. 19:15.
437.
How do Lev. 19:15-16 relate?
438.
What is slander? How does it start?
439.
Show how slander kills three people.
440.
What is involved in standing against the blood of our neighbor?
441.
What is the real cause of injury to our neighbor?
442.
Show how 2Sa. 13:22 and Luk. 17:3 relate to Lev. 19:17.
443.
What is meant by loving ourselves?
In review: we discussed THE SECOND TABLE OF THE LAW in Lev. 19:9-18 under the following headings: (1) Consideration for the poorLev. 19:9-10; (2) Prohibition against robbery and deceitLev. 19:11; (3) Prohibition against false swearingLev. 19:12; (4) Prohibition against oppressionLev. 19:13; (5) Care for the helplessLev. 19:14; (6) Righteous judgmentsLev. 19:15; (7) Warning against tale bearingLev. 19:16; (8) Summary of the Second TableLev. 19:17-18.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(9) And when ye reap.Benevolent consideration for the poor is another means whereby the Israelite is to attain to that holiness which will enable him to reflect the holiness of God. As the Lord is merciful to all, and provides for the wants of every living creature (Psa. 145:15-16), the Israelite, too, is to regard the wants of the needy. By this injunction the Law moreover establishes the legal rights of the poor to a portion of the produce of the soul, and thus releases him from private charity, which, in its exercise, might have been capricious and tyrannical.
The harvest of your land.The expression harvest, which is subject to this law, the administrators of the law during the second Temple defined to consist of the following produce of the soil (1) all edible and nutritious plants, but not those used for dyeing and colouring; (2) plants which are cultivated, but not those which grow wildly; (3) those which strictly belong to the soil, but not mushrooms, sponges, &c, since these are not so much dependent upon the soil for their growth, but upon humidity, and grow also upon wet wood, &c; (4) those which ripen at the same time of the year and are all gathered in at the same time, thus excluding figs and similar fruits of trees which are gathered later and gradually, and (5) the produce which is not for immediate consumption, but is garnered up, thus excluding vegetables.
Thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field.The extent of the corner to be thus left for the poor, like that of filial duty and the study of the Divine law, has designedly been left undefined by the administrators of the law. It is among the things which have no fixed measures. But though the maximum is not given, the minimum is stated to be no less than the sixtieth part of the field. The corner was generally left at the end of the field, so that the poor could easily get at it. The time when the poor came was morning, noon, and at the evening sacrifice, which was about three oclock in the afternoon. The morning was intended for the accommodation of those mothers who had young children, who were then asleep; the middle of the day to accommodate the nurses, whilst the evening suited the elderly people.
The gleanings of thy harvest.The expression gleaning is defined by the authorities during the second Temple to be the ears which fall from the hand or from the sickle in the time of reaping, provided that the quantity which has thus dropped from the hand of the plucker or cutter does not exceed one or two ears. When these ears have thus been dropped they belong to the proprietor and not to the gleaner. If a wind arose after the corn had all been cut, and scattered the harvest over the gleanings, the field was measured, and a certain quantity was allotted as gleanings; if the owner had gathered in all the harvest without leaving any gleanings, he was obliged to give a certain portion to the poor, though the corn had been ground into flour and baked; and if the harvest was lost or burnt after he had thus gathered it without leaving the gleanings, he was beaten with stripes.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Corners of thy field Rather, borders. See Lev 23:22, note.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lev 19:9. When ye reap the harvest of your land Those who consider this humane law, and several others of the same sort in the Mosaic dispensation, will evidently discern that the great Author of them endeavoured to inculcate a high spirit of humanity and benevolence; and consequently that those professors of this law, who acted upon narrow and selfish principles, as much mistook its genius, as they did discredit to the Divine Lawgiver, even that Lord God, who, in rich bounty, giving them all things abundantly, to enjoy, required tenderness and charity to their fellow-creatures: for he is always the same; a God of love, full of mercy and compassion. Therefore they much mistake the God of the Hebrews, and the nature of the Jewish dispensation, who represent him as less merciful and gracious, and that dispensation as infinitely less benevolent than the Christian. The God of both dispensations is the immutable, unchangeable Jehovah; in both, love to him and our brother is the great commandment: the former can, with propriety, be considered only as a dispensation less perfect indeed, but nobly preparative of the Christian.
REFLECTIONS.It was Moses’s concern to make the will of God known to all the people; and a faithful steward he was in God’s house.
1. A general command is given including all the rest: Ye shall be holy, or, be ye holy. The design of both the law and gospel, next to God’s glory, is the holiness and happiness of his people. For there can be no enjoyment of God, in which alone true happiness consists, without conformity to him.
2. Particular commands, wherein this holiness must be expressed. (1.) In fearing father and mother: implying that filial affection, dutiful obedience, diligence to please, and fear of offending, which every son of Israel must shew to both his parents. (2.) In sanctifying the sabbath. They shew themselves truly children of God, who join piety towards their Father in heaven, to dutifulness to their parents on earth. To despise father or mother, or to prophane God’s sabbaths, is the sure mark of a reprobate son. (3.) No idols must be worshipped. (4.) Their sacrifices of peace-offerings must not be eaten beyond the prescribed time. (5.) They must consider and leave a portion for the poor in the harvest-field, and at the vintage. Note; [1.] There can be no true piety towards God, where there is not charity towards men. A covetous heart can never have written upon it, Holiness unto the Lord. [2.] The prayers of the poor, who partake of our blessings, will make us ample amends for the handful we leave them. No gain so great or sure as what is thus lent unto the Lord.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
These are gracious precepts, teaching and implying the LORD’S love to acts of mercy. Reader! is there not also somewhat spiritual in them? While we have JESUS for our substance, the poorest of his people will have their gleanings, Rth 2:8-9 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
“Handfuls of Purpose”
For All Gleaners
“And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap tht corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger; I am the Lord your God.” Lev 19:9-10
Here is a marvellous distinction of classes. That distinction is carefully preserved throughout the whole record of Scripture. At first sight, it is not only a marvellous but an incredible thing that one man should be rich and another poor. Poverty is more than a merely incidental condition of life. There is a moral mystery about poverty, relating alike to the poor man and to the rich man. It may seem heartless to speak in this way, and it would be heartless but for the consistent record of time and testimony of experience. Here is a distinct recognition of the right of property. We read of “thy field,” and “thy vineyard,” and “thy harvest.” Yet though property is distinctly recognised, beneficence is also made matter of law. The command is “thou shalt not” in every case. This shows that the harvest is God’s before it is man’s, and that it is only man’s that it may be used according to the law of God. Something was to be left in the field and in the vineyard for the poor and stranger. The poor and stranger are ministers of God, when rightly viewed. They are not to be used as butts or objects of scorning and contempt; but as opportunities for the exercise, not of sentimental, but of lawful and divinely-regulated charity. Nor are the poor and the stranger to consider themselves as ill-used on account of their position. There is a poverty that is wealth. Only the mean in spirit, or the imperfectly trained, or the ridiculously vain, can object to receive the assistance or the comfort of the stronger classes of society. If some men are poor and strangers, they must remember that they are exempt from many of the responsibilities which attach to higher station. Besides, riches and poverty are simply relative terms. What is wealth to one man is poverty to another; and what is poverty to one man is wealth to another. There is no line at which contentment is absolutely and certainly reached, and apart from which contentment is an impossibility. It is a profound mistake to imagine that the rich are exempt from pain, sorrow, loss, and that there is no serpent in their paradise. Nor must the rich man imagine that he is exceedingly good and generous because he leaves something for the gleaner, or because here and there he has left a grape upon the vine. He is bound to do this. It is one of the divine taxations of property. What is left may be comparatively small as to its bulk and value, but the very fact of its being left establishes a divine claim and begins what may, under proper conditions, develop into a splendid scheme of social philanthropy. To be compelled to think about the poor even to the extent of leaving a few gleanings in the field or a grape or two in the vineyard is a part of human education which can hardly be too highly valued. In various ways God draws the attention of rich men to the presence and the need of the poor; and he is indeed a man who has wasted his larger opportunities who has not eaten his own bread with fuller content and tenderer piety because of his endeavours to elevate the lot of the poor. All these doctrines may be abused, or misunderstood, or even turned into ridicule; nevertheless, the wise in heart will so use them as to minister to the solid development of the best forms of character. The Bible is the book of the poor. From no other book in the world could so many injunctions be culled as bearing upon the rich in relation to the claims of poverty. These grand philanthropic lines running from end to end of the Bible will always secure for the Bible a place in the highest thinking and best affections of all lands.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Lev 19:9 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest.
Ver. 9. And when ye reap. ] See what provision the Lord maketh for his poor, commanding that the fuller cups of the richer sort may overflow into their empty dishes: besides that , as Jerome calls it, that poor man’s tithe appointed in Deu 14:28-29 ; Deu 15:11 . James V of Scotland was, for his charity, called the poor man’s king; much more may God.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
GLEANINGS. (Compare Rth 2:14-16.)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
ye reap the harvest: In what code of laws merely human, is a requisition to be found so counteracting to selfishness, so encouraging to liberality, and so beneficently considering to the poor and needy? But the Mosaic dispensation, like the Christian, breathed with love to God, and benevolence to man. To the honour of the public and charitable spirit of the English, this merciful law is, in general, as much attended to as if it had been incorporated with the gospel. Lev 23:29, Deu 24:19-21, Rth 2:2, Rth 2:15
Reciprocal: Lev 23:22 – General Deu 24:21 – gatherest
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 19:9-10. Thou shalt not gather the gleanings of thy harvest They were not to be exact in carrying all off, but were to leave some part to be gleaned and reaped by their poor neighbours, whether Israelites or Gentiles. And thou shall not glean thy vineyard When they had cut off the great bunches, they were not to examine the vine over again for the scattered grapes or small clusters, but leave them for the poor and stranger. Strangers are joined with the poor, because they could have no possessions of land among the Hebrews, and therefore were often poor. I am the Lord your God Who gave you all these things, with a reservation of my right in them, and with a charge of giving part of them to the poor. This, and many other laws which provide for the indigent, the widow, the orphan, and the stranger, show the genius of the Jewish religion to have been much more humane than we are apt to conceive, from examining the lives of its narrow-minded professors.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lev 19:9-18. Humanity and Uprightness.Gleaning is to be encouraged, both in field and vineyard. It may well be that the corners of the field were originally left so as to avoid driving out the vegetation spirit. [See article Corners by Barton in ERE, and Frazer, Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild, i. 234f. Frazer suggests that the original intention may have been to leave some of the corn for the nourishment of the corn spirits on whom the coming of next years harvest depended, who might starve and die if the field was completely stripped. Similarly with the regulation of Deu 24:21.A. S. P.]. That motive is now forgotten; the practice remains, and a new motive, characteristic of the codifier and the period, is found. Honesty in word and deed is to be maintained, and swearing falsely is prohibited; it is noteworthy that here, though not in the Decalogue, this prohibition is joined to that against stealing and lying. The hired man is to be paid at the end of each day (cf. Deu 24:14 f., Jer 22:13, Mat 20:2 ff., Jas 5:4). The lot of the hired servant was often worse than that of the slave (cf. the famous words in Homer, Od. xv. 640). The deaf man is not to be cursed, because he could not hear the curse and defend himself; and the inabilities of deaf and blind put them under the special protection of Yahweh. There is to be no partiality; to respect the person is literally to lift up the face of the suppliant bowing before you. This might perhaps be done, in the case of the poor, out of spite or fear of a powerful adversary; but there is no instance in the OT of what must have been in any case a rare temptation. Gossip, even, is forbidden (cf. Exo 20:16), and standing against the blood of a neighbour, i.e. endangering his life by slanderous accusation. Instead of leaving him to his own sin or its punishment, you must warn him, so as not to incur the guilt of sin on his account. But there must be no ill-will to him; his interests must be to you as your own. This command shows how far the conception of holiness could transcend the purely ritual. The nearest parallel is Rom 12:1 ff., where service (a ritual word) is expounded in a series of precepts which hardly surpass this ritual of true neighbourliness. The neighbour, however, is only a kinsman or fellow-countryman. Contrast Luk 10:29, but cf. Lev 19:33 f. and Exo 22:21.