Leviticus 19:9
in Leviticus 19When 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Leviticus 19
Commentary
6 notes on this verseDuring the harvest, [the law] forbids owners to gather up the bits which fall from the sheaves and similarly advises that in harvesting something should be left behind unreaped. By this it gives excellent teaching to owners in the practice of generous sharing by leaving some of their property for those in need and providing the poor with a chance for food.
This site's exposition
When you reap the harvest of your land
on Leviticus 19:9-10
The edges of the field and the fallen grapes are left "for the poor and the foreigner", who gather them themselves. Ruth 2 runs on this arrangement when a Moabite widow gleans behind the reapers of Boaz.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Do you see how the law proclaims simultaneously the justice and goodness of God, who provides food unstintingly for all? Again, in the grape harvest the harvesters are forbidden to go back and cut anything that has been left over or to collect fallen grapes. The same rules are applied to olive gatherers. In fact the principle of tithing crops and flocks was an education in honoring the divine. We are not to be totally absorbed by profit but to share humanely with the neighbor as well.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour. 16 Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the L ORD .
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v15-16
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.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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 honor 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.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּֽבְקֻצְרְכֶם֙ | uvekutzrekhem | and when harvest you | H7114 → | 49 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| קְצִ֣יר | ketzir | [the] harvest of | H7105 → | 54 times |
| אַרְצְכֶ֔ם | ʾartzekhem | land your | H776 → | 2504 times |
| לֹ֧א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תְכַלֶּ֛ה | tekhaleh | you will finish | H3615 → | 208 times |
| פְּאַ֥ת | peat | [the] side of | H6285 → | 86 times |
| שָׂדְךָ֖ | sadekha | field your | H7704 → | 334 times |
| לִקְצֹ֑ר | liktzor | to harvest | H7114 → | 49 times |
| וְלֶ֥קֶט | veleket | and [the] remnant of | H3951 → | |
| קְצִֽירְךָ֖ | ketzirecha | harvest your | H7105 → | 54 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תְלַקֵּֽט׃ | telaket | you will gather | H3950 → | 37 times |
וּֽבְקֻצְרְכֶם֙and when harvest you
uvekutzrekhemH7114 →49 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
קְצִ֣יר[the] harvest of
ketzirH7105 →54 times
אַרְצְכֶ֔םland your
ʾartzekhemH776 →2504 times
לֹ֧אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תְכַלֶּ֛הyou will finish
tekhalehH3615 →208 times
פְּאַ֥ת[the] side of
peatH6285 →86 times
שָׂדְךָ֖field your
sadekhaH7704 →334 times
לִקְצֹ֑רto harvest
liktzorH7114 →49 times
וְלֶ֥קֶטand [the] remnant of
veleketH3951 →
קְצִֽירְךָ֖harvest your
ketzirechaH7105 →54 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תְלַקֵּֽט׃you will gather
telaketH3950 →37 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Leviticus 23:22When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap all the way to the edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 24:19–21
If you are harvesting in your field and forget a sheaf there, do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 19:9–10
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.
- Proverbs 11:24–25
One gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor.
- Isaiah 58:10
and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will go forth in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.
- Ruth 2:15–23
When Ruth got up to glean, Boaz ordered his young men, “Even if she gathers among the sheaves, do not insult her.
- Deuteronomy 24:19–21
Through
Ruth 2:2And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go into the fields and glean heads of grain after someone in whose sight I may find favor.” “Go ahead, my daughter,” Naomi replied.
it leads to
- Leviticus 23:22
When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap all the way to the edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the…
- Leviticus 23:22
Through
Leviticus 23:10“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you are to bring to the priest a sheaf of the firstfruits of…
it leads to
- Exodus 34:26
Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
- Exodus 23:19
Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
- Exodus 34:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.