Leviticus 19:9

Leaving the Gleanings

19:9 “‘When you gather in the harvest ¹  of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field, ²  and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest.

Leviticus 19:16

19:16 You must not go about as a slanderer among your people. ³  You must not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is at stake. ⁴  I am the Lord.

Leviticus 23:22

23:22 When you gather in the harvest ⁵  of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field, ⁶  and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.’” ⁷ 

Deuteronomy 24:19-21

24:19 Whenever you reap your harvest in your field and leave some unraked grain there, ⁸  you must not return to get it; it should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow so that the Lord your God may bless all the work you do. ⁹  24:20 When you beat your olive tree you must not repeat the procedure; ¹⁰  the remaining olives belong to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow. 24:21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard you must not do so a second time; ¹¹  they should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow.

[19:9]  ¹ tn Heb “And in your harvesting the harvest.”

[19:9]  ² tn Heb “you shall not complete the corner of your field to harvest.”

[19:16]  ³ tn The term רָכִיל (rakhil) is traditionally rendered “slanderer” here (so NASB, NIV, NRSV; see also J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 304, 316), but the exact meaning is uncertain (see the discussion in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 129). It is sometimes related to I רָכַל (“to go about as a trader [or “merchant”]”; BDB 940 s.v. רָכַל), and taken to refer to cutthroat business dealings, but there may be a II רָכַל, the meaning of which is dubious (HALOT 1237 s.v. II *רכל). Some would render it “to go about as a spy.”

[19:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “You shall not stand on the blood of your neighbor.” This part of the verse is also difficult to interpret. The rendering here suggests that one will not allow a neighbor to be victimized, whether in court (cf. v. 15) or in any other situation (see the discussion in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 129).

[23:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “And when you harvest the harvest.”

[23:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “you shall not complete the corner of your field in your harvest.”

[23:22]  ⁷ sn Compare Lev 19:9-10.

[24:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the field.”

[24:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “of your hands.” This law was later applied in the story of Ruth who, as a poor widow, was allowed by generous Boaz to glean in his fields (Ruth 2:1-13).

[24:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “knock down after you.”

[24:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “glean after you.”