Leviticus 19:10 · Bible study
Leviticus 19:10 Commentary: Gleanings for the Poor and Foreigner
Hebrew · 8 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Why does God ground the command to leave gleanings in His own name? A study of Leviticus 19:10, its agricultural provision, and the theology behind it.
Research Summary
- Meaning: God commands landowners to leave fallen grapes and avoid gleaning so the poor and foreigner can gather food.
- Key words: peret (fallen grapes), ger (sojourner), lo’ (absolute prohibition).
- Main debate: The identity of “foreigner”, proselyte or any non-Israelite? Also the precise definition of peret in rabbinic tradition.
- Biblical context: Connects to the Holiness Code (Lev 19:2), the Feast of Weeks (Lev 23:22), and Deuteronomy’s gleaning laws (Deut 24:19-21).
- Theological theme: God’s ownership of the land and His care for the marginalized, calling His people to imitate His generosity.
- Best use: Teaching on generosity, economic justice, and the basis of ethics in God’s identity.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
You must not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.
WEB World English Bible 2000
You shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am Yahweh your God.
KJV King James Version 1769
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.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
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.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
and thy vineyard thou dost not glean, even the omitted part of thy vineyard thou dost not gather, to the poor and to the sojourner thou dost leave them; I am Jehovah your God.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And thy vineyard shalt thou not glean, neither shalt thou gather what hath been left of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am Jehovah your God.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Neither shalt thou gather the bunches and grapes that fall down in thy vineyard: but shalt leave them to the poor and the strangers to take. I am the Lord your God.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y no rebuscarás tu viña, ni recogerás los granos caídos de tu viña; para el pobre y para el extranjero los dejarás: Yo Jehová vuestro Dios.
E não coletarás os restos de tua vinha, nem recolherás as uvas caídas de tua vinha; para o pobre e para o estrangeiro os deixarás: Eu sou o SENHOR vosso Deus.
Tu ne cueilleras pas non plus les grappes restées dans ta vigne, et tu ne ramasseras pas les grains qui en seront tombés. Tu abandonneras cela au pauvre et à l’ étranger. Je suis l’ Éternel, votre Dieu.
Also auch sollst du deinen Weinberg nicht genau lesen noch die abgefallenen Beeren auflesen, sondern dem Armen und Fremdling sollst du es lassen; denn ich bin der HERR euer Gott.
Insgelijks zult gij uw wijngaard niet nalezen, en de afgevallen bezien van uw wijngaard niet opzamelen; den arme en den vreemdeling zult gij die overlaten; Ik ben de HEERE, uw God!
e nella tua vigna non coglierai i raspoli, né raccoglierai i granelli caduti; li lascerai per il povero e per il forestiere. Io sono l’Eterno, l’Iddio vostro.
Także winnicy twojej gron do szczętu obierać nie będziesz, ani jagód opadających z winnicy twej nie pozbierasz; ubogiemu i przychodniowi zostawisz je; Jam Pan, Bóg wasz.
и виноградника твоего не обирай дочиста, и попадавших ягод в винограднике не подбирай; оставь это бедному и пришельцу. Я Господь, Бог ваш.
不可 摘盡 葡萄園的果子，也不可 拾取 葡萄園 所掉的果子；要留 給窮人 和寄居的。我是 耶和華你─們的 神。
And do not take all the grapes from your vine-garden, or the fruit dropped on the earth; let the poor man, and the man from another country, have these: I am the Lord your God.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Leviticus 19:10
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree this command requires landowners to leave a portion of their harvest for the poor and the foreigner. Barnes notes that the law extends to fruit gardens of any kind. The Cambridge Bible points to the traditional interpretation that even single grapes must be left. Keil and Delitzsch see these laws as flowing from unselfish love. Gill draws on rabbinic sources to detail what constitutes “fallen grapes” (peret). Matthew Henry summarizes: God reserves a right in what He gives, so Israel must share. The concluding phrase “I am Yahweh your God” grounds the command in the covenant relationship. To obey is to acknowledge that God owns the land and that the identity of the people as His own demands generosity toward the vulnerable.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: God commands that a portion of the harvest be left for the poor and foreigner, and this command is rooted in God's identity as Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Scope of the command | It applies to vineyards and by extension to other fruit produce. | Whether 'vineyard' (kerem) includes olive groves and other orchards (Keil argues yes; some limit to grapes based on a literal reading). |
| Recipient of gleanings | The poor and the foreigner are to receive the gleanings. | Whether 'foreigner' (ger) means a fully converted proselyte (Gill, citing Maimonides) or includes any resident alien (most modern interpreters). |
| Nature of the command | It is a positive duty, not optional. | Whether this is charity (voluntary gift) or a legal right (justice). Matthew Henry calls it a reservation of God’s right. |
| Motivation clause | The declaration 'I am Yahweh your God' grounds the command in God’s covenant identity. | Little disagreement; some emphasize gratitude for God’s provision, others emphasize God’s sovereignty and ownership. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Leviticus 19 sits within the Holiness Code (chs. 17, 26), where the repeated refrain “I am Yahweh your God” ties ethical and ritual commands to God’s identity. Verse 10 addresses the agricultural cycle. After the main harvest, landowners were to refrain from a second pass to glean remaining grapes or collect those that had fallen. The Hebrew term peret (fallen grapes) occurs only here in the Old Testament but is common in later Mishnaic Hebrew, where it refers to grapes scattered during gathering. The word kerem (vineyard) can also denote a fruit orchard, as Keil notes, connecting this law to olive groves and other crops (cf. Deuteronomy 24:20).
The recipients are ‘the poor’ (ani) and ‘the foreigner’ (ger). The ger was a temporary resident without inherited land rights; this provision granted them a measure of dignity and sustenance alongside the Israelite poor. This command is part of a cluster of social legislation in Leviticus 19 that includes honesty in business (v.11), timely payment of wages (v.13), and care for the disabled (v.14). The law does not create a welfare system in the modern sense; rather, it builds charity into the very act of harvest. By leaving edges and gleanings, the landowner practices trust that God will provide enough for both his household and those in need.
Textual Notes
The supplied sources note no significant textual variants for this verse. The Masoretic Text is stable across manuscripts. The only variation is in translation choices, such as “every grape” (KJV) vs. “fallen grapes” (WEB, ASV), reflecting different understandings of the rare Hebrew term peret.
Reception History
In Jewish tradition, this verse became the foundation for extensive laws on gleaning, codified in the Mishnah tractate Peah. The rabbis defined the minimum quantity to be left and established that these gifts belonged to the poor from the moment they were designated. Christian interpreters have often seen the verse as a model of charity. Augustine cited it in discussing the proper use of wealth. During the Reformation, commentators like Matthew Henry and the Geneva Bible emphasized the practical outworking of love for neighbor. The verse continues to be quoted in discussions of economic justice and the Church’s role in caring for the marginalized.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Leave room for others. The command not to strip the vineyard clean shows that God’s provision is meant to be shared, not hoarded.
- Include the outsider. The foreigner is explicitly named alongside the poor, reminding Israel that God’s care extends beyond ethnic boundaries.
- Remember who your God is. The declaration “I am Yahweh your God” calls the people to trust His ownership and to imitate His generosity.
Five-point outline
- The law of the edges (vv.9-10a)
- The recipients: the poor and the foreigner (v.10b)
- The authority behind it: “I am Yahweh your God” (v.10c)
- The heart of generosity: rooted in love for neighbor (implied in the surrounding context)
- The community witness: this provision makes God’s character visible to those both inside and outside Israel
Illustration hooks
- A farmer intentionally leaves a row of vegetables near the road for passersby who might need food.
- A baker sets aside a portion of daily bread for those who can’t pay, naming it “gleanings of mercy.”
- A community garden includes plots that anyone can harvest, echoing the corners of the field.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Does my generosity feel like a loss or a privilege? How does remembering God as owner change that?
- What does “leaving gleanings” look like in a non-agricultural context, my time, skills, money, or influence?
- How can our church community ensure the vulnerable among us are provided for, not just through charity but through systemic sharing?
Leading a Discussion
This verse invites us to consider how our resources can become a means of God’s provision for others. The command is simple, but its implications challenge our assumptions about ownership and generosity.
Discussion questions
- What does this command reveal about God’s character and priorities?
- Why do you think God specifies both the poor and the foreigner? How is the foreigner different from the poor Israelite?
- How would this law have shaped the economic life of Israel? What patterns of dependence and gratitude might it have created?
- In what ways does our culture’s view of ownership challenge the attitude behind “leaving gleanings”?
- What might “gleaning” look like in your own life, not necessarily with crops? Where is God asking you to leave something undone so someone else can enter?
- The verse ends with “I am Yahweh your God.” How does that declaration change how you hear the command? What does it add?
- How can we, as a small group or congregation, create structures that help the poor and outsiders feel welcome and provided for?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Leviticus 25:6 | The Sabbath of the land shall be for food for you; for yourself, for your servant, for your maid, for your hired servant, and for your stranger, who lives as a foreigner with you. |
| Judges 8:2 | He said to them, “What have I now done in comparison with you? Isn’t the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? |
| Isaiah 17:6 | Yet gleanings will be left there, like the shaking of an olive tree, two or three olives in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outermost branches of a fruitful tree,” says Yahweh, the God of Israel. |
| Isaiah 24:13 | For it will be so within the earth among the peoples, as the shaking of an olive tree, as the gleanings when the vintage is done. |
| Jeremiah 49:9 | If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves came by night, wouldn’t they steal until they had enough? |
| Obadiah 1:5 | “If thieves came to you, if robbers by night—oh, what disaster awaits you—wouldn’t they only steal until they had enough? If grape pickers came to you, wouldn’t they leave some gleaning grapes? |
| Micah 7:1 | Misery is mine! Indeed, I am like one who gathers the summer fruits, as gleanings of the vineyard. There is no cluster of grapes to eat. My soul desires to eat the early fig. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
7 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes notes that the word "grape" in this context means fallen fruit of any kind, and "vineyard" means any fruit garden. He also distinguishes the "poor" as the poor Israelite, while "the stranger" refers to a foreigner who could not own land in Israel.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The Cambridge commentary draws attention to the rare Hebrew word for "fallen fruit" used only here in the Old Testament, noting that Mishnaic Hebrew later uses it for a specific subclass. It explains the traditional view: while grapes were gathered in bunches, single grapes and those that fell were to be left for the poor. The law is addressed in the second person singular, unlike the Decalogue's plural address in the following verses.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The note underscores that the command to leave grapes for the poor and the stranger is not merely a charitable suggestion but is rooted in the Lord's own authority: "I am the Lord your God." This divine self‑identification makes the provision a binding obligation, not an optional kindness.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill draws on rabbinic tradition to define exactly what must be left for the poor: clusters with only a grape or two, and any single grapes that fall during harvest. Even if the whole vine bears only such small clusters, it belongs to the poor. The stranger here means a full convert, though Gentiles are also included for the sake of peace.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch see these laws as concrete expressions of unselfish love, not abstract rules. The commands to leave gleanings for the poor, pay wages daily, and protect the vulnerable all flow from a single root: love your neighbor as yourself. The underlying motive is reverence for God, who sees every act of injustice.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry highlights that God commanded Moses to announce these laws publicly to every Israelite, not only to the priests. He argues that even under the old covenant, true religion did not hide in ignorance but required all people to hear and remember their duty.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley stresses that God gives every blessing with a clear reservation: He retains ultimate ownership and commands that a portion be shared with the poor. Our possessions are never entirely our own, and generosity is not optional but a divine charge built into the gift itself.