And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, and the gleaning of thy harvest thou shalt not gather.
A chapter about holiness turns suddenly to farming. God tells Israel to stop short of the field's edge and to leave the dropped grain lying — why would He tell landowners to reap less than they could?
Two spirits can meet at a harvest. One writer sets them side by side.
He would think of "the poor and stranger," and He would have His people think of them too. As they reaped the golden sheaves and gathered the ripe clusters, the Israel of God were to remember "the poor and stranger," because the Lord was the God of Israel. A spirit of grasping greed was not to rule the reaper and the grape-gatherer. That spirit strips the corners of the field bare and picks the vine clean. They were to be ruled instead by a spirit of large-hearted, genuine kindness. That spirit leaves a sheaf and a cluster "for the poor and stranger," so that they too may rejoice in the boundless goodness of Him. All the needy can wait on His open hand with confidence.
Why should they hold back? One writer points to Israel's own past, and to God Himself as the ground of the command.
The Lord would also train His people in gracious feeling. He would bless their harvest and their grape crop. So He teaches them kindness to the needy. He tells them to leave a margin of their good crop, and the scattered or fallen grapes, for the poor and the stranger. Such had once been their own lot in the land of Egypt; but the ground is Himself, the Lord their God (9, 10).
Whose field was it? One writer answers from a later chapter of Leviticus, then follows the thought to God's own Son.
The provision made for the poor (verses 9-10, compare with Ruth 2:14-16) shows the loving care of the Lord. God has special regard for the poor and strangers. His blessed Son became poor and was indeed a stranger in the world He created. His people had no heart for Him, and He was hungry. His disciples had to take ears of grain from the field to satisfy their hunger. The Lord Himself was the owner of Israel's land (Lev. 25:23). As owner, He charged His servants to be unselfish with the generous provision He was making for their daily need.
Ruth was a foreign widow who gathered leftover grain behind the harvesters of a landowner named Boaz. One writer weighs the order Boaz gave his men.
Nothing can surpass the exquisite refinement of the words, "let fall also some of the handfuls on purpose for her." This noble Israelite wanted "the stranger" to have plenty. He wanted her to have it as the fruit of her own gleaning rather than as a gift from him. This was the very essence of refinement. It put her in direct connection with the God of Israel, and made her depend on Him. He had fully recognised "the gleaner" and provided for her. Boaz was only acting out that gracious rule, and Ruth was reaping its benefit. The same grace that had given him the field gave her the gleanings. They were both debtors to grace.
The words quoted about Boaz come from an older translation of Ruth 2:16.
Harvesting this way called for self-discipline. It also worked as a test.
They were also to exercise self-discipline in harvesting. They must not reap the corners of their fields, and they must not go back to glean what they had left the first time. They were to leave this for the poor or for strangers who had little to live on (vv. 9-10). Such a law tested whether they loved their neighbour and whether their faith was really in God.
The pattern reaches past ancient farming. A promise came with it.
The abundant blessing which is ours is not meant to leave us at ease. We are to consider others for whom nothing is prepared. God blessed Israel with plenty in the land. They were to leave the corners of their rich harvest fields, the gleanings of their fruits, and even a sheaf of grain they had forgotten. The poor and the stranger were to have these. When this divine wisdom and unselfish grace marked God's people, He blessed them greatly in all the work of their hands (Lev. 19:9; Deut. 24:19); for in doing so they were only expressing His own gracious and considerate heart.
- Owner — the land belonged to God, so the harvest came as a trust; the corners were His portion for the needy.
- Memory — Israel had once been poor strangers in Egypt, and were to reap like people who remembered it.
- Margin — God asked for a margin of the good crop, left unreaped for the poor and the stranger to gather themselves.
- Boaz — he acted this law out with such care that Ruth gathered her plenty as her own gleaning, from God's hand rather than his.
- Test — leaving the corners took self-discipline, and it showed whether a person loved his neighbour and trusted God, who blessed such hands in all their work.
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.
Leviticus 19 lists the everyday duties of a holy people. This one lands in the grape harvest: God tells the owner of the vineyard to stop picking before the job is done. The grapes that fall and the fruit left behind belong to someone else. The command ends with no penalty attached — only a name.
The chapter opens with a call to be holy. What follows shows what holiness looks like in ordinary life.
They were to be holy, because the LORD was holy. Chapter 19 takes up more the side of good... what is good and kind and fitting, what their conduct ought to be in various details, in the relationships they had with one another... The people of God were, in all their ways, to walk in a manner worthy of this relationship.
The law does not tell the farmer to hand out charity. It tells him to leave something standing, and that restraint exposes what is in the heart.
The reaper and the grape-gatherer were not to work in a spirit of grasping greed, which would strip the corners of the field bare and clear the branches of the vine. They were to work in a spirit of large-hearted, genuine kindness, which would leave a sheaf and a cluster "for the poor and stranger." Then those people too could rejoice in the unbounded goodness of Him whose paths drip with plenty, and on whose open hand everyone in need may wait with confidence.
"I am the LORD your God" is the reason. It holds two things: what Israel once was, and who owned the ground.
The LORD would also train His people in gracious feeling. Since He would bless their harvest and their grape crop, He teaches them kindness to the needy. He tells them to leave a margin of their good crop, and the scattered or fallen grapes, for the poor and the stranger. Such had once been their own situation in the land of Egypt; but the ground of it is Himself, the LORD their God.
The land was never theirs to strip bare. And God's own Son came into the world poor, hungry, and a stranger.
God has special regard for the poor and strangers. His blessed Son became poor and was indeed a stranger in the world He created. His people had no heart for Him, and He was hungry. His disciples had to pick heads of grain from the field to satisfy their hunger. The LORD Himself was the owner of Israel's land (Lev. 25:23), and as owner He charged His servants to be unselfish in the use of the plentiful provision He was making for their daily needs.
Leaving fruit on the vine costs money. That is exactly the point.
They were also to show self-discipline in harvesting. They must not reap the corners of their fields, or go back to glean what the first harvest had left. They were to leave it for the poor or for strangers who had little means of support (vv. 9-10). Such a law tested whether they loved their neighbour and whether their faith was really in God.
Ruth was a stranger gleaning in Boaz's field. He found a way to give her more without turning it into a handout.
Nothing can surpass the exquisite thoughtfulness of the words, "let fall also some of the handfuls on purpose for her." This noble Israelite clearly wanted "the stranger" to have plenty. He wanted her to have it as the fruit of her own gleaning rather than of his generosity... It put her in direct connection with, and dependence on, the God of Israel, who had fully recognised and provided for "the gleaner." Boaz was only acting out that gracious ordinance from which Ruth was reaping the benefit. The same grace that had given him the field gave her the gleanings. They were both debtors to grace.
This pattern did not end with Israel's fields.
We find a similar combination in the New Testament: giving our thanks to God and our goods to the needy (Heb. 13:15-16). Our worship will be incomplete and unacceptable if it lacks either one or the other.
- Owner — the land belongs to God. The harvester is only a servant, working a crop that was never fully his.
- Margin — holiness here means a deliberate limit: leave a sheaf, leave a cluster, do not strip the vine bare.
- Memory — the command rests on "I am the LORD your God," and Israel had once known what it was to be strangers in Egypt.
- Test — obedience costs fruit. The grapes left on the vine show whether love for the neighbour and trust in God are real.
- Grace — Boaz kept this law and went past it, dropping handfuls on purpose. The field and the gleanings came from the same hand. Both he and Ruth were debtors to grace.