Leviticus 19:10, commentary and pictures

The law forbids stripping the vineyard bare or picking up every grape, requiring the owner to leave what remains unharvested so the poor and the stranger may have food. It is spoken by Christ as Redeemer, and its force rests on the Lord's own authority in I am the LORD your God. It belongs to holiness lived out in every circumstance, in overcoming selfishness, cultivating Christ's character, and loving one's neighbor as oneself. What is left is the Lord's portion, honoring God first and acknowledging that He owns field and vineyard and all possessions while His people hold them as stewards. It commands practical love, justice, and compassionate duty that shares God's gifts, embraces the stranger in material and spiritual blessing, and still binds Christians to proportionate giving and mercy to all in need rather than robbing God and the poor.

Command's Words and Setting

The vineyard is not to be stripped clean, and not every grape is to be gathered, but some grapes are to be left unharvested so the poor and the stranger have food from the vineyard itself. The owner is not to take everything for himself but is to leave access to food for people in need, which makes provision for the needy part of God's law for how people treat one another. This leaving is practical love for others and belongs with the broader commands to deal justly and compassionately, to perform practical duties toward others, and to live a holy life apart from stealing, fraud, and other wrongs. What remains ungleaned is the Lord's portion, because God's gifts are to be shared and the needy must not be oppressed.

The instruction is spoken by Christ as Redeemer, who calls for holiness that leaves part of the harvest and vineyard grapes for the poor and the stranger rather than gathering all for self. The requirement rests on the Lord's own authority, declared in I am the LORD your God.

The command stands in a holiness code in which, because God is holy, His people must be holy in order to be accepted and approved by Him. Holiness means practicing godliness in every circumstance and cultivating the attributes of Jesus, which are the attributes of God. It means overcoming selfishness and self-centeredness and loving one's neighbor as oneself, shown in leaving provision like grapes for the poor and stranger and in giving mercy and relief to all who need it, not only to members of one's own sect. Responsibility begins at home as blessing first to members of one's own family and then extends to fellow men, while salvation does not come by belonging to a particular church but by individual belief in Jesus Christ as personal Saviour, being united with Christ and growing up to the full stature of Jesus Christ with intelligent knowledge of responsibility.

The poor are given a right to a certain portion of the produce of the soil, so that all the gleanings of harvest-field, orchard, and vineyard belong to the poor, for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. When hungry, a man is at liberty to go into his neighbor's field or orchard or vineyard and eat of the grain or fruit to satisfy his hunger. It was in accordance with this permission that the disciples of Jesus plucked and ate of the standing grain as they passed through a field upon the Sabbath day.

Generosity, Stewardship, and Application

The command requires practical love for others, expressed in leaving part of the vineyard unharvested so the poor and the stranger have access to food rather than the owner taking every grape for himself. It belongs to the duties governing how people treat one another justly and compassionately, grounded in the Lord's authority. God's gifts are to be shared, and justice in dealing with others forbids oppressing fellow people while requiring that necessity be relieved.

What is left ungleaned is the Lord's portion, appointed from the gleanings of harvest-field, orchard, and vineyard to relieve the necessities of the poor and the stranger. The arrangement put God first and reminded Israel that He owned the fields and flocks and everything possessed, with the people holding their goods only as stewards of what He had provided. Benevolence therefore honored God while caring for those in need.

The provision showed kindness to those outside Israel, giving strangers a share both in material provision and in the spiritual blessings of the community. It taught liberality, mercy, and generous care for those in need and for those who struggle, rather than making their lot as hard as possible. Leaving part of the harvest uncollected so the needy could find sustenance was the intended expression of that generosity.

Leaving what falls in reaping and refusing to gather every grape is one of the regular, set-apart ways by which property was sanctified for God and used to care for the poor. Almost every product was thus made to remind Israel of the Giver through required returns, with God's claims held paramount. The harvest was not to be reaped fully, but corners, droppings, and ungathered grapes were reserved for the poor and stranger.

This requirement was one part of a proportionate system binding all according to the amount possessed. It stood alongside the tithe, the ransom for the firstborn son, the firstfruits of flocks and harvest, the spontaneous produce left for the needy every seventh year, sacrificial and sin and trespass offerings, the remission of debts every seventh year, hospitalities and gifts and assessments for the poor, and special freewill offerings. Together these systematic regular donations amounted to about one-third of income for religious interests and for the poor.

The same obligation still binds Christians, including those possessing ten or twenty thousand dollars, under imperative claims not only to give proportionately by tithing but to present sin and thank offerings and acts of beneficence. Neglect to leave and give what belongs to God and the poor is robbing God. It violates a duty that must be settled in the last day.

Mercy and relief are to be given to all who need them, not only to members of one's own sect, in overcoming selfishness and self-centeredness and loving one's neighbor as oneself. Responsibility begins at home, as blessing first to members of one's own family, and then extends to fellow men. Acceptance does not come by belonging to a particular church but by individual belief in Jesus Christ as personal Saviour, united with Christ and growing up to the full stature of Christ with intelligent knowledge of responsibility.