Leviticus 19:10

Lev 19:10 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.

Ver. 10. I am the Lord.] The chief owner of all thou hast.

Your God.] Whom thou oughtest to honour with thy substance. {Pro 3:9}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(10) And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard.—In gathering in the vine care is to be taken only to cut off’ the large clusters, but not the infantas, as the expression literally denotes, which is here rendered by “glean.” Those branches or twigs which had only one or two grapes on them were to be left to the poor.

Neither shalt thou gather every grape.—Better, Nor shalt thou gather the scattered grapes, that is, those single grapes which had either fallen to the ground during the process of cutting off the branches, or those which were scattered about the ground after the vintage was completed. Like the gleanings of the field these grapes were the portion of the poor both of Jewish origin and proselytes.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard,.... Or cut off the little clusters which are, as Aben Ezra observes, like an infant, as the word signifies, infant clusters, which were small in comparison of the large ones, as infants are to men; those which had but a grape or two, or very few upon them, were not to be cut off, but left for the poor: and Gersom says, if the whole vine consisted of such clusters, it all belonged to the poor:

neither shall thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; every particular single grape; these were such as were left on the vine after the large clusters were gathered, and a man upon viewing it again might not gather such as had only a single grape or two upon them; for the Misnic doctors say (s), two grapes or berries make a "peret" (the word here rendered "every grape"), but three do not; so that if there were three grapes upon a cluster it was the owner's, and might be gathered, but if fewer, then it belonged to the poor; or this may be understood (t) also of such single grapes that fell to the ground in gathering, which might not be taken up by the owners, but were to be left to the poor; and, as Gersom says the grape gatherers might not put a bushel under the vines in the time of gathering, to catch the single grapes that fell:

thou shall leave them for the poor and stranger: for the poor Israelite, and the stranger that sojourns with you, as Aben Ezra interprets it; the stranger intends a proselyte, not a proselyte of the gate, but a proselyte of righteousness, as Gersom and it is a rule laid down by Maimonides (u), that every stranger spoken of concerning the gifts of the poor is no other than a proselyte of righteousness, one that has been circumcised upon embracing the Jewish religion, and agreeing to conform to all the laws and rituals of it; though the same writer observes, that they do not restrain the poor of the Gentiles from these gifts, but they are in general included among the poor of Israel; and they come and take them because of the ways of peace; for the sake of peace, to promote peace and harmony among them:

I am the Lord your God; that gave them fields and vineyards, and times of harvest, and vintage, and blessed them with fruitful seasons, and therefore had a right to require such things of them; and they were in duty and gratitude bound to observe his commands; and this shows his regard unto, and concern for the poor, and that he is the father and patron of them.

(s) Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Peah, c.6. sect. 5. (t) So it is interpreted by R Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 59. 1. (u) Mattanot Anayim, c. 1. sect. 9.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Strangers. Septuagint and Syriac, "proselytes," who might dwell in the country. As the soil did not belong to them, great compassion was requisite: otherwise they must have perished, or become slaves. --- Lord; the sole proprietor. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Who gave you all these things with a reservation of my authority over you, and right in them, and with a charge of giving part of them to the poor.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. Every grape — “The fallen fruit,” (R.V.)

For the poor — As soon as the grape harvest had been carried to the vats, the owner was forbidden to glean the vineyard again. The poor were to be relieved, not as beggars, by food from the granaries of the prosperous, but through their own industry. Thus their self-respect was preserved, and they were kept from the temptations of idleness.

The… stranger — For the origin of the strangers and the causes of their poverty, see Lev_23:22, note.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I am the Lord your God - Who gave you all these things with a reservation of my right in them, and with a charge of giving part of them to the poor.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

לא תעולל AND THOU SHALT NOT GLEAN [THY VINE YARD] — (עלל is a verb connected with the noun עולל "young, tender, not developed"; cf. Samuel 15:3: עולל ויונק) thus לא תעולל means, thou shalt not take the tender grapes of it. They can be recognized as such from the description given in Mishna Peah 7:4 (cf. also Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 3 3) where it is stated: What are עוללות? Clusters which have neither כתף, “arms" nor נטף, "drippings".

ופרט כרמך [NEITHER SHALT THOU COLLECT] THE FALLEN GRAPES OF THY VINE YARD — i. e. the single berries of the grapes which fall to the ground during the grape gathering.

אני ה'‏‎‎‎‎‎ אלהיכם I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD — the Judge Who am certain to punish if necessary and Who for the neglect of these duties will exact from you nothing less than your souls, as it is said (Proverbs 22:22, 23) "Rob not the poor… for the Lord will plead their cause, [and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them]" (Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 3 7).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.