Leviticus 23:22

And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(22) Thou shalt not make a clean riddance.—Better, thou shalt not wholly reap, as the Authorised version translates the same phrase in Leviticus 19:9. In the midst of rejoicing and thankfulness to God for a bountiful harvest, the Lawgiver again inculcates the duty of remembering the poor, and reminds the proprietors of the land that the needy have legally a share in the produce, as has been enacted in Leviticus 19:9.

Benson Commentary

Leviticus 23:22. When ye reap, thou — From the plural, ye, he comes to the singular, thou, because he would press this duty upon every person who had a harvest to reap, that none might plead exemption from it. And it is observable, that, though the present business is only concerning the worship of God, yet he makes a kind of excursion to repeat a former law of providing for the poor, to show that our devotion to God is little esteemed by him if it be not accompanied with acts of charity to men.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

23:15-22 The feast of Weeks was held in remembrance of the giving of the law, fifty days after the departure from Egypt; and looked forward to the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, fifty days after Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. On that day the apostles presented the first-fruits of the Christian church to God. To the institution of the feast of Pentecost, is added a repetition of that law, by which they were required to leave the gleanings of their fields. Those who are truly sensible of the mercy they received from God, will show mercy to the poor without grudging.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The repetition of the Law (see the margin reference) is appropriately connected with the thanksgiving for the completed grain harvest.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

22. thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, &c.—(See on [48]Le 19:9). The repetition of this law here probably arose from the priests reminding the people, at the presentation of the first-fruits, to unite piety to God with charity to the poor.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

From the plural ye he comes to the singular thou, because he would press this duty upon every person who hath a harvest to reap, that none might plead exemption from it. And it is observable, that though the present business is only concerning the worship of God, yet he makes a kind of excursion to repeat a former law of providing for the poor, to show that our piety and devotion to God is little esteemed by him, if it be not accompanied with acts of charity to men.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And when ye reap the harvest of your land,.... This law is repeated from Leviticus 19:9; and as Aben Ezra observes, the feast of weeks being the feast of the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, it is repeated, that they might not forget what God had commanded them to do at that time, namely, to leave somewhat for the poor; and the Jewish writers (a) observe, that this law, being put among the solemn feasts of the passover, pentecost, and tabernacles, and the beginning of the year, and the day of atonement, teaches, that he that observes it, and leaves the corner of the field and the gleanings to the poor, it is as if he built the sanctuary, and offered his sacrifices in the midst of it; but a much better reason may be given for it, which was, to teach them that when they expressed their thankfulness to God, they should exercise charity and liberality to the poor:

thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: See Gill on Leviticus 19:9,

thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the Lord your God; See Gill on Leviticus 19:10.

(a) In Torat Cohenim, apud Yalkut in loc. & Jarchi.

Geneva Study Bible

And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

22. And when … harvest] Probably inserted here from Leviticus 19:9 (also H), with which it is verbally identical.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 22. - When ye reap the harvest of your land. The legislator pauses in his enunciation of the festivals to add the rule of charity, already laid down in the nineteenth chapter, as to leaving the gleanings unto the poor, and to the stranger. Leviticus 23:22

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

On this day a holy meeting was to be held, and laborious work to be suspended, just as on the first and seventh days of Mazzoth. This was to be maintained as a statute for ever (see Leviticus 23:14). It was not sufficient, however, to thank the Lord for the blessing of harvest by a feast of thanksgiving to the Lord, but they were not to forget the poor and distressed when gathering in their harvest. To indicate this, the law laid down in Leviticus 19:9-10 is repeated in Leviticus 23:22.