Deuteronomy 24:21

21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you must not glean what is left. What remains will be for the foreign resident, the fatherless, and the widow.

Deuteronomy 24:21 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 24:21

When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard
Which was done much about the same time that the olives were gathered, and both after wheat harvest, about the latter end of June, or beginning of July; for they were more forward in those hot countries:

thou shall not glean [it] afterwards;
go over the vines a second time, to pick off every berry or bunch that escaped them at first gathering:

it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow;
as the forgotten sheaf, and the olive berries left; these are all supposed to be poor persons, otherwise no doubt there were strangers, and fatherless persons, and widows, in good circumstances; who, as they needed not, so neither would give themselves the trouble, but think it beneath them to go into fields, oliveyards, and vineyards, to gather what was left by the owners. These laws were made in favour of the poor, that mercy and kindness might be showed to them, and that they might have a taste of all the fruits of the earth.

Deuteronomy 24:21 In-Context

19 "When you reap the harvest in your field, and you forget a sheaf in the field, do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the foreign resident, the fatherless, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

20 When you knock down the fruit from your olive tree, you must not go over the branches again. What remains will be for the foreign resident, the fatherless, and the widow.

21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you must not glean what is left. What remains will be for the foreign resident, the fatherless, and the widow.

22 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.