Deuteronomy 24:20

20 When thou shakest thine olive-tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

Deuteronomy 24:20 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 24:20

When thou beatest thine olive tree
With sticks and staves, to get off the olives when ripe:

thou shall not go over the boughs again;
to beat off some few that may remain; they were not nicely to examine the boughs over again, whether there were any left or not:

it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow;
who might come into their oliveyards after the trees had been beaten, and gather what were left.

Deuteronomy 24:20 In-Context

18 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and that Jehovah thy God redeemed thee from thence; therefore I command thee to do this thing.

19 When thou reapest thy harvest in thy field, and forgettest a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not return to fetch it; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow; that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hands.

20 When thou shakest thine olive-tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

21 When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterwards; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

22 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt; therefore I command thee to do this thing.

Footnotes

• [a] Or 'beatest.'