Deuteronomy 24:21

21 And when thou gatherest thy vyneyarde, thou shalt not gather cleane after the: but it shalbe for the straunger, the fatherlesse and the wedowe.

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 thou cuttest doune thyne herueste in the felde and hast forgotte a shefe in the felde thou shalt not goo agayne and fett it: But it shalbe for the straunger, the fatherlesse and the wedowe, that the Lorde thy God maye blesse the in all the workes of thyne hande.

20 When thou beatest doune thyne olyue, trees thou shalt not make cleane riddaunce after the: but it shalbe for the straunger, the fatherlesse and the wedowe.

21 And when thou gatherest thy vyneyarde, thou shalt not gather cleane after the: but it shalbe for the straunger, the fatherlesse and the wedowe.

22 And remembre that thou wast a seruaunte in the lond of Egipte: wherfore I comaunde the to doo this thinge.