See Deuteronomy 24:19-21. “Grape” signifies fallen fruit of any kind; and “vineyard” a fruit garden of any kind. Compare Deuteronomy 23:24.The poor - is the poor Israelite - “the stranger” is properly the foreigner, who could possess no land of his own in the land of Israel. read more
Leviticus 19:9-10. Thou shalt not gather the gleanings of thy harvest They were not to be exact in carrying all off, but were to leave some part to be gleaned and reaped by their poor neighbours, whether Israelites or Gentiles. And thou shall not glean thy vineyard When they had cut off the great bunches, they were not to examine the vine over again for the scattered grapes or small clusters, but leave them for the poor and stranger. Strangers are joined with the poor, because they... read more
Miscellaneous matters (19:1-37)Probably the miscellaneous laws collected here were decisions or warnings given by Moses in cases where there was some doubt about what was right or wrong. Often all that was needed was a reminder of existing laws; for example, those concerning respect for parents, Sabbath-keeping, worship of idols and eating of sacrificial food (19:1-8).When harvesting, farmers were always to leave something for the poor (9-10). Employers had to pay wages promptly, and judges had... read more
Respect for parents and Sabbath observance (Leviticus 19:3) were the foundations for moral government and social wellbeing respectively. Compare the fourth and fifth commandments.Idolatry and image making (Leviticus 19:4) broke the first and second commandments. This verse recalls the golden calf incident (Exodus 32).Regarding the sacrifices, the main expression of worship, as holy (Leviticus 19:5-8), revealed true loyalty to God contrasted with the idolatry of Leviticus 19:4.The preceding... read more
Holiness precepts 19:1-18"This section . . . consists of a list of twenty-one (3x7) laws. These laws are broken up into smaller units by the sevenfold repetition of the phrase ’I am the LORD (your God)’ (Leviticus 19:3-4; Leviticus 19:10; Leviticus 19:12; Leviticus 19:14; Leviticus 19:16; Leviticus 19:18)." [Note: Sailhamer, p. 349.] The clause "I am the Lord" reminded the Israelites that God was their ultimate judge. read more
3. Holiness of behavior toward God and man ch. 19Moses grouped the commandments in this section together by a loose association of ideas rather than by a strictly logical arrangement. They all spring from the central thought in Leviticus 19:2: "You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." This sentence is the motto of Leviticus (cf. Leviticus 11:44-45; Leviticus 20:26; Matthew 5:48; 1 Peter 1:16)."Every biblical statement about God carries with it an implied demand upon men to imitate... read more
Various Laws, mainly of a Moral and Humane CharacterThis chapter was very naturally regarded by Jewish authorities as an embodiment of the Decalogue. It will be observed that in general the precepts in Leviticus 19:3-8 correspond to those of the first table of the Decalogue (’Thou shalt love the Lord thy God’), and those in Leviticus 19:9-18 to the second table (’Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’). In this chapter alone the characteristic phrase ’I am the Lord’ (i.e. Jehovah) occurs no... read more
(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... read more
THE LAW OF HOLINESS (CONCLUDED)Leviticus 19:1-37WE have in this chapter a series of precepts and prohibitions which from internal evidence appear to have been selected by an inspired redactor of the canon from various original documents, with the purpose, not of presenting a complete enumeration of all moral and ceremonial duties, but of illustrating the application in the everyday life of the Israelite of the injunction which stands at the beginning of the chapter (Leviticus 19:2): "Ye shall... read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 19:9-34
Considerateness. We gather from these verse— I. THAT THE FEAR OF GOD WILL SURELY LEAD TO THE LOVE OF MAN . That piety which begins and ends in acts of devotion is one that may be reasonably suspected: it is not of the scriptural order. True piety is in consulting the will of the heavenly Father ( Matthew 7:21 ), and his will is that we should love and be kind to one another ( Ephesians 4:32 ). Philanthropy is a word which may not have its synonym in the... read more