SPECIAL TOPIC: GLEANINGS

This term (BDB 760) is from Lev. 19:9-10; 23:22; Deut. 24:20-22; Ruth 2, where it describes YHWH's provision for the poor as it relates to harvesting a field. The grain which was not gathered the first time through and the grain in the corners of the field was left for the poor to harvest enough to eat but not to gather in quantities to sell. They could come back to the field again and again to eat their fill.

There are several laws in Deuteronomy about providing food for the needy:

1. the third-year local tithe for the poor, Deut. 14:28-29; 26:12-15
2. food provided at the celebration of the Feast of Weeks/ Feast of Booths, Deut. 16:9-17
3. the yearly gleanings from the annual harvests, Deut. 24:19-21

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