You shall observe and do that which has gone out of your lips. Whatever you have vowed to Yahweh your God as a free will offering, which you have promised with your mouth, you must do. When you come into your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat your fill of grapes at your own pleasure; but you shall not put any in your container.
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Deuteronomy 23:23-24 sits inside this longer paragraph.
When you vow a vow to Yahweh your God, you shall not be slack to pay it, for Yahweh your God will surely require it of you; and it would be sin in you. But if you refrain from making a vow, it shall be no sin in you. You shall observe and do that which has gone out of your lips. Whatever you have vowed to Yahweh your God as a free will offering, which you have promised with your mouth, you must do. When you come into your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat your fill of grapes at your own pleasure; but you shall not put any in your container. When you come into your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the ears with your hand; but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor’s standing grain.
Parallel Translations
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You shall observe and do that which has gone out of your lips. Whatever you have vowed to Yahweh your God as a free will offering, which you have promised with your mouth, you must do.
When you come into your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat your fill of grapes at your own pleasure; but you shall not put any in your container.
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That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform; even a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the LORD thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth.
When thou comest into thy neighbour’s vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure; but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel.
Show all 3 translations
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(23-24) That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt observe and do; according as thou hast vowed freely unto the LORD thy God, even that which thou hast promised with thy mouth.
(23-25) When thou comest into thy neighbour's vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes until thou have enough at thine own pleasure; but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Commandments (1)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (16)
- Proverbs 20:25 (v23) It is a snare to a man to make a rash dedication, then later to consider his vows.
- 1 Corinthians 10:26 (v24) for “the earth is the Lord’s, and its fullness.”
- Judges 11:30-31 (v23) Jephthah vowed a vow to Yahweh, and said, “If you will indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be, that whatever…
- Romans 12:13 (v24) contributing to the needs of the saints; given to hospitality.
- Numbers 30:2 (v23) When a man vows a vow to Yahweh, or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all…
Show all 16 cross-references
- 1 Samuel 1:11 (v23) She vowed a vow, and said, “Yahweh of Armies, if you will indeed look at the affliction of your servant and remember me, and not forget…
- 1 Samuel 14:24 (v23) The men of Israel were distressed that day; for Saul had adjured the people, saying, “Cursed is the man who eats any food until it is…
- Psalms 66:13-14 (v23) I will come into your temple with burnt offerings. I will pay my vows to you, which my lips promised, and my mouth spoke, when I was in…
- Psalms 116:18 (v23) I will pay my vows to Yahweh, yes, in the presence of all his people,
- Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 (v23) When you vow a vow to God, don’t defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow. It is better that you should not…
- Jeremiah 44:25-27 (v23) Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and with your hands have fulfilled it,…
- Mark 6:22-23 (v23) When the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and those sitting with him. The king said to the young lady,…
- Acts 23:12 (v23) When it was day, some of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until…
- Acts 23:21 (v23) Therefore don’t yield to them, for more than forty men lie in wait for him, who have bound themselves under a curse to neither eat nor…
- Hebrews 13:5 (v24) Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any…
- Judges 11:35 (v23) When he saw her, he tore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are one of those who trouble me;…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (15 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv23–24 If the vow be lawful and godly.
If the vow be lawful and godly.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On v24 Deu 23:24 When thou comest into thy neighbour’s vineyard,…
Deu 23:24 When thou comest into thy neighbour’s vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure; but thou shalt not put [any] in thy vessel.
Ver. 24. When thou comest, &c.] As a passenger; {Mat 12:1-2} how much more as a labourer; {1Co 9:7} thou mayest take what thou wilt for necessity, but not for superfluity.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv23–24 A free-will offering; which though thou didst freely make,…
A free-will offering; which though thou didst freely make, yet being made, thou art no longer free, but obliged to perform it.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv23–24 That which is gone out of thy lips thou…
That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform,.... Which were in their power to perform and lawful to do; and this is observed to make them watchful and cautious, and not be rash in making vows, since, when once they were made, an exact and rigid performance of them was expected; see Ecc 5:4,
even a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the Lord thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth; be it what it will, as to the matter of it, it was to be paid, and in the manner as it was vowed and promised. Aben Ezra observes, that every vow is a freewill offering, but not every freewill offering a vow; the Targum of Jonathan enumerates the several things to be performed, sin offerings, trespass offerings, burnt offerings, and oblations of holy things, and drink offerings, and gifts of the house of the sanctuary, and alms to the poor.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv23–24 A free-will-offering - Which though thou didst really make,…
A free-will-offering - Which though thou didst really make, yet being made, thou art no longer free, but obliged to perform it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v24 Verse 24. Thou shalt not put any in thy…
Verse 24. Thou shalt not put any in thy vessel.] Thou shalt carry none away with thee. The old English proverb, Eat thy fill but pocket none, seems to have been founded on this law.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v24 Deu 23:24. At thy pleasure — Which was allowed…
Deu 23:24. At thy pleasure — Which was allowed in those parts, because of the great plenty and fruitfulness of vines there.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v24 Thee. Hebrew, "thou shalt not put into thy vessel,"…
Thee. Hebrew, "thou shalt not put into thy vessel," or basket. This privilege is restrained by the Chaldean, &c., to vintagers. But Josephus ([Antiquities?] iv. 8) extends it to all; and he says that those who did not even invite travellers to partake of their grapes, and other fruit, were to be punished with 39 lashes.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v24 When thou comest into thy neighbour's vineyard, then thou…
When thou comest into thy neighbour's vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure--Vineyards, like cornfields mentioned in the next verse [Deu 23:25], were often unenclosed. In vine-growing countries grapes are amazingly cheap; and we need not wonder, therefore, that all within reach of a person's arm, was free; the quantity plucked was a loss never felt by the proprietor, and it was a kindly privilege afforded to the poor and wayfaring man.
Next: Deuteronomy Chapter 24
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v24 24. Thou mayest eat — It was allowable to…
24. Thou mayest eat — It was allowable to eat grain or fruit in the field of a neighbour, but not to carry away grain from the field nor grapes from the vineyard. Compare Mat_12:1; Luk_6:1, where we read that the disciples of Jesus plucked and ate the grain as they passed through the fields. At the present day in the East the right of a hungry person to eat fruit or grain in the field of another is recognised. See Biblical Researches, vol. ii, p. 192, and Bible Lands, 12 mo, p. 128.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v24 (24) When thou comest into thy neighbour’s vineyard.—Rashi tries…
(24) When thou comest into thy neighbour’s vineyard.—Rashi tries to limit both this and the following precept to the labourer engaged in gathering the vintage or the harvest, when vessels are used and sickles employed. But the plain meaning will stand, and is accepted by our Lord in the Gospel. The objection made to His disciples was not that they plucked their neighbour’s corn, but that they did it on the Sabbath (a kind of harvesting, and therefore unlawful according to the scribes).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On v24 Vers. 24, 25. In the vineyard or cornfield of…
Vers. 24, 25. In the vineyard or cornfield of a neighbor they might eat to appease hunger, but no store of grapes or of grain might be carried away. At thine own pleasure; literally, according to thy soul, i.e. desire or appetite (cf. Deu_14:26) Pluck the ears with thine hand (Mat_12:1; Luk_6:1) Among the Arabs of the present day the right of a hungry person to pluck ears of corn in a field and eat the grains is still recognized (Robinson, "Bib. Res.," 2:192; Thomson, "Land and the Book," 2:510).
Vers, 24, 25. Kindliness to neighbors a duty of the holders of property.
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This is a very instructive precept. "In vine-growing countries grapes are amazingly cheap; and we need not wonder, therefore, that all within the reach of a passenger"s arm were free. The quantity plucked was a loss never felt by the proprietor, and it was a kindly privilege afforded to the poor and wayfaring man" (Jameson). "Thou mayest take for necessity, not for superfluity" (Trapp).
Vers. 24, 25. The vineyard and corn-field.
This law may be regarded:
1. As another check on covetousness. It restricted the operation of covetousness in the owner, and taught him to be generous and charitable.
2. As part of the Jewish provision for the poor (cf. Deu_24:19, Deu_24:20)
3. As a lesson in honesty. It taught those who used the privilege to restrain themselves to their immediate wants, and to respect on principle the rest of their neighbor"s property. It taught them to be honest by trusting them.
4. As giving every one an interest in the fruitfulness of the land. Custom and the force of public opinion would guard the law from abuse. J.O.
Vers. 24, 25. Possession of earthly things only partial
The mode and condition of human life in this world serve a moral purpose. A material body requires material food; material food implies material possessions. The use of these affords fine scope for the development of many virtues. Without material possessions, selfishness would scarcely be possible; nor could some moral qualities, as generosity, find a field for exercise.
I EARTHLY ESTATE ADMITS ONLY OF A PARTIAL POSSESSION. We cannot retain for our exclusive use the beauty of the hills, or the fragrance of the flowers within territory called "our own." It is not possible for us to appropriate to our personal use all the products of our fields. Restrict the enjoyment as we may, we can succeed only to a limited extent. And why should we make the attempt? It adds immensely to our real pleasure to share the products with others. Indiscriminate appropriation of harvests would do good to no one. It would diminish productiveness. It would create waste; it would promote idleness. But profuse generosity is not only pleasurable: it is profitable. We gain the esteem of men. The whole community bands together to protect our crops. God smiles on our fields and our toil.
II HUNGER HAS UNQUESTIONABLE CLAIM ON NATURE"S PRODUCTS. Be our skilful labor to secure a harvest what it may, the largest possible, yet we cannot forget that God too has contributed largely to make our fields productive. In God"s contribution to the result, his poor ones ought to share. Lest the ordinary philanthropy of men might not suffice for this need of poverty, God himself has taken the poor under his sheltering wing; he has become their Champion, he has proclaimed a law for the protection of the needy. Inasmuch as God retains absolute proprietorship over all created things, and counts the richest men as his chief stewards, he has fullest right to determine on what conditions his bounty shall be enjoyed. When man has added his labor to the result, when he has garnered his crops, the condition is changed; but so long as it is standing in the field, hunger may find a meal.
III THOUGH HUNGER HAS A CLAIM, COVETOUSNESS HAS NONE. The laborer or the weary traveler had a statutory right to relieve his existing hunger; he had no right to carry any fruit or corn away. This would be to abuse a precious privilege. "Thus far might they go, and no farther." The path of obedience always has been narrow. Here was a test of trust in God. He who has provided a meal for the hungry man today can also provide another meal tomorrow. Or, if one door is closed, cannot God open another? Covetousness is suicidal. In the long run it defeats its own ends. Careful obedience is a first fruit of genuine trust. Give a bad man an inch, and he will take an ell. By this he may be known. But a good man is as careful of another man"s possessions as of his own. This is but another outcome of the command, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. D.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v24 Thou mayest eat grapes.
Deu_23:24-25
Thou mayest eat grapes.
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Grapes and ears of corn free
Thus a privilege was granted, but one strictly limited. A man who was thirsty might help himself to as many grapes as he cared to eat, but he was not to take any away. A man who was hungry might pluck ears of corn, as the disciples of Jesus did, and eat the grains, but he was not to carry a sheaf from the field. In this manner property was guarded. This is in harmony with the biblical law of property generally honoured at the present time. Even those who denounce individual property in land and minerals, and wish to nationalise them, do not advocate such nationalisation without payment to the proprietors. If ownership in land were set aside, the poor might lose the farm or the field bequeathed for their benefit. If ownership in money or goods were set aside, the widow might lose her small annuity, and even have to give up the old watch she values as having belonged to her husband and the treasured curiosities brought by her sailor son from a foreign land. Still, the best property human beings possess is the mental and spiritual wealth they carry in their mind and heart. In other words, they may have history, biography, poetry, religion as the treasures of their inner life. The owners of property are not to be greedily selfish. Nothing was said by Moses to the proprietor or tenant of the vineyard or corn field, but much was implied. If he saw a man, woman, or child pulling a cluster of grapes, he was not to be in a tempest of wrath, as though some great wrong had been done him, or to threaten the intruder with a criminal action. The man was rather to be glad that out of his abundance thirsty and hungry wayfarers could have their needs so readily supplied. Those who have are to be generous to those who have not. Every rich man in the country who does not value his riches as power to do good is an enemy to himself and the country. The limitation of privilege in the vineyard and the corn field enjoined by Moses was an implied exhortation to industry. Grapes might be eaten in the vineyard, but no vessel was to be filled with them and carried away. Those who wanted grapes for the wine press were to grow grapes. Ears of corn might be plucked, but the sickle was not to be used in the field. Those who wanted corn to grind were to plough, to sow, and reap in their own fields; there was to be no greedy appropriation of the fruit for which other men had laboured. It is much better for human beings to act for themselves than indolently to lean on others. There is no food so good as that which a man earns with his own hands. Labour is the law of the spiritual as well as of the temporal sphere. Those who wish to attain a good degree in the Church, and to win the eulogiums pronounced on Christs faithful servants, must work hard for themselves, that they may learn how to work hard for others. They must read much, think much, pray much. In one of his books Lord Beaconsfield represents a youth as saying, I should like to be a great man. The counsel given him was: You must nourish your mind with great thoughts. Those who wish to rank high in Christs service must appropriate great thoughts, and make them their own by reflection and meditation. There is no way to usefulness except by ardent toil. It is only by setting ourselves to work that we shall be able to afford grapes and corn to famishing souls. (J. Marrat.)
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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v24 General Information:
General Information:
Moses speaks to the Israelites as if they were one man, so the words "you" and "your" here are singular. (See: Forms of You)
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you may eat as many grapes as you desire
"then you may enjoy eating grapes until you are full"
but do not put any in your basket
The full meaning of this statement can be made explicit. AT: "but you may not put any grapes in your bag to take them away with you" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
When you go into your neighbor's ripe grain
"When you walk through your neighbor's field where there is grain growing"
you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand
"then you may eat the kernels of grain with your hand"
but do not put a sickle to your neighbor's ripe grain
"but do not cut down your neighbor's ripe grain and take it with you"
sickle
a sharp tool that farmers use to harvest wheat
translationWords
neighbor
vineyard
grape
grain
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v24 23:24 your neighbor’s vineyard: In a certain sense, God…
23:24 your neighbor’s vineyard: In a certain sense, God owned all the land and provided it to its human occupants. Therefore, no one had the right to make an exclusive claim to it. On the other hand, renters had rights to privacy and to a measure of control over what had been allotted to them. Trespassing was permitted within this context but not with the intention of theft. One could, however, pluck a few grapes or kernels of grain to eat along the way (see Matt 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.