Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 23:25
When you enter your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand, but you must not put a sickle to your neighbor’s grain.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The text addresses Israel as they prepare to enter the land, establishing a rule for taking food from a neighbor’s standing crop.
The words — The Hebrew terms קָטַפְתָּ (ka.tafTa, "you will pluck off") and חֶרְמֵשׁ (cher.Mesh, "a sickle") frame the regulation. The text permits gathering by hand while explicitly forbidding the use of a cutting tool.
The thread — This regulation appears in the context of Deuteronomy 23:24, which grants similar permission for eating grapes in a vineyard. The same practice of plucking grain by hand is later noted in Matthew 12:1, Mark 2:23, and Luke 6:1.
Why it lands — The verse requires a reader to distinguish between casual sustenance and commercial harvest. It sets a clear boundary that personal need does not justify using tools that would constitute formal reaping.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbour, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand; but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbour’s standing corn.
Cross-references
- Matthew 12:1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them.
- Mark 2:23 One Sabbath Jesus was passing through the grainfields, and His disciples began to pick the heads of grain as they walked along.
- Luke 6:1 One Sabbath Jesus was passing through the grainfields, and His disciples began to pick the heads of grain, rub them in their hands, and eat them.