1. Leviticus 25:5 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What does the phrase “grows of itself” refer to?

Leviticus 25:5 (ESV)

5 You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.

This is a rare Hebrew phrase that only occurs here and in 2 Kings 19:29. It refers to what grows from seeds that have fallen to the ground from an earlier time of reaping.