איוב, פרק כ״ד, פסוק ו׳

Agricultural theft serves as a powerful illustration of how the corrupt and powerful exploit the vulnerable. These oppressors do not simply steal at random; they operate with calculated cruelty, carefully selecting their victims to maximize their gain while minimizing their risk.

The primary approach among commentators is that these aggressors violently raid and harvest the crops of others [רש״י, מצודת ציון, רלב״ג]. This act is sometimes described as a chaotic plunder, where the grain is cut down so wildly that it becomes mixed with waste and debris [מלבי״ם]. Alternatively, the focus is on the ownership of the land itself. Instead of working their own fields, these thieves invade property that does not belong to them, boldly stealing the harvest of strangers [אבן עזרא, רמב״ן, ביאור שטיינזלץ, אלשיך]. Some suggest that these crimes are carried out under the cover of night to avoid detection [ביאור שטיינזלץ], or that the stolen goods are specifically the meager food supplies of the poor [אלשיך]. Another perspective shifts the focus from outright robbery to severe economic exploitation, suggesting that the destitute are forced to work as laborers, harvesting the fields of the wicked while being left entirely empty-handed themselves [מלבי״ם].

The calculated nature of these criminals becomes even more apparent in how they treat the property of fellow wicked individuals. When it comes to the vineyards of other corrupt people, the thieves often hesitate and delay their attacks. They eagerly rush to oppress the poor and the orphaned, preferring easy targets, and will only turn against another powerful, wicked person if they have absolutely no other choice [מצודת דוד, מצודת ציון, רלב״ג, רש״י]. In cases where they do target their peers, they might wait to loot the late-ripening fruits of those vineyards [רש״י, רמב״ן]. Conversely, instead of stealing from their fellow oppressors, the thieves might actually protect them, carefully pruning and tending to the vineyards of the powerful [אבן עזרא, רמב״ן].

A more unique narrative suggests that these agricultural crimes involve elaborate deception. In this scenario, the thieves steal grain from a stranger's field and hide the stolen goods in a nearby vineyard. If they are caught carrying the produce out of the vineyard, they quickly invent a righteous excuse. They claim that the vineyard belongs to a wicked person who illegally planted forbidden, mixed seeds late in the season, and that they are simply performing a good deed by uprooting the forbidden crop [אלשיך].