“Reuben went during the days of wheat harvest, found mandrakes” – Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said: Mandrakes; Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Barley; Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said: The hackberry tree. Both according to these and according to those, everyone agrees that he brought only from the ownerless. According to the one who said barley, during the days of the wheat harvest, barley is ownerless, as the barley harvest has already concluded.
Know that he went at the time of the harvest, at the time of the ripening of all kinds of summer fruits, but brought only an item that was from the ownerless. This is to inform you that they would distance themselves from robbery of the land.1They would not pick fruit off of trees. If they would distance themselves in that manner from robbery of the land, all the more so, they distanced themselves from all types of robbery.
“And brought them to Leah, his mother” – to inform you to what extent his mother’s honor was important to him, as he did not taste them until he brought them to his mother.