Balances

How Nave’s arranged it

• Used for weighingJob 31:6Isaiah 40:12Isaiah 40:15Ezekiel 5:1
• Money weighed withIsaiah 46:6Jeremiah 32:10
• Must be justLeviticus 19:36Proverbs 16:11
• False balance usedHosea 12:7Amos 8:5Micah 6:11
• An abominationProverbs 11:1Proverbs 20:23
• FIGURATIVE

The passages, in Bible order (13)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 13 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Leviticus 19:36

   You shall maintain honest scales and weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

   ›Commentary on Leviticus 19:361 voice

   “Just balances - Scales, steel-yard, etc. Weights, אבנים abanim, stones, as the weights appear to have been originally formed out of stones. Ephah, hin, etc., see before.

   Everything gathered on Leviticus 19:36→

   Verse page →Original language →

2. Job 31:6

   let God weigh me with honest scales, that He may know my integrity.

   ›Commentary on Job 31:61 voice

   “If I have walked in vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit, let Him weigh me in an even balance, and let God know mine integrity. 'God to know' is said for His making us to know by a customary mode of our speech, who speak of 'a happy day,' by which it happens that we are made happy. For hence it is the Lord saith to Abraham, Now I know that thou fearest God.

   Everything gathered on Job 31:6→

   Verse page →Original language →

3. Proverbs 11:1

   Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but an accurate weight is His delight.

   ›Commentary on Proverbs 11:12 voices

   “Therefore let every man weigh his words, not with deceit and guile, for a false balance is abomination to the Lord. I do not mean that balance which weighs the wares of others, (though even in lesser matters deceit often costs dear,) but that balance of words is hateful to the Lord, which wears the mask of the weight of sober gravity, and yet practises the artifices of cunning. Great is God's anger, if a man deceive his neighbour by flattering promises, and by treacherous subtlety oppress his debtor, a craft which will not benefit himself.

   “This emphatic reproduction of the old rule of Deu 25:13-14 is perhaps a trace of the danger of dishonesty incidental to the growing commerce of the Israelites. The stress laid upon the same sin in Pro 16:11; Pro 20:10; bears witness to the desire of the teacher to educate the youth of Israel to a high standard of integrity, just as the protest of Hosea against it Hos 12:7 shows the zeal of the prophet in rebuking what was becoming more and more a besetting sin.

   Everything gathered on Proverbs 11:1→

   Verse page →Original language →

4. Proverbs 16:11

   Honest scales and balances are from the LORD; all the weights in the bag are His concern.

   ›Commentary on Proverbs 16:112 voices

   “A just weight and balance are the Lord's,.... These are of his devising; what he has put into the heart, of men to contrive and make use of, for the benefit of mankind, for the keeping and maintaining truth and justice in commercial affairs; these are of his appointing, commanding, and approving, Lev 19:35; all the weights of the bag are his work; or, "all the stones" (h); greater or smaller, which were formerly used in weighing, and were kept in a bag for that purpose; these are by the Lord's appointment and order.

   “See Pro 11:1 note. People are not to think that trade lies outside the divine law. God has commanded there also all that belongs to truth and right.

   Everything gathered on Proverbs 16:11→

   Verse page →Original language →

5. Proverbs 20:23

   Unequal weights are detestable to the LORD, and dishonest scales are no good.

   ›Commentary on Proverbs 20:231 voice

   “It is an abomination to the Lord to have diverse weights, etc. For having diverse weights and a deceitful scale in one's heart means that while seeking pardon from the Lord for one's own sins, one is unwilling to forgive a man who has sinned …

   Everything gathered on Proverbs 20:23→

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6. Isaiah 40:12

   Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on a scale and the hills with a balance?

   ›Commentary on Isaiah 40:122 voices

   “Who would deny that God has made these things, who spoke through the Prophet, saying: 'Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance, who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or who has been his counselor or instructed Him?' We also read elsewhere: Because it holds the circuit of the earth and has made the earth as nothing.

   “Who hath measured - The object in this and the following verses to Isa 40:26, is to show the greatness, power, and majesty of God, by strong contrast with his creatures, and more especially with idols. Perhaps the prophet designed to meet and answer an implied objection: that the work of deliverance was so great that it could not be accomplished.

   Everything gathered on Isaiah 40:12→

   Verse page →Original language →

7. Isaiah 40:15

   Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust.

   ›Commentary on Isaiah 40:151 voice

   “(Verse 15) Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. LXX: Behold, all the nations are as a drop in a bucket and are accounted as the dust on the scales. All peoples who did not know their Creator or the whole human race in comparison to God are like a drop from a bucket and like a speck of dust on a scale that tilts lightly to one side.

   Everything gathered on Isaiah 40:15→

   Verse page →Original language →

8. Isaiah 46:6

   They pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales; they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god, so they can bow down and worship.

   ›Commentary on Isaiah 46:62 voices

   “And despite my exhortation you delayed in expelling such blasphemy and ungodliness, daring to compare me with those who lack being and in no way have my divinity. You esteemed me as equal to soulless wood that you shaped. You added gold and silver from contributions and made a statue from human hands, and you were not ashamed to worship it. These idols were not able to walk, let alone move, but they needed to be carried on your shoulders or dragged around by others. They are unable to hear prayers or to save.

   “They lavish gold out of the bag,.... As if it was of no value and account; that is, the Heathen idolaters, some of them, who are excessively devoted to idolatry; these, being rich, take out their bags of gold, and give it in a very profuse manner to a workman to make a golden image for them, not caring what it cost them; such an one was that which Nebuchadnezzar made, sixty cubits high, and six broad, Dan 3:1 see an instance of profuseness this way in the Israelites themselves, Exo 32:

   Everything gathered on Isaiah 46:6→

   Verse page →Original language →

9. Jeremiah 32:10

   I signed and sealed the deed, called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales.

   ›Commentary on Jeremiah 32:101 voice

   “I subscribed the evidence - We have here all the circumstances of this legal act: 1. An offer is made of the reversion of the ground, till the jubilee, to him who would then of right come into possession. 2. The price is agreed on, and the silver weighed in the balances. 3. A contract or deed of sale is drawn up, to which both parties agreeing, 4. Witnesses are brought forward to see it signed and sealed; for the contract was both subscribed and sealed.

   Everything gathered on Jeremiah 32:10→

   Verse page →Original language →

10. Ezekiel 5:1

    “As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword, use it as a barber’s razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair.

    ›Commentary on Ezekiel 5:12 voices

    “And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife,.... Or, "sword" (m). The word signifies any sharp instrument, by which anything is cut off, or cut asunder; what is here meant is explained by the following: take thee a barber's razor.

    “Translate it: take thee a sharp sword, for a barber’s razor thou shalt take it thee. Even if the action were literal, the use of an actual sword would best enforce the symbolic meaning. The “head” represents the chief city, the “hair” the inhabitants - its ornament and glory - the “hair cut from the head” the exiles cast forth from their homes. It adds to the force of the representation that “to shave the head” was a token of mourning Job 1:20, and was forbidden to the priests Lev 21:

    Everything gathered on Ezekiel 5:1→

    Verse page →Original language →

11. Hosea 12:7

    A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands.

    ›Commentary on Hosea 12:72 voices

    “He is a merchant - Or, indignantly, “a merchant in whose hands are the balances of deceit!” How could they love “mercy and justice,” whose trade was “deceit,” who weighed out deceit with their goods? False in their dealings, in their weights and measures, and, by taking advantage of the necessities of others, oppressive also. Deceit is the sin of weakness oppression is the abuse of power. Wealth does not give the power to use naked violence but wealthy covetousness manifoldly grinds the poor.

    "Canaan in his hand deceitful balance, he loved calumny, and Ephraim said: Nevertheless, I have become rich, I have found myself an idol, all my labors will not find me the iniquity which I have sinned." LXX: "Canaan in his hand is the weight of iniquity, he loved to oppress through power, and Ephraim said: But I have become rich, I have found rest for myself, all his labors will not find him, for the iniquities in which he sinned."

    Everything gathered on Hosea 12:7→

    Verse page →Original language →

12. Amos 8:5

    asking, “When will the New Moon be over, that we may sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, that we may market wheat? Let us reduce the ephah and increase the shekel; let us cheat with dishonest scales.

    ›Commentary on Amos 8:52 voices

    “Saying, when will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn?.... The first day of every month, on which it was forbid to sell any thing, or do any worldly business, being appointed and used for religious service; see 2Ki 4:23; and which these carnal earthly minded men were weary of, and wanted to have over, that they might be selling their grain, and getting money, which they preferred to the worship of God.

    “When will the new moon be gone? - They kept their festivals, though weary and impatient for their close. They kept sabbath and festival with their bodies, not with their minds. The Psalmist said, “When shall I come to appear before the presencc of God?” Psa 42:2. These said, perhaps in their hearts only which God reads to them, “when will this service be over, that we may be our own masters again?” They loathed the rest of the sabbath, because they had, thereon, to rest from their frauds.

    Everything gathered on Amos 8:5→

    Verse page →Original language →

13. Micah 6:11

    Can I excuse dishonest scales or bags of false weights?

    ›Commentary on Micah 6:112 voices

    “With the pure God shows Himself pure; but with the froward God shows Himself froward (Ps 18:26). Men often are changeable in their judgments. But God, in the case of the impure who use "wicked balances," cannot be pure, that is, cannot deal with them as He would with the pure.

    “Shall I count them pure? - Rather, (as the English margin) “Shall I be pure?” The prophet takes for the time their person and bids them judge themselves in him. If it would defile me, how are ye, with all your other sins, not defiled? All these things were expressly forbidden in the law. “Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in mete-yard, in weight or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah and a just him, shall ye have” Lev 19:35-36; and, “Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small.

    Everything gathered on Micah 6:11→

    Verse page →Original language →