Proverbs 11:1
in Proverbs 11Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but an accurate weight is His delight.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
A false balance is an abomination to Jehovah; But a just weight is his delight.
KJV
A false balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight.
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This verse in Proverbs 11
Commentary
6 notes on this verseTherefore 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 site's exposition
A false balance is abomination to the Lord
on Proverbs 11:1-3
The false balance and the just weight are not metaphor but the marketplace itself, where a merchant kept two sets of stones, light ones for selling and heavy ones for buying, and the Lord names the practice an abomination while calling the honest weight his delight. Pride and shame travel together as cause and effect, and the lowly carry wisdom instead. Integrity is pictured as a guide that leads a man home, while perverseness works the opposite errand and destroys the very people who trust it.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
"A deceitful balance is abomination to the Lord," etc. A deceitful balance is not only held in the measurement of money but also in judicial discretion; for he who weighs the case of the poor differently from the case of the powerful, the case of …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
A false balance is abomination to the Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
A false balance is abomination - This refers to the balance itself deceitfully constructed, so that it is sooner turned at one end than at the other. This is occasioned by one end of the beam being longer than the other. But a just weight - אבן שלמה eben shelemah, the perfect stone probably because weights were first made of stone; see the law, Deu 25:13-16 (note).
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מֹאזְנֵ֣י | moznei | scales of | H3976 → | 15 times |
| מִ֭רְמָה | mirmah | deceit | H4820 → | 39 times |
| תּוֹעֲבַ֣ת | toavat | [are] [the] abomination of | H8441 → | 117 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְאֶ֖בֶן | veeven | and a weight | H68 → | 273 times |
| שְׁלֵמָ֣ה | shelemah | perfect | H8003 → | |
| רְצוֹנֽוֹ׃ | retzono | [is] pleasure his | H7522 → | 56 times |
מֹאזְנֵ֣יscales of
mozneiH3976 →15 times
מִ֭רְמָהdeceit
mirmahH4820 →39 times
תּוֹעֲבַ֣ת[are] [the] abomination of
toavatH8441 →117 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְאֶ֖בֶןand a weight
veevenH68 →273 times
שְׁלֵמָ֣הperfect
shelemahH8003 →
רְצוֹנֽוֹ׃[is] pleasure his
retzonoH7522 →56 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 20:23Unequal weights are detestable to the LORD, and dishonest scales are no good.
it leads to
- Proverbs 20:10
Differing weights and unequal measures—both are detestable to the LORD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hosea 12:7
A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 45:10
You must use honest scales, a just ephah, and a just bath.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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…
- Proverbs 20:10
Through
Proverbs 20:10Differing weights and unequal measures—both are detestable to the LORD.
it leads to
- Proverbs 20:23
Unequal weights are detestable to the LORD, and dishonest scales are no good.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Micah 6:10–11
Can I forget any longer, O house of the wicked, the treasures of wickedness and the short ephah, which is accursed?
- Leviticus 19:35
You must not use dishonest measures of length, weight, or volume.
- Proverbs 20:23
Through
Proverbs 16:11Honest scales and balances are from the LORD; all the weights in the bag are His concern.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 25:13–15
You shall not have two differing weights in your bag, one heavy and one light.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 25:13–15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, Letters 1-10; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).