Proverbs 16:11
in Proverbs 16Honest scales and balances are from the LORD; all the weights in the bag are His concern.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
A just balance and scales are Jehovah’s; All the weights of the bag are his work.
KJV
A just weight and balance are the Lord’s: all the weights of the bag are his work.
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This verse in Proverbs 16
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA 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.
This site's exposition
A divine sentence is in the lips of the king
on Proverbs 16:10-12
A divine sentence is in the lips of the king, and his mouth does not transgress in judgment, a high claim for any human ruler, and the older writers read it as describing what a king in Israel was meant to be under God's law rather than a guarantee attached to every throne. A just weight and balance belong to the Lord himself, every weight in the merchant's bag counted as his handiwork, tying honest commerce directly to the same standard as royal judgment. It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness, for a throne is established by righteousness and not by force alone.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A weight and balance are the judgments of the Lord, etc. He calls the stones of the age, just and strong in faith, such as the apostle Peter desired those to be whom he admonished, And you also, like living stones, are being built into …
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
All the weights of the bag are his - Alluding, probably, to the standard weights laid up in a bag in the sanctuary, and to which all weights in common use in the land were to be referred, in order to ascertain whether they were just: but some think the allusion is to the weights carried about by merchants in their girdles, by which they weigh the money, silver and gold, that they take in exchange for their merchandise. As the Chinese take no coin but gold and silver by weight, they carry about with them a sort of small steelyard, by which they weigh those metals taken in exchange.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
The balance and scales of justice are the Lord’s etc. to requite a person according to his deed. משפט is (justice in French, in German Gerechtigkeit, and so in Isaiah,) the retribution for a person’s sins with a balance and scales.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
There is magic on a king’s lips On the lips of a wise man sitting in judgment.
It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness It is an abominable thing for judges, and it is not proper for them to commit wickedness.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 1 further source is cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| פֶּ֤לֶס׀ | peles | a balance | H6425 → | |
| וּמֹאזְנֵ֣י | umoznei | and scales of | H3976 → | 15 times |
| מִ֭שְׁפָּט | mishpot | justice | H4941 → | 422 times |
| לַֽיהוָ֑ה | layahweh | [belong] to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מַ֝עֲשֵׂ֗הוּ | maasehu | [are] work his | H4639 → | 236 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אַבְנֵי־ | ʾavnei- | [the] weights of | H68 → | 273 times |
| כִֽיס׃ | khis | [the] bag | H3599 → |
פֶּ֤לֶס׀a balance
pelesH6425 →
וּמֹאזְנֵ֣יand scales of
umozneiH3976 →15 times
מִ֭שְׁפָּטjustice
mishpotH4941 →422 times
לַֽיהוָ֑ה[belong] to Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
מַ֝עֲשֵׂ֗הוּ[are] work his
maasehuH4639 →236 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
אַבְנֵי־[the] weights of
ʾavnei-H68 →273 times
כִֽיס׃[the] bag
khisH3599 →
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 11:1Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but an accurate weight is His delight.
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.
- Leviticus 19:35–36
You must not use dishonest measures of length, weight, or volume.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 20:10
Differing weights and unequal measures—both are detestable to the LORD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 25:13–16
You shall not have two differing weights in your bag, one heavy and one light.
- Hosea 12:7
A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 20:23
Through
Proverbs 20:10Differing weights and unequal measures—both are detestable to the LORD.
it leads to
- Proverbs 11:1
Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but an accurate weight is His delight.
Reached by 4 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 11:1
Through
Ezekiel 45:10You must use honest scales, a just ephah, and a just bath.
it leads to
- 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?
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Micah 6:10–11
Through
Proverbs 20:23Unequal weights are detestable to the LORD, and dishonest scales are no good.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 45:10
You must use honest scales, a just ephah, and a just bath.
- Ezekiel 45:10
Where this verse is studied
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); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.