Thou shall not have in thine house divers, measures ,.... Or, "an ephah and an ephah"; which was one sort of measure in use with the Jews, and held above a bushel; and is put for all others, which should be alike, and not a great and a small ; one to buy with, and another to sell by, as before observed; which would be to cheat both seller and buyer in their turns; see Amos 8:5 . read more
But thou shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shall thou have ,.... That is, full weights, and full measures; and such as are alike, and everywhere used, according to the standard of the country; See Gill on Leviticus 19:36 , that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee ; long life was always reckoned a blessing, and is frequently promised to, obedience, and particularly long life in the land of Canaan; which was a most... read more
For all that do such things ,.... Keep, different weights and measures, and make use of them to defraud their neighbours in buying and selling: and all that do unrighteously ; what is not just and right between man and man, in any other instance whatever: are an abomination unto the Lord thy God ; both they and their actions; he is a righteous God, and loves righteousness, and hates injustice of every kind. read more
Divers measures - Literally, an ephah and an ephah; one large, to buy thy neighbor's wares, another small, to sell thy own by. So there were knaves in all ages, and among all nations. See the notes on Exodus 16:16 , and Leviticus 19:35 ; (note). read more
Honesty the best policy. We have first a law of purity, which needs no exposition, but in its holy severity ( Deuteronomy 25:11 , Deuteronomy 25:12 ) was fitted to check all tendency to lewd practices among the women of Israel. Then Moses passes on to speak of the crime of having divers weights and measures, and the effort to make money by dishonest practices. No blessing from God can rest upon such willfully dishonest ones; if his blessing is to be experienced, it must be by a policy... read more
Rectitude and integrity in trade are here anew inculcated (cf. Le 19:35, etc.). read more
Righteousness in trade imperative. This paragraph requires no preparatory elucidation. The topic for a Homily which it gives is one of the most important in the range of human ethics. It furnishes six lines of thought. 1. In the providence of God men are thrown together for the purposes of trade. 2. Opportunity is thus furnished for the exercise of right principles of mutual justice and equity. 3. There is often given an opportunity also of taking advantage of others by unequal... read more
Morality in trade. The Hebrew lawgiver lays just stress on honesty in weights and measures. The general principle is that of honesty in trade. Weights and measures connect themselves intimately with the ideas of justice, rectitude, impartiality. Justice is represented by a figure with scales and weights. Falsification of weights and measures is thus a representative sin, one which corrupts integrity in man with peculiar and fatal rapidity. I. AN INJUNCTION MUCH NEEDED . Trade... read more
Religion inspires commercial life. It is certain that God displays the liveliest interest in every department of human life. He is not only the God of the hills; he is God of the valleys also. He takes cognizance, not only of great things, but also of small. Can any man tell us what are small things? Not only on the portal of every church, but on the forefront of every shop—ay, on the beam of every balance, we ought to see the inscription, "To the glory of God alone!" I. RELIGION ... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 25:13-19
Here is, I. A law against deceitful weights and measures: they must not only not use them, but they must not have them, not have them in the bag, not have them in the house (Deut. 25:13, 14); for, if they had them, they would be strongly tempted to use them. They must not have a great weight and measure to buy by and a small one to sell by, for that was to cheat both ways, when either was bad enough; as we read of those that made the ephah small, in which they measured the corn they sold, and... read more