Proverbs 20:10

Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
weights	אֶ֣בֶן 'E.ven	H68	a stone · noun, common feminine singular absolute
measures	אֵיפָ֣ה 'ei.Fah	H374	an ephah or measure for grain · noun, common feminine singular absolute
both	שְׁנֵיהֶֽם she.nei.Hem	H8147	two · cardinal number, both genders dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
alike	גַּם gam-	H1571	properly · adverb
abomination	תּוֹעֲבַ֥ת to.'a.Vat	H8441	properly · noun, common feminine singular construct
LORD	יְ֝הוָ֗ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Proverbs 11:1 A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.
Proverbs 20:23 Divers weights are an abomination unto the LORD; and a false balance is not good.
Leviticus 19:35 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.
Deuteronomy 25:13-15 Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small.
Proverbs 16:11 A just weight and balance are the LORD’s: all the weights of the bag are his work.
Micah 6:10-11 Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable?
Amos 8:4-7 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall ha…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 20:10

See here, 1. The various arts of deceiving that men have, all which evils the love of money is the root of. In paying and receiving money, which was then commonly done by the scale, they had divers weights, an under-weight for what they paid and an over-weight for what they received; in delivering out and taking in goods they had divers measures, a scanty measure to sell by and a large measure to buy by. This was done wrong with plot and contrivance, and under colour of doing right. Under these is included all manner of fraud and deceit in commerce and trade. 2. The displeasure of God against them. Whether they be about the money or the goods, in the buyer or in the seller, they are all alik…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 20:10

Various measures, implying that some are wrong (compare Pro 11:1; Pro 16:11).

John Gill on Proverbs 20:10

Divers weights, and divers measures,.... Or, "a stone and a stone, and an ephah and an ephah" (d). Stones being in old time used in weighing, and an "ephah" was a common measure among the Jews; and these ought not to be different; one stone or weight for buying, and another for selling; and one measure to buy goods in with, and another to sell out with; the one too heavy, the other too light; the one too large, and the other too scanty; whereby justice is not done between man and man; whereas they ought to be just and equal, Leviticus 19:35; both of them are alike abomination to the Lord; who loves righteousness and hates iniquity, and requires of men to do justly; and abhors every act of i…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 20:10

This proverb passes sentence of condemnation against gross sins in action and life. Diverse stones, diverse measures - An abomination to Jahve are they both. The stones are, as at Pro 11:1; Pro 16:11, those used as weights. Stone and stone, ephah and ephah, means that they are of diverse kinds, one large and one small (the lxx, in which the sequence of the proverbs from Pro 20:10 is different, has μέγα καὶ μικρόν), so that one may be able deceitfully to substitute the one for the other. איפה (from אפה, to bake) may originally have been used to designate such a quantity of meal as supplied a family of moderate wants; it corresponds to the bath (Eze 45:11) as a measure for fluids, and stan…

The Church Fathers

Every kind of unfair action is shameful. Even in common things, false weights and unjust measures are accursed. And if fraud in the market or in business is punished, can it seem free from reproach if found in the midst of the performance of the duties of virtue?
— Ambrose of Milan, On the Duties of the Clergy 3.9.65

He who commands must always keep to the exact scope of the commandments, and he who distributes tasks must observe equity in looking into them, for "a false balance is an abomination to the Lord." There is, then, an excess and a defect in weight, but the church acccepts neither, for "excessive and defective weights and diverse measures, both of them are alike abominable in the sight of the Lord."
— Ambrose of Milan, Concerning Widows 13:78

Diverse weights, diverse measures, etc. For a man with diverse weights in his house has different measures, that is he measures differently for himself and for his neighbor, who always seeks in his own deeds what can be praised, but in others' deeds what can be blamed. And therefore the Lord rightly abhors such a person, because as much as he unjustly pleases himself, he justly displeases the supreme observer. But because it is perilous for anyone to judge another's conscience, of which he cannot know the intention, he advises by what signs we ought to direct the judgment of our own heart towards our neighbor. For it follows:
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Ephah — Gloom. (1.) One of the five sons of Midian, and grandson of Abraham (Gen. 25:4). The city of Ephah, to which he gave his name, is mentioned Isa. 60:6, 7. This city, with its surrounding territory,…
Abomination · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Dishonesty · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Honesty · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Injustice · God: Abominates — God: Abominates
Measures · Unjust, an abomination to God — Unjust, an abomination to God
Weights · Must be just — Must be just

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Proverbs 20:10

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 20:10

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 20:10

John Gill on Proverbs 20:10

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 20:10

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 20:10

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 20:10

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 20:10

John Gill on Proverbs 20:10

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 20:10

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 20:10

Rashi on Proverbs 20:8