25:13-16 - Do not have two differing weights in your bag—one heavy, one light. Do not have two differing measures in your house—one large, one small. You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. For the Lord your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly.
The formulation of at least the first part of this instruction is almost poetic, like a jingle intended to help memorization:
You shall not have in your bag
a weight, a large weight and a small weight,
You shall not have in your house
an ephah, a bigh ephah and a small.
An accurate and honest weight you shall have,
an accurate and honest ephah you shall have,
so that your days may be long on earth that Yahweh gives you.
Rather than the two weights envisaged by some translations (RSV, NIV), the Hebrew paints a picture of three stones in the bag and three ephah in the house. An accurate measure with two false ones—one larger and the other smaller—would have permitted greater fraudulent versatility to a dishonest trader. The instruction ends with a promise of long life for those who live an honest life (v15), and a warning that the Lord hates those who deal dishonestly (v16). Many of us may not be traders, but plagiarized assignments, Ponzi-style financial transactions, dishonest income tax returns, and, dare we think of it, shoddily and inadequately prepared sermons that short-charge the needs and expectations of our flock who come to be fed with the word of God are just as hateful to the Lord.
Low Chai Hok
©Alberith, 2017