“Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights , a great and a small.”
My Notes
What Does Deuteronomy 25:13 Mean?
God prohibits carrying two different weights in your bag—"a great and a small." The Hebrew is literally "a stone and a stone"—two stones of different sizes, used to cheat in transactions. The larger stone weighs against the seller (they have to provide more product). The smaller stone weighs against the buyer (they pay for more than they get). Same bag. Two standards. One for buying. One for selling. Rigged in your favor either way.
The prohibition targets systemic dishonesty: carrying two weights means you've premeditated the cheating. You packed the deception before you arrived at the market. The dishonesty isn't a spontaneous decision. It's a prepared strategy. The two stones in the bag represent a life organized around the intention to deceive.
The next verse provides the positive command: "a perfect and just weight" (even shelemah ve-tsedeq). Perfect (shalem—complete, whole, without deficiency) and just (tsedeq—righteous, conforming to the standard). One weight. One standard. Applied equally to every transaction. The cure for the two-stone deception is the one-stone integrity: the same weight whether you're buying or selling, whether the customer is rich or poor, whether anyone is watching or not.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Do you use the same standard when it benefits you and when it costs you? Or do you carry two stones?
- 2.Where in your life do your standards shift based on who's on the other side of the transaction?
- 3.The two-stone system was premeditated. Where have you organized your life around the intention to gain at others' expense?
- 4.A perfect and just weight—one standard for everyone. What would one-stone integrity look like in your daily interactions?
Devotional
Two stones in the bag. A big one for buying (you get more). A small one for selling (they get less). Same merchant. Two standards. Rigged in your favor every time. And God says: no. One stone. One standard. Applied equally to everyone.
The deception isn't spontaneous—it's premeditated. You packed the two stones before you left home. You prepared to cheat before you arrived at the market. The dishonesty was organized, intentional, and systematic. The two-stone system represents a life whose economic transactions are built on planned deception.
The cure is "a perfect and just weight": one stone. Complete. Righteous. The same standard applied to every transaction. Whether you're buying or selling. Whether the customer can verify or can't. Whether anyone is watching or no one is. The same weight. Every time. The integrity that doesn't adjust based on who's on the other side of the scale.
The modern application extends beyond literal weights: do you use the same standard when it benefits you and when it costs you? Do you measure others by the same measure you use for yourself? Are you a two-stone person—flexible standards, adjusted to favor yourself in every transaction—or a one-stone person: the same weight, same measure, same standard for everyone? God says carry one stone. A perfect and just weight. And use it on both sides of every exchange.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights,.... Or, "a stone and a stone" (y); it being usual, in those times and…
Honesty in trade, as a duty to our neighbor, is emphatically enforced once more (compare Lev 19:35-36). It is noteworthy…
Here is, I. A law against deceitful weights and measures: they must not only not use them, but they must not have them,…
Against Divers Weights and Measures
Israel shall not use these greater (for purchases) and smaller (for sales) for he…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture