Deuteronomy 25 · Verse 13

Deuteronomy 25:13

Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small.

Deuteronomy 25:13, King James Version

Deuteronomy 25:13 in other translations

BSB	You shall not have two differing weights in your bag, one heavy and one light.
WEB	You shall not have in your bag diverse weights, one heavy and one light.
ASV	Thou shalt not have in thy bag diverse weights, a great and a small.
YLT	‘Thou hast not in thy bag a stone and a stone, a great and a small.
DARBY	Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small.
BBE	Do not have in your bag different weights, a great and a small;
Webster	Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small:

What does Deuteronomy 25:13 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Deuteronomy 25:13-16

13-16. Thou shalt not have ... divers weights--Weights were anciently made of stone and are frequently used still by Eastern shopkeepers and traders, who take them out of the bag and put them in the balance. The man who is not cheated by the trader and his bag of divers weights must be blessed with more acuteness than most of his fellows [Roberts]. (Compare Pr 16:11; 20:10).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 13 Divers weights - אבן ואבן eben vaaben, a stone and a stone, because the weights were anciently made of stone, and some had two sets of stones, a light and a heavy. With the latter they bought their wares, by the former they sold them. In our own country this was once a common case; smooth, round, or oval stones were generally chosen by the simple country people for selling their wares, especially such as were sold in pounds and half pounds. And hence the term a stone weight, which is still in use, though lead or iron be the matter that is used as a counterpoise: but the name itself shows us that a stone of a certain weight was the material formerly used as a weight. See the notes on Lev 19:35, Lev 19:36.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Deuteronomy 25:13-16

Dishonest gain always brings a curse on men's property, families, and souls. Happy those who judge themselves, repent of and forsake their sins, and put away evil things, that they may not be condemned of the Lord.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Deuteronomy 25:13 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

לֹֽא\־lo'-notH3808

יִהְיֶ֥הyih.Yehit will belongH1961

לְךָ֛le.Khato <the> you

בְּכִֽיסְךָ֖be.khi.se.Khain bag yourH3599

אֶ֣בֶן'E.vena weightH68

וָאָ֑בֶןva.'A.venand a weightH68

גְּדוֹלָ֖הge.do.LahlargeH1419

וּקְטַנָּֽה\׃\ \סu.ke.ta.Nahand smallH6996

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Deuteronomy 25:13

Proverbs 11:1
A false balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight.
Proverbs 16:11
A just weight and balance are the Lord’s: all the weights of the bag are his work.
Leviticus 19:35-37
Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt. Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the Lord.
Amos 8:5
Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
Ezekiel 45:10-11
Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath. The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of an homer, and the ephah the tenth part of an homer: the measure thereof shall be after the homer.
Micah 6:11-12
Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights? For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
Proverbs 20:10
Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the Lord.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

in thy bag.
Le 19:35,36; Pr 11:1; 16:11; 20:10; Eze 45:10,11; Am 8:5
Mic 6:11,12
divers weights. Heb. a stone and a stone.{Aivenwäaiven;} because weights were anciently made of stone. Hence the expression, a stone weight, which is still in use, though the matter of which it is made be lead or iron, and the name itself shews us that a stone of a certain weight was formerly used.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Deuteronomy 25:12
Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her.
Deuteronomy 25:13
Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small.
Deuteronomy 25:14
Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small.

Read all of Deuteronomy 25

Deuteronomy 25:13 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	No tendrás en tu bolsa pesa grande y pesa chica.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Tu n’auras pas dans ton sac deux poids différents, un grand et un petit;
German Elberfelder 1871	Du sollst nicht zweierlei Gewichtsteine in deinem Beutel haben, einen großen und einen kleinen.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Non habebis in sacculo diversa pondera, majus et minus: