Leviticus 19:36

36 1You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin:[a] I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

Leviticus 19:36 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 19:36

Just balances, just weights
Which were for such sort of things as were bought and sold by weight, and these were to be according to the custom and usage which universally obtained among them, or were fixed and settled by them; they were to be neither lighter nor heavier; they were not to have one sort to buy with, and another to sell with, which was not just, and was an abomination to the Lord, ( Proverbs 11:1 ) ; for "weights", it is in the original text "stones", for those were formerly used in weighing, and were with us: hence it is still in use to say, so much by the stone. And according to Maimonides {w}, the Jews were not to make their weights neither of iron, nor of lead, nor of the rest of metals, lest they should rust and become light, but of polished rock, and the like; a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have;
the first of these was the measure of things dry, as corn, and the like, the latter of things liquid, as oil and wine; the one held three seahs or pecks, or ten omers, ( Exodus 16:36 ) ; or, according to a nicer calculation, the ephah held seven gallons, two quarts, and half a pint; and the other, according to some, held three quarts; but, as more exactly calculated, it held a wine gallon, and a little more than a quart, (See Gill on Exodus 30:24). Some Jewish writers F24 refer this to words, promises, and compacts, expressed by yea and nay, which they were to abide by; that their yea should be yea, and their nay, nay, ( Matthew 5:37 ) ( 2 Corinthians 1:17 ) ( James 5:12 ) ; that their affirmation should be just, and so their negation: I [am] the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt;
and therefore were under great obligations to observe his commands, as follows.


FOOTNOTES:

F23 Hilchot Genibah, c. 8. sect. 4.
F24 Torath Cohanim apud Yalkut in loc. Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Sheviith, c. 10. sect. 9.

Leviticus 19:36 In-Context

34 You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
35 "You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity.
36 You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
37 And you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the LORD."

Cross References 1

  • 1. Deuteronomy 25:13, 15; Proverbs 11:1; Proverbs 16:11; Proverbs 20:10; Ezekiel 45:10; [Amos 8:5; Micah 6:11]

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters; a hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters
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