Deuteronomy 25:14

Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Honesty in trade, as a duty to our neighbor, is emphatically enforced once more (compare Leviticus 19:35-36). It is noteworthy that John the Baptist puts the like duties in the forefront of his preaching (compare Luke 3:12 ff); and that "the prophets" (compare Ezekiel 45:10-12; Amos 8:5; Micah 6:10-11) and "the Psalms" Proverbs 16:11; Proverbs 20:10, Proverbs 20:23, not less than "the Law," especially insist on them.

Deuteronomy 25:13

Divers weights - i. e. stones of unequal weights, the lighter to sell with, the heavier to buy with. Stones were used by the Jews instead of brass or lead for their weights, as less liable to lose anything through rust or wear.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

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).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Thou shall not have in thine house divers, measures,.... Or, "an ephah and an ephah"; which was one sort of measure in use with the Jews, and held above a bushel; and is put for all others, which should be alike, and not

a great and a small; one to buy with, and another to sell by, as before observed; which would be to cheat both seller and buyer in their turns; see Amos 8:5.

Geneva Study Bible

Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

14. divers measures] Lit. an ephah and an ephah; the ephah = 8.005 gallons.

Deuteronomy 25:14

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The duty of integrity in trade is once more enforced in Deuteronomy 25:13-16 (as in Leviticus 19:35-36). "Stone and stone," i.e., two kinds of stones for weighing (cf. Psalm 12:3), viz., large ones for buying and small ones for selling. On the promise in Deuteronomy 25:15, see Deuteronomy 4:26; Deuteronomy 5:16; Deuteronomy 25:16, as in Deuteronomy 22:5; Deuteronomy 18:12, etc. In the concluding words, Deuteronomy 25:16, "all that do unrighteously," Moses sums up all breaches of the law.