Deuteronomy 25:14

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.

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.

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).

30 . who goeth before you ] Heb. emphatically, the goer before you is He , found only in D as here or with slight differences, Deuteronomy 1:33 , Deuteronomy 20:4 , Deuteronomy 31:6 ; Deuteronomy 31:8 ; J, Exodus 13:21 , has the same part, without the def. art. adding the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire; E, Exodus 14:19 , the angel of God going before the camp . It is in such differences of style as well as of figure that the distinction of D consists. See Driver on Exodus 13:21 ; Exodus 14:9 . he shall fight for you ] Cp. JE, Exodus 14:14 , and these deuteronomic passages: Exodus 14:25 : Deuteronomy 3:22 ; Joshua 10:14 b , Joshua 10:42 , Deuteronomy 23:3 ; Deuteronomy 23:10 . before your eyes ] LXX omit. Cp. Deuteronomy 4:6 ; Deuteronomy 4:34 , Deuteronomy 6:22 , Deuteronomy 9:17 , Deuteronomy 25:3 ; Deuteronomy 25:9 , Deuteronomy 28:31 , Deuteronomy 29:1 , Deuteronomy 31:7 , Deuteronomy 34:12 ; Joshua 10:12 ; Joshua 24:17 . Here Moses insists that the people must prefer their experience of God to the reports of the spies about a situation not yet reached. See Deuteronomy 1:27 . Deuteronomy 1:30

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.