Commentary - Leviticus 19:35-37

Bird's-eye view

In these concluding verses of the Holiness Code's central chapter, the Lord brings the high and lofty principles of holiness down into the dirt and dust of the marketplace. The call to be holy as God is holy (Lev. 19:2) is not an abstract, mystical summons to be fulfilled in a monastery. It is a command that must be worked out in the grimy, practical details of everyday commerce. God is intensely interested in honest weights and fair measures. This passage demonstrates that for God, there is no sacred/secular divide. Piety that does not translate into ethical business dealings is no piety at all. The law against tilting the scales is as much a part of God's holy standard as the laws against idolatry or sexual immorality. The entire economic life of the covenant community is to be a reflection of the character of God Himself, who is just, faithful, and true. The passage is grounded in two bedrock realities: God's absolute authority ("I am Yahweh") and His redemptive grace ("who brought you out from the land of Egypt"). Because He is the sovereign Lord, He has the right to command. And because He is their gracious Redeemer, they have every reason to obey.

This is economic theology at its most foundational level. It establishes the principle that all weights and measures, all standards of commerce, ultimately belong to God. A stable and just economy is not a secular concern, but a profoundly religious one. When a nation's currency is debased, or when its markets are rife with fraud, it is a direct affront to the character of the God who commands justice in the gate. These verses are a perpetual indictment of any economic system that relies on deception, inflation, or fraud. For the Christian, our work and our business must be conducted as an act of worship, under the watchful eye of the God who owns the scales.

Outline

Context In Leviticus

Leviticus 19 is a central pillar of the entire book, often called the heart of the Holiness Code (chapters 17-26). It begins with the foundational command, "You shall be holy, for I Yahweh your God am holy." The chapter then provides a wide-ranging series of specific laws that illustrate what this holiness looks like in practice. It covers everything from honoring parents and keeping the Sabbath (v. 3) to leaving gleanings for the poor (vv. 9-10), dealing honestly with one's neighbor (v. 11), and the famous command to love your neighbor as yourself (v. 18). The passage on just weights and measures comes at the end of this list, serving as a concrete application of these principles of love and justice to the economic sphere. It demonstrates that holiness is not merely about personal piety or correct ritual, but about righteousness in all of life's relationships, including financial and commercial ones. It is the practical outworking of loving your neighbor in the marketplace.

Key Issues

God of the Scales

It is a common temptation, both ancient and modern, to compartmentalize our faith. We have our "God-life" on Sunday, and then we have our "real life" from Monday to Saturday. But the Mosaic law will have none of it. The God who commands worship in the Tabernacle is the same God who commands honesty in the shop. As Solomon would later put it, "A just weight and balance are Yahweh's; all the weights in the bag are His work" (Prov. 16:11). God claims ownership of the very standards of commerce. The scales belong to Him. The weights belong to Him. The bag they are carried in belongs to Him.

This means that economic fraud is not simply a horizontal crime against one's neighbor; it is a vertical sin against God. To use a "diverse" weight, one for buying and another for selling, is an abomination to the Lord (Prov. 20:10, 23). It is a form of institutionalized lying. It is an attempt to build a world of commerce on a foundation of falsehood, which is an assault on the God who is truth. In our day, the most common form of this sin is currency debasement through inflation, where the government itself shaves a little bit off of every dollar through the creation of fiat money. This is nothing other than a technologically sophisticated form of having a light shekel. The principle is the same, and God's hatred of it has not changed.

Verse by Verse Commentary

35 ‘You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight, or in volume.

The command begins with a broad prohibition against injustice in three specific areas of public and economic life. First is judgment. This refers to rendering legal verdicts and decisions. Justice must be impartial, not swayed by the wealth or poverty of the litigants (Lev. 19:15). But the context here immediately ties this judicial integrity to commercial integrity. A society where the courts are corrupt will not have honest markets. The other two areas are measurement of weight, or in volume. This covers all the basic units of commerce. Whether you are measuring out grain by the ephah, oil by the hin, or silver by the shekel, there must be no wrongdoing. The standard must be fixed and true. This is a command for objective, unwavering standards in the marketplace. To tamper with the standards is to introduce falsehood into the very fabric of the society.

36 You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin; I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt.

From the negative prohibition, we move to the positive command. It is not enough to refrain from cheating; you must actively maintain and use just standards. The list is comprehensive. Just balances refers to the scales themselves, which must be true. Just weights are the stone weights used with the scales. A just ephah was the standard dry measure, and a just hin was the standard liquid measure. The entire system of commerce is to be characterized by righteousness. And then comes the foundation for this command, and it is twofold. First, I am Yahweh your God. This is the appeal to His absolute authority and His covenant character. He is the self-existent, eternal God. He defines what justice is. His character is the ultimate standard. For a transaction to be "just," it must conform to His nature. Second, He is the God who brought you out from the land of Egypt. This is the appeal to redemption. Their deliverance from slavery was an act of pure grace. They were not to turn around and enslave one another through fraudulent economic practices. God's grace is the engine of our obedience. Because He has been just and gracious to us, we must be just and gracious to others. Our ethics flow from our redemption.

37 You shall thus keep all My statutes and all My judgments and do them; I am Yahweh.’ ”

The chapter concludes with a summary exhortation that wraps everything together. The command for just weights is not an isolated rule. It is part of a comprehensive whole, a package deal. You are to keep all My statutes and all My judgments. You cannot pick and choose which parts of God's law you want to obey. The man who is pious in his prayers but cheats his customers is a hypocrite. The man who tithes meticulously but moves his property line is a thief. Holiness is comprehensive. And the final word, the signature at the bottom of the covenant document, is I am Yahweh. This is the ultimate ground of all obligation. He has spoken. He is the Lord. There is no higher court of appeal. His word is final, and it covers everything, right down to the weights in your bag.

Application

The application of these verses is intensely practical and cuts right to the heart of our modern Christian lives. We live in a world where "business ethics" is often seen as an oxymoron. But for the Christian, our business is a primary arena for discipleship. God is not honored by a quiet time in the morning that is followed by a day of cutting corners, fudging numbers, or misleading customers.

This passage demands that we ask hard questions. Is my work characterized by integrity? Do I give a full day's work for a full day's pay? Do I deliver the quality of goods or services that I promised? Are my contracts clear and my dealings transparent? Do I pay my bills on time? As consumers, do we pay what we owe cheerfully? As citizens, do we cry out against the systemic injustice of currency debasement and government-sponsored theft through inflation?

The ultimate standard of justice is the character of God, and that character was perfectly embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the one who, in the ultimate transaction, did no wrong. He paid a debt He did not owe, for us who owed a debt we could not pay. On the cross, the scales of divine justice were perfectly balanced. Our sin was weighed, and the just penalty was paid in full by His blood. Because we have been redeemed from the slavery of sin by such a great and gracious Savior, we are now called to live as children of the light. And that light must shine brightly in the marketplace, through just balances, honest work, and a commitment to doing right by our neighbor, all for the glory of the God who is Yahweh.