Proverbs 20:23 Commentary and Bible Study

Solomon almost repeats verse 10 in order to confirm the Lord’s hatred of all false dealing. He adds here that false balances are also an abomination to the Lord. This however comes to the same thing, for the intention of both false weight and false balance is to make false transactions which advantage the unscrupulous. The use of either is intended to obtain an advantage through chicanery or perfidy. To depart from truth is order to gain this world’s goods is to pay a very high price indeed which is not what the deceiver intends. He intends to gain much in this world for very little money, or to sell little of his good for a large amount of money, and in both cases he hopes to cheat his neighbour out of what is rightfully theirs. After the transaction he reflects on what he has gained and gloats over those he has deceived, imagining himself to be more astute, more cunning, and as a result more wealthy. But the fool does not see the high price he pays, for though he may have parted with less money, he has parted with something far more precious – his eternal soul. Satan has tricked him into committing sin and Satan himself will insist that the due punishment is applied, for he has no love for his victims but aims only to destroy them in hell. In agreeing to the temptation, the deceiver is therefore greatly deceived. He gains a little mammon, but he loses a great deal more and something which mammon can never make good. Was his transaction so clever after all? Would he pay his own life blood for something as trivial as a few glittering baubles? What should decide the matter is what pleases or angers the Lord. This act is an abomination to the Lord and he will surely reward it. To act so as to set God against us ought to be the thing which we avoid above all else, for any earthly enemy may be handled by us, but who can resist the Lord?