What Does Proverbs 20:23 Mean in the King James?

Divers weights are an abomination unto the LORD; and a false balance is not good.

Proverbs 20:23 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

The weights are literally “stone and stone” (⁨אֶבֶן וָאָבֶן⁩, ʾeven vaʾeven), exposing how a pair presented as equivalent can secretly serve two standards.

THE MEANING

The verse exposes a quiet harm: a system can look exact while its measures shift to favor whoever controls them. The LORD regards this double standard as abhorrent; a polished appearance does not make the measure good.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

A fair-looking procedure is not necessarily fair; precision can conceal a rigged standard.

THE ROOT

מִרְמָה

mirmāh

GROWS FROM

ר־מ־ה

r-m-h

Deceive; act treacherously.

The verse calls its weights ⁨אֶבֶן וָאָבֶן⁩ (ʾeven vaʾeven, “stone and stone”) and names the scales ⁨מִרְמָה⁩ (mirmāh, “deceit”). The root links the false appearance to the act of deceiving: dishonesty is built into the measure itself.

ALSO GROWS

ramah: To deceive or deal treacherously.

רָמָה

This verb names the act concealed inside the apparently ordinary weighing.

remiyyah: Deceit; slackness.

רְמִיָּה

This related form shows deception as a quality that can settle into how a measure is handled.

THE PATTERN

A measure is never morally neutral: what it hides or gives becomes part of the judgment it carries.

A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.

Proverbs 11:1 · KJVThe verse sets a deceptive measure directly against a just one, making integrity visible in the standard itself.

Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.

Leviticus 19:36 · KJVThe command applies justice to everyday measures, naming fair weights as part of a life brought out of constriction.

For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Matthew 7:2 · KJVThe measure used on another becomes the measure returned, revealing that judgment carries consequences for the one who applies it.

THE THREAD

A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.

Proverbs 11:1 · KJV

Proverbs 11:1 repeats ⁨מֹאזְנֵי מִרְמָה⁩ (moznei mirmāh, “scales of deceit”), the same phrase behind this verse’s “false balance.” Together, the verses expose the mechanism: a scale may look neutral, while deceit turns ordinary exchange into injustice.

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