We’ve talked about coin clipping on this blog before. If you’re not familiar with it, though, it’s a process where someone shaves metal off of a coin (which used to be made out of silver or gold). Eventually, those shavings would have enough to make a whole new coin, which means you’ve basically “stolen” from whoever you spend it with.
Why are you stealing? Because if something costs a dollar, and I’ve shaved off a nickel’s worth off the item, then I’m really only giving you ninety-five cents. To the untrained eye, it may look like the same coin, but it’s not.
Coin clipping wasn’t the only way people stole, however. Like these verses mention (Deuteronomy 25:13-16), people could have unjust weights and measures as well.
Weights and measures were essentially ways of pricing out various items for buy or sale. If you were buying a pound of salt, for instance, they would put a weight on one end of the scale, and then pile salt on the other side so that it balanced the scale.
As you can imagine, an unscrupulous dealer in this situation would have a weight that was actually less than a pound, so that you pay for a pound of salt, even though you’re receiving far less. An unjust measure would be done in the same way, but with liquid.
What I think is interesting about this Text in Deuteronomy, though, is not Moses’ prohibition on using unjust weights and measures, but not even having them in your house.
Obviously, if someone is caught using a bad weight in a business deal, the punishment would be swift and severe. But where Moses’ law takes it a step further is in even owning these devices to begin with. The assumption is that if you have them, you plan on using them, which would eventually be against the Law.
This seems to be the same type of principle Jesus deployed in Matthew 5, when He talked about it not being enough to not murder, but to not even hate your brother. In other words, it’s not enough to just not kill someone—you have to not even hate them.
Hatred in the heart almost always leads to hatred in actions, just as possessing an unjust weight almost always leads to using an unjust weight.
Instead, what God calls on Israel to do in this passage is to think pure thoughts at the outset. Don’t give place to injustice. Refuse to give in to greed.
Do these things, and Israel would prosper (Deuteronomy 25:15).