Fraud is nothing new. Even though corruption saturates countless institutions today and is perhaps flourishing on unprecedented scales, human beings have been cheating other human beings for millennia. One ancient form of cheating others for gain came in the form of using fraudulent weights in commerce.
Archaeologists have discovered a small stone weight in Jerusalem that appears to have been made for cheating. (See photo above.) Its markings do not match its weight. The stone was recovered during excavations in the City of David Archaeological Park and is about 2,700 years old. That dates it to the First Temple period, or Israel’s Iron Age II. The City of David is located just south of the Temple Mount and the Old City wall. It is the ridge where the original Jebusite city that David conquered was located. Solomon expanded the city to the north with the construction of the Temple.
Some scholars disagree on the proper way to read the stone’s markings, but under all of the theories, the stone clearly weighs more than its markings claim. The Bible’s strong condemnations of dishonest dealings by using inaccurate weights imply that these stones existed and were in use. For example, in Deuteronomy and Proverbs:
Do not have two differing weights in your bag—one heavy, one light. Do not have two differing measures in your house—one large, one small. You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. For the LORD your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly.
Deuteronomy 25:13-16
Differing weights and differing measures—the LORD detests them both.
Proverbs 20:10
In addition to the Bible, other ancient Near Eastern texts present the use of fraudulent weights and scales as a crime. Indeed, the human capacity to defraud others is age-old and worldwide. It has always displeased the Lord and has always been unbecoming of God’s people.
Featured photo courtesy of Biblical Archaeology Society.
