Proverbs 20:23 · World English Bible
Proverbs 20:23 Meaning Yahweh Detests Differing Weights
Yahweh detests differing weights, and dishonest scales are not pleasing.
What does Proverbs 20:23 mean?
The mind keeps two sets of measures, one for itself and one for its brother, and calls the difference justice when it is only the ego weighing everything in its own favor. Divers weights and a false balance are the double standard guilt requires, the practice of judging another harshly for what it excuses in itself, and no peace can come from a scale that is rigged before anything is placed on it.
From the Christian Psychology reading below.
Proverbs 20:23 through 1 lens
The same verse, read by one tradition.
Christian Psychology
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY
Christian Psychology
The mind keeps two sets of measures, one for itself and one for its brother, and calls the difference justice when it is only the ego weighing everything in its own favor. Divers weights and a false balance are the double standard guilt requires, the practice of judging another harshly for what it excuses in itself, and no peace can come from a scale that is rigged before anything is placed on it. What is measured this way is always found wanting, because the measuring was never fair.
Love keeps one weight for all. When the mind lets go of the crooked scale and looks on itself and its brother by the same true measure, judgment quietly dissolves, and both are seen to be equally innocent.
Divers weights: the mind's double standard, the harsh measure kept for others beside the gentle one kept for itself. False balance: the rigged scale of judgment, weighing every case in the ego's favor before the truth is even seen.
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Christian Psychology lens
Live Proverbs 20:23 today
- Think of someone you have quietly filed as difficult, then ask whether you have ever done the same thing they did, and what you told yourself about it at the time.
- In a group chat or at dinner, when you catch yourself about to explain why your version was reasonable, offer the other person the same explanation instead.
- When an email or a late reply irritates you, give them the excuse you would want given to you on your worst Tuesday, and answer from there.
Where do I use a kinder measure for myself than I am willing to use for someone else?
The same truth in other traditions
Tao Te Ching
When we split the world into worthy and unworthy, the splitting itself is the error. The sage holds all things in one regard, so nothing has to be weighed against anything.
Buddhism · Dhammapada
It is easy to see the faults of others and hard to see one's own, so we winnow our neighbor's grain and hide our own chaff. Holding both to the same light ends the quarrel.
Stoicism · Epictetus
We forgive in ourselves what we condemn in others, because we know our own reasons and only guess at theirs. Grant the other person the same benefit of the doubt you give yourself without thinking.
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