Passage

Proverbs 11.1

Book: Proverbs · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

1. A false balance is an abomination to Jehovah; But a just weight is his delight.

When pride cometh, then cometh shame; But with the lowly is wisdom. 3. The integrity of the upright shall guide them; But the perverseness of the treacherous shall destroy them. (Proverbs 11:1-3, ASV)

WEB

1. A false balance is an abomination to Yahweh, but accurate weights are his delight.

When pride comes, then comes shame, but with humility comes wisdom. 3. The integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the perverseness of the treacherous shall destroy them. (Proverbs 11:1-3, WEB)

KJV

1. A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight. ^{A false: Heb. Balances of deceit} ^{just: Heb. perfect stone}

When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom. 3. The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them. (Proverbs 11:1-3, KJV)

YLT

1. Balances of deceit [are] an abomination to Jehovah, And a perfect weight [is] His delight.

Pride hath come, and shame cometh, And with the lowly [is] wisdom. 3. The integrity of the upright leadeth them, And the perverseness of the treacherous destroyeth them. (Proverbs 11:1-3, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the sages of Israel; the heading of chapters 10 to 22 is "The proverbs of Solomon" (Proverbs 10:1)
Audience: the young, and anyone seeking wisdom
Location: Israel
Time period: the Solomonic collection, tenth century BC on the traditional attribution, gathered later

Theological reading

"A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight." (Proverbs 11:1, KJV).

Justice as measurement. A "false balance" (scales rigged to cheat) is an abomination, and a "just weight" is God's delight. The proverb frames honesty in trade as a matter of exact proportion. See The Scales Argument.

Echoing the law. The same rule appears in Leviticus 19:35-36 and Deuteronomy 25:13-16, and the prophets attack its violation (Amos 8:5; Micah 6:11).

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

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Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

The Scales Argument

Guides:

Ris3n Arguments

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.