Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Mga Kawikaan 16:11

פלס ומאזני משפט לה' מעשהו כל אבני כיס, “Honest scales and weights are the Lord’s; all the weights in the bag (pocket) are His work” (Proverbs 16,11).

Solomon wanted to tell us in this verse that all of man’s deeds are carefully weighed and that all the weights (by which they are evaluated) belong to G’d. The single most heavy weight is called פלס; also, a much smaller weight of which there are two are called מאזנים. The word is derived from אזן, i.e. when there are two weights each called אזן, the scale is called מאזנים to indicate that equal weights are on opposite sides. There are many words in Scripture which appear in the plural, especially when in order to make full use of what these words represent one requires two of them. Examples are נעלים, shoes, רחים, millstones, etc. G’d is described as “weighing” each of our actions using small weights known as “pocket weights, weights small enough to be carried in one’s pocket. The largest weight known in the Torah is called ככר, whereas the smaller weights known as אונקיה are usually divided into אונקיה, and half or quarter “ounces.” [This is not the “ounce” we are familiar with but a weight of about 4 regular shekalim or about 29 grams]. Solomon only wanted to illustrate that when “weighing” our sins in the scales of merits and demerits respectively, even the smallest sin (or merit) is taken into account. Reward and punishment is meted out according to G’d’s yardsticks as to the relative “weight” of such deeds we have performed. If you need proof that after G’d has first weighed the “heavy” sins He proceeds to also weigh the “light” sins look at Jeremiah 16,16 where the prophet says: הנני שולח לדיגים רבים נאום ה' ודיגום ואחרי כן אשלח לרבים צידים וצדום, “Lo, I am sending for many fishermen--declares the Lord--and they shall haul them out; and after that I shall send the hunters and they shall hunt them.” The prophet employed the verb צידה, hunt, after the expression “fishing.” It is similar to a person who moves out of a house and first removes the larger pieces of furniture, returning to pick up the smaller items he has left behind. The meaning of the whole verse quoted above is: the large weight stone called peles, the smaller ones, i.e. moznayim, as well as weights carried in one’s pocket; all of them are at the disposal of the Lord and He makes use of them.” In other words, the justice dispensed by the Lord will be true justice having taken into account all factors relevant to arriving at a verdict. The reason Solomon refers to small weights as אבני כיס is because people are in the habit of carrying them in a pocket, a small bag. This is in order to keep them clean and not exposed to erosion.

King Solomon, of blessed memory, said, “honest scales and balances are the Lord’s; all the weights in the bag are His work” [Proverbs, 16:11]. That is to say, the Holy One has all sorts of weights for his judgments, from large to small. That is to say, the Holy One judges each person properly, just like someone properly weighs his merchandise. So too, the Holy One properly weighs each person’s sins. If it is large, then he is given a big punishment. If it is small, then he gets a small punishment, according to its weight. The deeds of the Holy One are hidden and no person understands them, as the verse says, “Your justice is like the great deep” [Psalms, 36:7]. Your justice is hidden, just like the person does not know what is in the abyss. We find that Jerusalem was destroyed on the ninth day of the month. The Holy One had shown the prophet Ezekiel that it would be destroyed on the tenth day, since the Holy One did not want to reveal when it would be destroyed. However, the Holy One had wanted to have His Shekhinah rest over Israel, he said, in which city, and on which day? He said, in the wilderness, in one day in the month, in the month of Iyyar, in the second year since the exodus from Egypt. Therefore it says here.¹Bahya, Bamidbar, Introduction.