Verses 10-12 give some specific examples of how the kings’ rule must be right and fair. They refer to trade and commerce, and advocate the need for accurate scales, and true weights and measures, in the new society when the new Temple will be established. The weights and measures will be based on the familiar standard ones used in Israel and other nations in the region.

You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath. The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, the bath containing one tenth of a homer, and the ephah one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure: The Hebrew pronoun for You is plural, referring to the rulers of Israel. Just balances are accurate scales.

An ephah was the standard measure for measuring dry grain and cereals. Originally, it was probably a bowl or basket that contained about 22 liters (6 gallons) of flour or grain. This amount then became the accepted standard for measuring dry goods. A bath, which was the same size as an ephah, was the standard measure for measuring liquids. A homer contained ten ephahs or ten baths. The derivation of the Hebrew word for homer suggests that it originally indicated the amount of grain which was carried by a donkey. F

The homer shall be the standard measure in the new society, perhaps like kilograms (instead of grams) or gallons (instead of pints) are for us for certain products. Translators may render verses 10-11 as follows:

• 10 You must have accurate [or, honest] scales and measures. 11 The ephah for dry measures and the bath for liquid measures will be the same, and each will be one tenth of a homer. The standard for measuring will be the homer.

The shekel shall be twenty gerahs; five shekels shall be five shekels, and ten shekels shall be ten shekels, and your mina shall be fifty shekels: The shekels, gerah, and mina were weights used on scales to measure out goods for customers. These weights were usually stones of a specified weight. A shekel weighed about 12 grams (0.4 ounce). In the new society there will be twenty gerahs in one shekel. Five shekels shall be five shekels, and ten shekels shall be ten shekels, and your mina shall be fifty shekels follows the Septuagint. This reading is presumably a way of emphasizing that the weights must be accurate; for example, five shekels shall be five shekels may be rendered “If you say this weighs five shekels, then make sure it does weigh five shekels.” Your mina shall be fifty shekels is probably an attempt to remain consistent with the general pattern where the mina did consist of 50 shekels. However, the Septuagint reading requires considerable changes to the Hebrew text of verse 12b, which reads “twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, fifteen shekels shall be for you the mina” (similarly New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, King James Version / New King James Version, New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Christian Community Bible, Complete Jewish Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). New Century Version follows the Hebrew by saying “and a mina will be worth sixty shekels” (similarly Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation). It is likely that God, as he looked forward to the future society, outlined a new system of weights and measurements, based on the Babylonian system. This explains the figure of 60 shekels in a mina, and makes all the changes in the Septuagint unnecessary. So Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommends that translators follow the Hebrew text here.

How can translators make verses 10-12 meaningful to their audiences, given that the names of these weights and measures are meaningless to a modern audience? Since the ancient weights and measures do not coincide with the ones we use, it is difficult to find appropriate modern equivalents. We do not recommend replacing the ephah with kilograms, or the bath with liters. If a culture has appropriate equivalents, translators should feel free to use them. Otherwise, since including the details is likely to be confusing to most modern readers, we recommend that translators focus on the positive elements of these verses, namely, the need for accurate scales and weights and measures. A model that does this is:

• 10 Your scales must be accurate. Your containers for measuring dry goods [or, flour and grain] and liquids must be accurate. 11 They must be the same size, and they must be consistent with [or, straight in accordance with] the agreed [or, legal] standard. 12 The weights you use on your scales to measure out goods for your customers must also be consistent with [or, straight in accordance with] the agreed [or, legal] standard.

If translators want to retain the actual terms, they may use this model but insert “called an ‘ephah,’ ” “called a ‘bath,’ ” “called a ‘homer,’ ” “called a ‘shekel,’ ” “called a ‘gerah,’ ” or “called a ‘mina’ ” at the appropriate places.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .