Fair Weights and Measures

Josephus

Against Apion 2.216

Late 1st Century

Moreover, if anyone commits fraud in terms of standard measures or weights, or conducts a sale that is unjust or has taken place with deceit, or if he pilfers something belonging to another, or if he takes as his own something for which he laid down no deposit, punishments for all [such crimes] are not like those of other [nations] but are more severe.

Translated by William Whiston, adapted by Aaron Samuels.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.

Engage with this Source

Josephus maintains that Jews are more strict than other peoples in enforcing fair business practices.

Read more
Restricted
Some content is unavailable to non-members, please log in or sign up for free for full access.

Related Guide

Commerce, Markets, and Finance in the Economy of Ancient Judea

2nd Century BCE–4th Century CE
Ancient large stone blocks and rubble rest against a weathered stone wall with some sparse greenery.
Tooltip info icon

Related Guide

Economics, Labor, and Charity in Ancient Judaism

4th Century BCE–6th Century CE

Jewish texts from late antiquity on labor, wealth, and poverty reflect a shift from the agrarian economy of the Bible to a more urban system of commerce.

Restricted
Some content is unavailable to non-members, please log in or sign up for free for full access.

Related Guide

Jewish Daily Life in Roman-Era Palestine

1st Century BCE–6th Century CE

You may also like

Commerce Is Less Worthy than Agriculture

Sifre Deuteronomy 315

And no alien god is bound to him (Deuteronomy 32:12)—there shall not be among you any who engage in commerce of any sort.For it is stated: Let there be hands-full of grain in the Land (Psalm 72:16)…
View Source

Rising from Merchant Status

Sifre Deuteronomy 357

And Moses was a hundred and twenty years old [when he died] (Deuteronomy 34:7). He was one of four who died at the age of one hundred and twenty, and these were Moses, Hillel the Elder, Rabban Yoḥanan…
View Source

Merchant Behavior in the Marketplace

m. Bava Metsi‘a 4:12

A merchant may buy from five threshing floors and put the produce into a storage chamber, or from five winepresses and put [the wine] into one jug, as long as he does not intend to mix them [for…
View Source

Lending and the Prohibition of Interest

m. Bava Metsi‘a 5:1

What is usury [neshekh] and what is increase [tarbit]? It is usury when a man lends a sela for five dinars, or two se’ahs of wheat for three, because he bites [noshekh] [off too much]. And what is…
View Source

Jewish Seafarers

Epistle 4.3, 9–15

Hear my story then, that you may have no further leisure for your mocking wit, and I will tell you first of all how our crew was made up. Our skipper was willing to die on account of his bankrupt…
View Source

Prayer for Commercial Success

y. Yoma 5:3, 52c
May it be the will before You, Eternal our God and God of our fathers, that this year be a year of low prices, a year of satiety, a year of trade, a year of rains, sunshine, and dew, and that your…
View Source