The LORD abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight (Proverbs 11:1).

What's the big deal with God's concern for business ethics?  In Proverbs 11:1, it says, "The LORD abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight."  In Proverbs 16:11, it says, "Honest scales and balances are from the LORD; all the weights in the bag are of his making."  And in Proverbs 20:23, it says, "The LORD detests differing weights, and dishonest scales do not please him."  The point is plenty-clear, I guess.  But why?

Honesty is important in all aspects of life, certainly.  Business included.  But I can't help but wonder if this point is so heavily reinforced because of something bigger than business.  Something related to human identity, more than human behavior.

I don't want to submit too many of these things to conjecture, but I wonder if Proverbs 11:1 (and Proverbs 16:11, and Proverbs 20:23) might be more about equality than about business practices.  Could it be that God is primarily concerned with leveling the proverbial playing field -- trying to get us to see the people around us as He sees them, instead of through our culturally-imbalanced filters?  We seem so susceptible to judging different people by different standards, based on ethnicity, nationality, socio-economic class, level of education, or whatever random socially-determined criteria might come into play for a given population.  But God doesn't see us that way at all.  We treat people differently, depending on our particular "sort" of the "spreadsheet" of humanity.  But God does not.  Romans 3 explains, very clearly, how all of humanity has the same level of righteousness (or lack thereof) in God's eyes.  God is the original equal-opportunity employer, offering every human being "his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

Towards the end of the Bible, we are similarly challenged, "as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ" to not show favoritism.  James 2:2-13 says, "Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, 'Here's a good seat for you,' but say to the poor man, 'You stand there' or 'Sit on the floor by my feet,' have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? ...If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it... Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!"  And in effect, it seems to me that Proverbs 11:1 offers us a similar challenge:  "The LORD abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight."