Charles Ellicott Commentary Leviticus 19:35

"Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measures of length, of weight, or of quantity." — Leviticus 19:35 (ASV)

You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment. —It will be seen that the Lawgiver uses here exactly the same phrase regarding meting out right measure that He used in connection with the administration of justice in Leviticus 19:15. Therefore, he who declares that a false measure is a legal measure is, according to this law, as much a corrupt judge, and defrauds the people by false judgment, as he who in the court of justice willfully passes a wrong sentence.

Because people who would otherwise scorn the idea of cheating often set aside their scruples in the matter of weights and measures, the Bible frequently brands these dealings as wicked and an abomination to the Lord, while it designates the right measure as coming from God Himself (Deuteronomy 25:13; Deuteronomy 25:15; Ezekiel 45:10; Ezekiel 45:12; Hosea 12:8; Amos 8:5; Micah 6:10–11; Proverbs 11:1; Proverbs 16:11; Proverbs 20:10; Proverbs 20:23).

According to the authorities during the Second Temple, one who gives false weight or measure, like the corrupt judge, is guilty of the following five things.

1. He defiles the land;
2. He profanes the name of God;
3. He causes the Shechinah to depart;
4. He makes Israel perish by the sword; and
5. He makes Israel go into captivity.

Therefore, they declared that “the sin of illegal weights and measures is greater than that of incest, and is equivalent to the sin of denying that God redeemed Israel out of Egypt.”

They appointed public overseers to inspect the weights and measures throughout the country. They prohibited weights from being made of iron, lead, or other metals liable to become lighter through wear or rust, and ordered them to be made of polished rock, glass, etc. They also enacted the severest punishment for fraud.