Devices used to weigh objects by opposing them with a known weight. Balances or scales have been used since at least the middle of the second millennium BC. Early depictions and inscriptions in Egyptian tombs provide insights into the appearance of these ancient scales. A pair of balances found in Ugarit dates back to around 1400 BC.
Balances typically had four main parts:
An upright center standard;
A crossbar suspended from the standard;
Two pans suspended from each end of the crossbar by cords; and
A rod or pointer attached at right angles to the center of the crossbar (in more elaborate models). This rod moved in front of the standard, indicating when the two pans held equal weights by their vertical position.
In the ancient world, scales or balances were primarily used to measure precious metals like silver or gold. However, the "Story of the Eloquent Peasant" from the Middle Kingdom of Egypt also mentioned the figurative use of scales to measure a person’s heart and tongue.
Balances are frequently mentioned in the Old Testament, usually emphasizing the use of fair weights when buying and selling (Leviticus 19:36; Proverbs 11:1; 16:11; 20:23; Ezekiel 45:10; Hosea 12:7; Amos 8:5; Micah 6:10–12).
Silver is weighed with a balance as described in Isaiah 46:6. Likewise, Jeremiah weighed the money that he paid for his nephew’s field (Jeremiah 32:8–10). In an acted-out prophecy, Ezekiel was instructed to cut off all his hair and beard, weigh it in balances, and separate it into three equal parts (Ezekiel 5:1–2). Job asked “weigh me with honest scales,” that God might know his integrity (Job 31:6). Daniel declared that Belshazzar had been weighed in the balances (judged) and found wanting (Daniel 5:27).
In the New Testament, Revelation 6:5 speaks of a rider on a black horse holding a balance in his hand. This prophecy foretells a severe famine where food becomes scarce, inflation drives up food prices, and people carefully check the scales to avoid being cheated even when buying the cheapest grains, like barley (Revelation 6:6).