God uses this question to expose the impossibility of His blessing dishonest commerce. By framing His condemnation as a question, He forces Israel to confront the absurdity of expecting divine approval while practicing systematic fraud, making their guilt undeniable.

No verbal response is recorded in the immediate context. Verse 12 continues God’s indictment, describing how the rich are full of violence, inhabitants speak lies, and their tongues are deceitful. Verse 13 announces divine judgment, wounding and desolation, as the consequence of their refusal to repent.

God’s rhetorical question expects the answer “No”, He cannot and will not declare righteous those who practice systematic fraud. The Hebrew verb zakah means to be clean, pure, or acquitted in a legal sense. The question’s force lies in its impossibility: divine holiness cannot coexist with blessing wickedness. The reference to “wicked balances” (mo’znei resha) and “bag of deceitful weights” (kis avne mirmah) specifies concrete commercial fraud, not abstract sin. By asking rather than declaring, God invites self-examination while emphasizing the absurdity of expecting His favor while violating covenant law. This question functions as both indictment and warning, judgment is certain unless repentance follows. The contrast between God’s righteousness and Israel’s corruption creates unbearable tension, designed to produce either repentance or hardened rebellion.