Matthew Henry on Amos 8:4-10
God is here contending with proud oppressors, and showing them,
I. The heinousness of the sin they were guilty of; in short, they had the character of the unjust judge (Luk 18:2) that neither feared God nor regarded man.
1. Observe them in their devotions, and you will say, "They had no reverence for God." Bad as they are, they do indeed keep up a show and form of godliness; they observe the sabbath and the new moon; they put some difference between those days and other days, but they were soon weary of them, and had no affection at all to them, for their hearts were wholly set upon the world and the things of it. It is a sad character which this gives of them, that they said, When will the…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Amos 8:6
buy . . . poor for silver . . . pair of shoes--that is, that we may compel the needy for money, or any other thing of however little worth, to sell themselves to us as bondmen, in defiance of Lev 25:39; the very thing which brings down God's judgment (Amo 2:6).
sell the refuse of . . . wheat--which contains no nutriment, but which the poor eat at a low price, being unable to pay for flour.
Adam Clarke on Amos 8:6
That we may buy the poor for silver - Buying their services for such a time, with just money enough to clear them from other creditors.
And the needy for a pair of shoes - See Amo 2:6.
And sell the refuse of the wheat! - Selling bad wheat and damaged flour to poor people as good, knowing that such cannot afford to prosecute them.
John Gill on Amos 8:6
That we may buy the poor for silver,.... Thus making them pay dear for their provisions, and using them in this fraudulent manner, by which they would not be able to support themselves and their families; they might purchase them and theirs for slaves, at so small a price as a piece of silver, or a single shekel, worth about half a crown; and this was their end and design in using them after this manner; see Leviticus 25:39;
and the needy for a pair of shoes; See Gill on Amos 2:6;
yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat; not only did they sell the poor grain and wheat at a dear rate, and in scanty measure, but the worst of it, and such as was not fit to make bread of, only to be given to the…
