Amos 8:6 · Bible study
Amos 8:6 Commentary: The Economics of Oppression and Divine Justice
Hebrew · 11 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Exegesis of Amos 8:6: buying the poor for silver and a pair of sandals, selling refuse of wheat.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Condemns the wealthy for enslaving the poor for trivial debts and selling them worthless grain as food, revealing a heart that worships profit above God and neighbour.
- Key words: קָנָה (qanah, 'to buy/get/acquire', often of redeeming); דַּל (dal, 'poor/low/weak'); אֶבְיוֹן (evyon, 'needy'); מַפָּל (mappal, 'refuse/fallings' of grain); נַעֲלָיִם (na'alayim, 'a pair of sandals').
- Main debate: Minor debate about whether 'sell the refuse' refers to mixing bran with flour or selling spoiled grain as animal feed in a dearth; both are fraud. No major interpretive division.
- Theological theme: God's impartial justice: He sees through religious ceremony to the oppression underneath, and He will not forget the exploitation of the vulnerable.
- Best use: Teaching on the connection between worship and ethics; prophetic critique of economic systems that devalue human life; small-group study of Amos 8.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
Let us buy the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the chaff with the wheat!”
WEB World English Bible 2000
that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals, and sell the sweepings with the wheat?’”
KJV King James Version 1769
That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
ASV American Standard Version 1901
that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
To purchase with money the poor, And the needy for a pair of sandals, Yea, the refuse of the pure corn we sell.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; and that we may sell the refuse of the wheat.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
That we may possess the needy for money, and the poor for a pair of shoes, and may sell the refuse of the corn?
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Para comprar los pobres por dinero, y los necesitados por un par de zapatos, y venderemos las aechaduras del trigo?
Para comprarmos os pobres por dinheiro, e os necessitados por um par de sapatos, e venderemos os refugos do trigo?
Puis nous achèterons les misérables pour de l’ argent,
auf daß wir die Armen um Geld und die Dürftigen um ein Paar Schuhe unter uns bringen und Spreu für Korn verkaufen?”
Dat wij de armen voor geld mogen kopen, en den nooddruftige om een paar schoenen; dan zullen wij het kaf van het koren verkopen.
comprando il misero per denaro, e il povero se deve un paio di sandali? E venderemo anche la vagliatura del grano!”
Kupując ubogich za pieniądze, a chudzinę za parę trzewików; nadto abyśmy odmieciny zbóż sprzedawali.
чтобы покупать неимущих за серебро и бедных за пару обуви, а высевки из хлеба продавать".
好用銀子 買 貧寒人，用一雙鞋 換 窮乏人，將壞了 的麥子 賣給人。
Getting the poor for silver, and him who is in need for the price of two shoes, and taking a price for the waste parts of the grain.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Amos 8:6
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree this verse exposes the final stage of a ruthless economic machine. The rich merchants, already guilty of small ephahs and false scales (v.5), now target the poor themselves. Calvin notes that in time of scarcity the rich held the poor subject, reducing them to slavery. Barnes observes that the contemptuous price, a pair of sandals, shows disregard for the image of God in a human being. Keil and Delitzsch explain that the phrase 'buy the poor for silver' refers to forcing the destitute to sell themselves into debt slavery for the smallest debt, as permitted (but misused) under Leviticus 25:39. The final crime, 'sell the refuse of the wheat,' is unpacked by Gill and Pusey (cited in Cambridge Bible) as selling the bran or unripe grains sifted out as worthless, feeding people what animals would eat. The oppressors’ heart is laid bare: they use religious observance as a cover while greed devours human dignity.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: The verse condemns the exploitation of the poor through debt slavery for trivial sums and the fraudulent sale of worthless grain, and it reveals that such oppression, even when masked by religious observance, is seen and remembered by God.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Debt slavery in Israel | The rich were enslaving the poor for trivial debts, a violation of the spirit of Leviticus 25 which called for compassionate treatment of indebted brothers. | Some commentators (e.g., Calvin) focus on the explicit reduction to slavery; others (e.g., Barnes) note that the poor became so powerless they had no option but to sell themselves. All agree it was unjust. |
| The pair of sandals | It represents a very small sum, showing the cheapness of human life in the oppressors' eyes. | Whether it is the literal price for which a man was sold, or a metaphor for the smallest possible debt, is not sharply contested; both interpretations reinforce the trivialisation of human worth. |
| Refuse of the wheat | It was either bran, unripe grains, or spoiled grain, not fit for human consumption, sold to the poor who could not afford better. | Some (Gill, Pusey) think it was the sifted-out chaff mixed back into flour; others think it was animal feed sold during a famine. Both are forms of adulteration and fraud. |
| Religious hypocrisy | The merchants observed new moon and Sabbath outwardly but hated the interruption to profit; their worship was hollow. | Matthew Henry emphasises the weariness with worship; Keil & Delitzsch simply note the impatience. No commentator defends the merchants; all see hypocrisy. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Amos prophesied to the northern kingdom of Israel around 760, 750 BC, a time of economic prosperity and moral decay under Jeroboam II. The wealthy elite had grown fat on trade, but their wealth rested on crushing the poor. The verse sits within a vision of a basket of summer fruit (v.2), symbolising that Israel is ripe for judgment, the Hebrew word for 'summer fruit' (qayits) sounds like 'end' (qets), a deliberate wordplay. The oppressors cannot wait for the new moon and Sabbath holidays to end (v.5) so they can resume business; these were days when trade was suspended for worship (cf. Numbers 28:11; 2 Kings 4:23). Their impatience reveals that religious observance was merely a nuisance, not a transformation of the heart.
Debt slavery was regulated in the Law: an Israelite who fell into debt could sell himself to a fellow Israelite, but he was to be treated as a hired worker, not a slave, and could be redeemed (Leviticus 25:39-42). The merchants in Amos ignored these safeguards, enslaving people for the price of a pair of sandals, a trivial amount, possibly the value of a cheap debt or a token of contempt. Selling the 'refuse' of wheat (Hebrew mappal, 'what falls through the sieve') was passing off bran or shriveled grains as food. In a time of famine or high prices, the poor had no option but to buy whatever was offered, even if it lacked nourishment. This fraud compounded the violence of debt slavery, making life unsustainable for the most vulnerable.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Amos 8:6. The Hebrew text is stable across manuscripts, and the versions (LXX, Syriac, Targum) agree closely with the Masoretic reading umappal bar nashbir ('and the refuse of grain we will sell').
Reception History
Reformation-era commentators such as Calvin and the Geneva Bible read this verse as a direct warning against the abiding sin of economic oppression, linking it to the publican and sinner in Luke 18. Puritan and Wesleyan expositors (Matthew Henry, Adam Clarke) used the verse to preach against corrupt business practices and the neglect of the poor in their own day. In the 19th century, the verse was often cited in abolitionist sermons, since the oppressor here buys human beings for the price of footwear, connecting the ancient injustice to the transatlantic slave trade. Modern readers, across Catholic and Protestant traditions, consistently find in Amos 8:6 a scriptural foundation for social justice teaching, especially the principle that authentic worship cannot coexist with the exploitation of the vulnerable.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Greed that tramples worship. The merchants counted the minutes until religious obligations ended (v.5). Their god was profit, not Yahweh. The Sabbath had become a barrier to business, not a delight.
- Human life devalued to a commodity. Buying the needy for a pair of sandals treats image-bearers as disposable. The contrast between 'silver' (the price of a life) and 'sandals' (the price of a life) shows how cheaply they valued people.
- Selling poison as bread. The refuse of the wheat, chaff or spoiled grain, was nourishment only to animals. Feeding this to the hungry and calling it wheat is a picture of how oppression twists every system: the poor pay for what cannot sustain them.
Five-point outline
- Context: The vision of the basket of summer fruit shows Israel ripe for judgment. The prophet confronts the wealthy directly.
- Impatience with worship: The oppressors ask, 'When will the new moon be gone?' They keep the forms but hate the restraint.
- Fraud in the marketplace: Smaller ephahs, larger shekels, false scales, and now, selling refuse as wheat.
- Debt slavery: For a pair of sandals, the smallest of debts, they enslave fellow Israelites, violating the spirit of the Law.
- Divine response: 'Yahweh has sworn by the pride of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works' (v.7). God sees; God remembers.
Illustration hooks
- A contractor shortchanges workers for the last hour of work while singing in church all morning. The disconnect between Sunday devotion and Monday payroll.
- An online retailer advertises 'premium' goods but ships factory rejects, no one complains because the poor can't afford legal action.
- At a county fair, a farmer sells 'cider' that is mostly water and additives. People pay for what they think will nourish but get empty calories.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Does my impatience with church services reveal where my heart really is?
- How do I see the image of God in people I'm tempted to treat as 'customers' or 'problems'?
- What am I selling as 'wheat' that is really refuse, in my business, my relationships, my public image?
Leading a Discussion
This passage pulls back the curtain on a culture where religious observance coexists with routine exploitation. The merchants are not atheists, they keep the festivals, but their god is money, and their neighbour is a resource to be consumed. As you work through these questions, consider how economic systems can shape our hearts, and where the line is between honest trade and hidden oppression.
Discussion questions
- Read Amos 8:4-6. What does the merchants' impatience with new moon and Sabbath tell you about their true priorities?
- Why does the prophet specify buying the poor 'for silver' and 'for a pair of sandals'? What does the price reveal about how they view people?
- What is the 'refuse of the wheat' in that culture, and what does it mean to sell it as good grain? (See Gill and Barnes in the notes.)
- How does this passage connect to the covenant laws in Leviticus 25:39-42? Were the merchants breaking the law, or exploiting its loopholes?
- In what ways can a society look religious on the outside while ignoring the poor? Where do you see this tension today?
- Verse 7 says, 'Surely I will never forget any of their works.' What does it mean that God remembers economic injustice? Does that change how you view your own work?
- If a member of your church community owned a business tainted by these practices, what would faithful accountability look like?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Leviticus 25:39 | “‘If your brother has grown poor among you, and sells himself to you, you shall not make him to serve as a slave. |
| Leviticus 25:42 | For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold as slaves. |
| Nehemiah 5:1 | Then there arose a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brothers the Jews. |
| Nehemiah 5:5 | Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children as their children. Behold, we bring our sons and our daughters into bondage to be servants, and some of our daughters have been brought into bondage. It is also not in our power to help it, because other men have our fields and our vineyards.” |
| Nehemiah 5:8 | I said to them, “We, after our ability, have redeemed our brothers the Jews that were sold to the nations; and would you even sell your brothers, and should they be sold to us?” Then they held their peace, and found not a word to say. |
| Joel 3:3 | and have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a prostitute, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink. |
| Joel 3:6 | and have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the sons of the Greeks, that you may remove them far from their border. |
| Amos 2:6 | Yahweh says: “For three transgressions of Israel, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals; |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
11 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke notes that some people give money to the poor just enough to pay off their other debts. He also says they sell bad wheat to the needy thinking they cannot afford to complain.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes highlights the contempt shown to the poor by selling them for the same trifling price as a pair of sandals, and then even buying them for that price. He emphasizes the dishonesty of adulterating bread with sifted-out refuse or bran, making profit from what was once discarded, showing extreme greed.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin notes that some rich people sold worthless wheat mixed with dirt to buy poor people as slaves. They thought food was the only thing that kept life going so they valued their own lives more than anything else. You will find hope in Christ and the resurrection.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Christians who hold this view point to Amos 8:6 while others emphasize verses that speak of future judgment. Both seek to be faithful to Scripture. You may find hope in Christ and the resurrection.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
Geneva Bible Notes shows that in that time people bought food with silver and shoes with money while also selling the worthless parts of wheat. This reveals how deeply unfair trade had become.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill emphasises the merchants' calculated cruelty: they deliberately drove the poor into such desperate poverty that they were forced to sell themselves or their families as slaves for a trivial sum. He also notes they sold the worst part of the wheat, the sifting residue only fit for cattle, as a final indignity.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
Jamieson Fausset Brown notes some force the poor to sell themselves as slaves to get silver or cheap food. This practice causes God’s judgment as the text states. It is wrong because it contradicts God’s command not to exploit the needy.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch note that the rich people described are those who greedily seek to swallow the poor rather than just ignore them. They plan to cheat the poor by using false scales and selling bad grain at high prices.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange highlights the wordplay between ripe fruit and end in Amos's vision: Israel's ripeness for sin means their end is certain. He stresses that God's judgment on rich oppressors is just and compassionate toward the poor, and that those who despise God's word will later hunger for it but not find it.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes that these oppressors pretended to honor God by keeping the Sabbath and new moon festivals even as they used those days to cheat and buy people cheaply. They cared only about money and power and showed no real reverence for God.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley highlights how the merchants exploited the poor through debt and defective goods. They eagerly waited for holy days to end so they could sell again, then forced people who owed even a small debt, like for a pair of shoes, to sell themselves into slavery to pay it. They also sold spoiled or corrupted wares to the needy.