Amos 8:6
Konteks8:6 We’re eager to trade silver for the poor, 1
a pair of sandals 2 for the needy!
We want to mix in some chaff with the grain!” 3
Amos 2:6
Konteks2:6 This is what the Lord says:
“Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions 4 –
make that four! 5 – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. 6
They sold the innocent 7 for silver,
the needy for a pair of sandals. 8
[8:6] 1 tn Heb “to buy the poor for silver.”
[8:6] sn The expression trade silver for the poor refers to the slave trade.
[8:6] 2 tn See the note on the word “sandals” in 2:6.
[8:6] 3 tn Heb “The chaff of the grain we will sell.”
[2:6] 4 tn For this translation see the note at 2:4.
[2:6] 5 tn Heb “Because of three violations of Israel, even because of four.”
[2:6] sn On the three…four style that introduces each of the judgment oracles of chaps. 1-2 see the note on the word “four” in 1:3. Only in this last oracle against Israel does one find the list of four specific violations expected based on the use of a similar formula elsewhere in wisdom literature (see Prov 30:18-19, 29-31). This adaptation of the normal pattern indicates the
[2:6] 6 tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.
[2:6] 7 tn Or “honest” (CEV, NLT). The Hebrew word sometimes has a moral-ethical connotation, “righteous, godly,” but the parallelism (note “poor”) suggests a socio-economic or legal sense here. The practice of selling debtors as slaves is in view (Exod 21:2-11; Lev 25:35-55; Deut 15:12-18) See the note at Exod 21:8 and G. C. Chirichigno, Debt-Slavery in Israel and the Ancient Near East (JSOTSup). Probably the only “crime” the victim had committed was being unable to pay back a loan or an exorbitant interest rate on a loan. Some have suggested that this verse refers to bribery in legal proceedings: The innocent are “sold” in the sense that those in power pay off the elders or judges for favorable decisions (5:12; cf. Exod 23:6-7).
[2:6] 8 tn Perhaps the expression “for a pair of sandals” indicates a relatively small price or debt. Some suggest that the sandals may have been an outward token of a more substantial purchase price. Others relate the sandals to a ritual attached to the transfer of property, signifying here that the poor would be losing their inherited family lands because of debt (Ruth 4:7; cf. Deut 25:8-10). Still others emend the Hebrew form slightly to נֶעְלָם (ne’lam, “hidden thing”; from the root עָלַם, ’alam, “to hide”) and understand this as referring to a bribe.