EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Amos 8:6
6When poor people cannot pay their debts, you buy them as your slaves. You pay a silver coin to buy them, which would not even buy a pair of shoes. You also mix dust with the grain that you sell.
Amos 8:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
- New International Version (NIV)buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat.
- English Standard Version (ESV)that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?"
- New King James Version (NKJV)That we may buy the poor for silver, And the needy for a pair of sandals— Even sell the bad wheat?”
Context of Amos 8:6
4So listen to me, you who are cruel to helpless people. You try to destroy people who are poor and weak. 5You say to yourselves, ‘We want the new moon festival to finish so that we can sell food again. We want our Sabbath day of rest to finish so that we can sell grain.’ But when you sell things, you cheat the people who buy from you. You deceive them with false weights, and you make the price too high. When poor people cannot pay their debts, you buy them as your slaves. You pay a silver coin to buy them, which would not even buy a pair of shoes. You also mix dust with the grain that you sell. 7The Lord has promised this: ‘You proud descendants of Jacob, I will never forget the wrong things that you have done. 8The whole country will shake because of your sins. Everyone who lives there will weep. The ground will rise up, like the floods of the Nile river in Egypt. Then it will go down again, like the water of the Nile.’
Read all of Amos 8Amos 8:6 word by word
לִקְנ֤וֹת בַּכֶּ֙סֶף֙ דַּלִּ֔ים וְאֶבְי֖וֹן בַּעֲב֣וּר נַעֲלָ֑יִם וּמַפַּ֥ל בַּ֖ר נַשְׁבִּֽיר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- That we may buyקָנָהqânâh · to buyH7069
- the poorדַּלdal · poorH1800
- for silverכֶּ֫סֶףkeseph · silver: moneyH3701
- and the needyאֶבְיוֹן'ebyôn · needyH34
- for a pair of shoesנַ֫עַלna‛al na‛ălâh · sandalH5275
- and sellשָׁבַרshâbar · to buy grainH7666
- the refuseמַפָּלmappâl · refuseH4651
- of the wheatבַּרbâr bar · grainH1250
Cross-references for Amos 8:6
- Amos 8:4So listen to me, you who are cruel to helpless people. You try to destroy people who are poor and weak.
- Amos 2:6The Lord says, ‘The people in Israel have done more and more wrong things. So I will certainly punish them. They sold people that did not do wrong things. They sold them for silver. And they sold poor people for only the price of shoes.
- Leviticus 25:39If an Israelite becomes poor, he might sell himself to you. But he must not work for you as a slave. You must pay him to work as your servant.
- Nehemiah 5:1Some men and their wives were upset, because of the things that some other Jews were doing.
- Joel 3:3They played games to win my people. They gave boys to buy women to have sex with them. They sold girls so that they could get wine to drink.
Commentaries on Amos 8:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6That 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 Amos 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.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6That we may buy - Or, indignantly, “To buy the poor!” literally, “the afflicted,” those in “low” estate. First, by dishonesty and oppression they gained their lands and goods. Then the poor were obliged to sell themselves. The slight price, for which a man was sold, showed the more contempt for “the image of God.” Before, he said, “the needy” were “sold for a pair of sandals” Amos 2:6; here, that they were bought for them. It seems then the more likely…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-10Verses 4-10 The rich and powerful of the land were the most guilty of oppression, as well as the foremost in idolatry. They were weary of the restraints of the sabbaths and the new moons, and wished them over, because no common work might be done therein. This is the character of many who are called Christians. The sabbath day and sabbath work are a burden to carnal hearts. It will either be profaned or be accounted a dull day. But can we spend our time…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4-14This section provides more details on the accusations and decisions mentioned earlier (read with Amos 2:6–6:14).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. 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 Le 25:39; the very thing which brings down God's judgment (Am 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.Read the comment
Topics related to Amos 8:6
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Amos 8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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