Amos 8:6-9:6 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 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 (Luke 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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 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 ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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 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 more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 8:6

Verse 6 Here still he speaks of the avarice of the rich, who in time of scarcity held the poor subject to themselves and reduced them to slavery. He had spoken before of the Sabbaths, and he had spoken of deceitful balances; he now adds another kind of fraud, — that by selling the refuse of wheat, they bought for themselves the poor. We indeed know what is the influence of poverty and pressing want, when men are oppressed with famine; they would rather a hundred times sell their life, than not... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 8:1-14

§ 5. In the fourth vision, the basket of summer fruit, the Lord shows that the people is ripe for judgment. Explaining this revelation, Amos denounces the oppression and greed of the chieftains (verses 4-10), and warns them that those who despise the Word of God shall some day suffer from a famine of the Word (verses 11-14). read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 8:4-6

The covetous man's way. Punishment, however stern, is proportioned rigidly to sin. They answer to each other as face to face. From the contemplation of Israel's deplorable fate we turn to the horrors of her crime. And they are dark beyond exaggerating. To idolatry, dethroning God and robbing him of his glory, is added covetousness defrauding and destroying men. Indeed, the one is but a department of the other. The worst type of mammon worshipper, the covetous, is an idolater in a very real... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 8:4-6

Covetousness. It was not for heterodoxy in theology, it was not for remissness in ritual, that Amos chiefly reproached the Israelites. It was for injustice, violence, and robbery; it was for seeking their own wealth and luxury at the expense of the sufferings of the poor. Avarice, or undue love of worldly possessions, is a serious vice; covetousness, or the desiring to enrich self at the cost of neighbours, is something very near a crime, for to crime it too often leads. I. THE ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 8:4-10

Avarice. "Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land. to fail," etc. The prophet here resumes his denunciatory discourse to the avaricious oppressors of the people. The verses may be taken as God's homily to greedy men. "Hear this." Hush! pay attention to what I am going to say. Listen, "ye that swallow up the needy." The words suggest three remarks concerning avarice. I. IT IS EXECRABLE IN ITS SPIRIT . 1 . It is sacrilegious. "When... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 8:6

Buy the poor for silver (comp. Amos 2:6 ). The probable meaning is that they so reduced the poor marl by their exactions and injustice, that he was compelled to pay his debt by selling himself into slavery (Le 25:39; Deuteronomy 15:12 ). For a pair of shoes. For the smallest debt they would deal in this harsh manner. The refuse; literally, that which fell through the sieve ; Septuagint, ἀπὸ παντὸς γεννήματος ἐμπορευσόμεθα , "We will trade in every kind of produce;"... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Amos 8:6

That 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 that such was a real price for man.And... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Amos 8:4-10

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Amos 8:6

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 8:6

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 8:6

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 8:1-14

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 8:4-6

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 8:4-6

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 8:4-10

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 8:6

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Amos 8:6

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