Amos 8:6 Meaning and Explanation
“That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?”
King James Version (KJV)
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Read Full Chapter →They buy the poor as slaves for trifling sums and sell even the worthless sweepings of the wheat.
What Does Amos 8:6 Mean?
The greed reaches its cruelest point: "that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes." A human being is purchased for the price of sandals, sold into servitude over a petty debt. People made in God's image are treated as merchandise, their lives weighed against pocket change. Nothing reveals a hardened heart more starkly than this.
"Yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat" completes the picture. Not content with cheating the price, they peddle the sweepings, the chaff and dirt left over, passing off garbage as grain. Every transaction is bent toward squeezing the helpless. The poor are robbed coming and going -- enslaved for a trifle, then fed the dregs. Amos lays this bare not as isolated misdeeds but as the daily practice of a people who have forgotten that the needy belong to God and that their cry rises to Him.
Frequently Asked Questions About Amos 8:6
What does Amos 8:6 mean?
They buy the poor as slaves for trifling sums and sell even the worthless sweepings of the wheat.