Charles Ellicott Commentary Amos 2:6

"Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Israel, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes-" — Amos 2:6 (ASV)

CURSE ON ISRAEL.

Transgressions of Israel. The storm of Divine threatening which had swept over the whole political horizon gathers, at last, over Israel. The sins and ingratitude of the people are aggravated by a recital of the Divine Mercy. By comparing this verse with Amos 8:6, it is clear that the Jewish interpreters (followed by Keil) were incorrect in attributing this sin to corrupt judges, who, by bribery, would deliver unjust judgments against the righteous.

The sin consists in the perverse straining of the law, which allowed an insolvent debtor to sell himself into bondage to redeem a debt (compare 2 Kings 4:1). In this case, the debtor was a righteous man in dire straits through no fault of his own. This should be translated as: on account of a pair of sandals. A paltry debt, equivalent in value to a pair of sandals, would not save him from bondage at the hands of an oppressive ruler (see Introduction).