Charles Ellicott Commentary Amos 2:8

"and they lay themselves down beside every altar upon clothes taken in pledge; and in the house of their God they drink the wine of such as have been fined." — Amos 2:8 (ASV)

Rapacity and cruelty follow pride, selfishness, and lust. Compare this verse with the provisions of the Mosaic law (Exodus 22:25).

Render it: And upon garments received in pledge they stretch themselves, and for “condemned,” adopt the marginal translation fined. The money that had been wrung from those who could not pay, or, who have been sold into slavery, is spent in rioting and feasting.

The Septuagint read this passage very differently, but the Masoretic text is justified by the translations of the Targum, Aquila, Symmachus, and Jerome.

In the house of their god. This phrase probably refers here, as in the previous verse, to the high places of syncretic, or heathenish, Jehovah worship. “They drank the wine of those who were fined. Where? ‘In the house of their God.’ What hardheartedness to the willfully forgotten poor is compensated by a little church-going!” (Pusey.)