John Calvin 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)

The Prophet here assails the Israelites, to whom he had been sent, as we have said at the beginning. He now omits every reference to other nations, for his business was with the Israelites to whom he was especially appointed a teacher. But he wished to set before them, as in various mirrors, the judgment of God which awaited them, that he might the more effectively awaken them. He also wished to exhibit in the Jews themselves an example of the extreme vengeance of God, though there was greater purity among them, at least a purer religion, and more reverence for God still prevailed among them.

In this way, he prepared the Israelites, that they might not obstinately and proudly reject his doctrine. He now addresses them and says that they continued unmoved in their many sins. The import of the whole is this: if the Moabites, the Idumeans, the Tyrians, the Sidonians, and other nations, and if the Jews as well as these, were irreclaimable in their obstinacy, so that their diseases were incurable and their wickedness such as God could no longer endure, then the Israelites were also in the same condition. For they also continued perverse in their wickedness, provoked God, and did not repent, though God had waited long and exhorted them to repent.

It is now fitting for us to bear in mind what we have said before—that if impiety was so rampant in that age, and the contempt of God so prevailed that people could not be restored to a sound mind, and if iniquity everywhere overflowed (for Amos accuses not just a few people, but many nations), let us today beware, lest such corruptions prevail among us. For, certainly, the world is now much worse than it was then.

Indeed, since the Prophet says here that both the Israelites and the Jews were wholly irreclaimable in their obstinacy, there is no excuse for us today to deceive ourselves with an empty name because we have the symbol of faith, having been baptized. And if we have other marks which seem to belong to the Church of God, let us not think that we are therefore free from guilt if we allow ourselves that unruliness condemned here by the Prophet in both the Israelites and the Jews.

For they had become hardened against all instructions, against all warnings. Let these examples, then, rouse our attention, lest we, like them, harden ourselves so much as to compel the Lord to execute extreme vengeance on us.

Let us now especially observe what the Prophet charges Israel with. He begins with their cruel deeds, but the whole book is filled with reproofs; there is to the very end a continued accusation regarding those crimes which then prevailed among the people of Israel. He does not then point out only one particular crime, as with respect to the other nations, but he scrutinizes all the vices of which the people were guilty, as if he would thoroughly anatomize them. But these we shall notice in their proper order.

Now as to the first thing, the Prophet says that the just among the Israelites was sold for silver, indeed, for shoes. It may be asked, why does he not begin with those superstitions, in which they surpassed the Jews? For if God had resolved to destroy Jerusalem and his own temple because they had fallen away into superstitious and spurious modes of worship, how much more should such a judgment have been executed on the Israelites, since they had perverted the whole law, had become wholly degenerate, and even circumcision was nothing but a profanation of God’s covenant?

Why, then, does the Prophet not touch on this point? To this I answer—that since superstition had prevailed among them for many years, the Prophet does not make this his subject now. But we shall hereafter see that he has not spared these ungodly corruptions which had become rampant among the Israelites.

He indeed sharply arraigns all their superstitions, but he does this in its suitable place. It was now necessary to begin with common evils, and this was far more opportune than if he had at first spoken of superstitions, for they might have said that they did indeed worship God.

He therefore preferred condemning the Jews for alienating themselves from the pure commandments of God; and as for the Israelites, he here reproves their gross vices. But after charging them with cruelty, shameless rapacity, and many lusts, after exposing their filthy abominations, he then takes the occasion, as then being more suitable, to exclaim against superstitions. Our Prophet intentionally observed this order, as we shall see more fully from the connection of his discourse.

I now return to the words, that they sold the just for silver, and the poor for shoes. He means that there was neither justice nor equity among the Israelites, because they made a sale of the children of God; and it was a most shameful thing that there was no remedy for injuries.

For from this we no doubt learn that the Prophet directs his reproof against the judges who then exercised authority. The just, he says, is sold for silver: this could not apply to private individuals, but to judges, whose role it was to extend a helping hand to the miserable and the poor, to avenge wrongs, and to give to everyone what is rightfully theirs.

It is then the same as if the Prophet had said that unbridled licentiousness reigned triumphant among the Israelites, so that just men were exposed as prey and were put up for sale, so to speak. He says, first, that they were sold for silver, and then he adds for shoes: and this ought to be carefully observed, for once people begin to turn aside from the right course, they abandon themselves to evil without any shame.

When an attempt is first made to lead astray a man who is just and upright and free from corruption, he is not immediately overcome; though a great price may be offered to him, he will still stand firm. But when he has sold his integrity for ten pieces of gold, he may afterwards be easily bought, as is usually the case with women.

A woman, while she is pure, cannot be easily drawn away from her conjugal fidelity: she may still be corrupted by a great price; and when once corrupted, she will afterwards prostitute herself, so that she may be bought for a crust of bread. The same is the case with judges.

They, then, who at first covet silver, that is, who cannot be corrupted except by a rich and substantial bribe, will afterwards barter their integrity for the most insignificant reward, for there is no shame remaining in them any longer. This is what the Prophet points out in these words—That they sold the just for silver; that is, that they sold him for a high price, and then that they were corrupted by the most insignificant gift, so that if one offered them a pair of shoes, they would be ready without any blush of shame to receive such a bribe.

We now see the crime of which Amos accused the Israelites. They could not raise an objection here, which they might have done if he had touched their superstitions. He wished therefore to acquire authority by first reprobating their manifest and obvious crimes. He afterwards, as it has been stated, speaks in its proper place of that fictitious worship which they, after having rejected the Law of God, embraced.