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that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
Verse Takeaways
1
Greed Dehumanizes People
Commentators emphasize that the merchants' goal was not just profit, but the complete subjugation of the poor. By seeking to buy people for a trivial price like "a pair of shoes," they showed utter contempt for human life, which is made in God's image. Their greed led them to view the poor not as neighbors, but as commodities to be acquired.
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Book Overview
Amos
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5
18th Century
Presbyterian
That we may buy - Or, indignantly, “To buy the poor!” literally, “the afflicted,” those in “low” estate. First, by dishonesty and oppression…
19th Century
Anglican
On this perverse straining of the Law, compare to Amos 2:6. Their money-making propensity was carried to such unscrupulous lengths, that they even …
16th Century
Protestant
Here he still speaks of the avarice of the rich, who in times of scarcity kept the poor in subjection to themselves and reduced them to slavery. He…
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17th Century
Reformed Baptist
That we may buy the poor for silver Thus making them pay dear for their provisions, and using them in this fraudulen…
The rich and powerful of the land were the most guilty of oppression, as well as the foremost in idolatry. They were weary of the restraints of the…
