8:4 Listen to this, you who trample 1 the needy,
and do away with 2 the destitute in the land.
8:5 You say,
“When will the new moon festival 3 be over, 4 so we can sell grain?
When will the Sabbath end, 5 so we can open up the grain bins? 6
We’re eager 7 to sell less for a higher price, 8
and to cheat the buyer with rigged scales! 9
8:6 We’re eager to trade silver for the poor, 10
a pair of sandals 11 for the needy!
We want to mix in some chaff with the grain!” 12
1 tn See the note on the word “trample” in 2:7.
2 tn Or “put an end to”; or “exterminate.”
3 sn Apparently work was prohibited during the new moon festival, just as it was on the Sabbath.
4 tn Heb “pass by.”
5 tn The verb, though omitted in the Hebrew text, is supplied in the translation from the parallel line.
6 tn Heb “sell grain.” Here “grain” could stand by metonymy for the bins where it was stored.
7 tn Here and in v. 6 the words “we’re eager” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
8 tn Heb “to make small the ephah and to make great the shekel.” The “ephah” was a unit of dry measure used to determine the quantity purchased, while the “shekel” was a standard weight used to determine the purchase price. By using a smaller than standard ephah and a heavier than standard shekel, these merchants were able to increase their profit (“sell less for a higher price”) by cheating the buyer.
9 tn Heb “and to cheat with deceptive scales”; NASB, NIV “dishonest scales”; NRSV “false balances.”
10 tn Heb “to buy the poor for silver.”
11 tn See the note on the word “sandals” in 2:6.
12 tn Heb “The chaff of the grain we will sell.”