Amos 2:6-7

God Will Judge Israel

2:6 This is what the Lord says:

“Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions ¹  –

make that four! ²  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ³ 

They sold the innocent ⁴  for silver,

the needy for a pair of sandals. ⁵ 

2:7 They trample ⁶  on the dirt-covered heads of the poor; ⁷ 

they push the destitute away. ⁸ 

A man and his father go to the same girl; ⁹ 

in this way they show disrespect ¹⁰  for my moral purity. ¹¹ 

Amos 2:16

2:16 Bravehearted ¹²  warriors will run away naked in that day.”

The Lord is speaking!

Acts 3:13-14

3:13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ¹³  the God of our forefathers, ¹⁴  has glorified ¹⁵  his servant ¹⁶  Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected ¹⁷  in the presence of Pilate after he had decided ¹⁸  to release him. 3:14 But you rejected ¹⁹  the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a man who was a murderer be released to you.

Acts 7:52

7:52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors ²⁰  not persecute? ²¹  They ²²  killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, ²³  whose betrayers and murderers you have now become! ²⁴ 

James 5:4

5:4 Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

James 5:6

5:6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person, although he does not resist you. ²⁵ 

[2:6]  ¹ tn For this translation see the note at 2:4.

[2:6]  ² tn Heb “Because of three violations of Israel, even because of four.”

[2:6]  ³ tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.

[2:6]  ⁴ tn Or “honest” (CEV, NLT). The Hebrew word sometimes has a moral-ethical connotation, “righteous, godly,” but the parallelism (note “poor”) suggests a socio-economic or legal sense here. The practice of selling debtors as slaves is in view (Exod 21:2-11; Lev 25:35-55; Deut 15:12-18) See the note at Exod 21:8 and G. C. Chirichigno, Debt-Slavery in Israel and the Ancient Near East (JSOTSup). Probably the only “crime” the victim had committed was being unable to pay back a loan or an exorbitant interest rate on a loan. Some have suggested that this verse refers to bribery in legal proceedings: The innocent are “sold” in the sense that those in power pay off the elders or judges for favorable decisions (5:12; cf. Exod 23:6-7).

[2:6]  ⁵ tn Perhaps the expression “for a pair of sandals” indicates a relatively small price or debt. Some suggest that the sandals may have been an outward token of a more substantial purchase price. Others relate the sandals to a ritual attached to the transfer of property, signifying here that the poor would be losing their inherited family lands because of debt (Ruth 4:7; cf. Deut 25:8-10). Still others emend the Hebrew form slightly to נֶעְלָם (ne’lam, “hidden thing”; from the root עָלַם, ’alam, “to hide”) and understand this as referring to a bribe.

[2:7]  ⁶ tn Most scholars now understand this verb as derived from the root II שָׁאַף (sha’af, “to crush; to trample”), an alternate form of שׁוּף (shuf), rather than from I שָׁאַף (sha’af, “to pant, to gasp”; cf. KJV, ASV, NASB).

[2:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “those who stomp on the dirt of the ground on the head of the poor.” It is possible to render the line as “they trample the heads of the poor into the dust of the ground,” thereby communicating that the poor are being stepped on in utter contempt (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 79-80). The participial form הַשֹּׁאֲפִים (hasho’afim) is substantival and stands in apposition to the pronominal suffix on מִכְרָם (mikhram, v. 6b).

[2:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “they turn aside the way of the destitute.” Many interpreters take “way” to mean “just cause” and understand this as a direct reference to the rights of the destitute being ignored. The injustice done to the poor is certainly in view, but the statement is better taken as a word picture depicting the powerful rich pushing the “way of the poor” (i.e., their attempt to be treated justly) to the side. An even more vivid picture is given in Amos 5:12, where the rich are pictured as turning the poor away from the city gate (where legal decisions were made, and therefore where justice should be done).

[2:7]  ⁹ sn Most interpreters see some type of sexual immorality here (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT), even though the Hebrew phrase הָלַךְ אֶל (halakh ’el, “go to”) never refers elsewhere to sexual intercourse. (The usual idiom is בוֹא אֶל [bo’ ’el]. However, S. M. Paul (Amos [Hermeneia], 82) attempts to develop a linguistic case for a sexual connotation here.) The precise identification of the “girl” in question is not clear. Some see the referent as a cultic prostitute (cf. NAB; v. 8 suggests a cultic setting), but the term נַעֲרָה (na’arah) nowhere else refers to a prostitute. Because of the contextual emphasis on social oppression, some suggest the exploitation of a slave girl is in view. H. Barstad argues that the “girl” is the hostess at a pagan מַרְזֵחַ (marzeakh) banquet (described at some length in 6:4-7). In his view the sin described here is not sexual immorality, but idolatry (see H. Barstad, The Religious Polemics of Amos [VTSup], 33-36). In this case, one might translate, “Father and son go together to a pagan banquet.” In light of this cultic context, F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman argue that this is a reference to a specific female deity (“the Girl”) and correlate this verse with 8:14 (Amos [AB], 318-19).

[2:7]  ¹⁰ tn Or “pollute”; “desecrate”; “dishonor.”

[2:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “my holy name.” Here “name” is used metonymically for God’s moral character or reputation, while “holy” has a moral and ethical connotation.

[2:16]  ¹² tn Or “the most stouthearted” (NAB); NRSV “those who are stout of heart.”

[3:13]  ¹³ tc ‡ The repetition of ὁ θεός (Jo qeos, “God”) before the names of Isaac and Jacob is found in Ì⁷⁴ א C (A D without article) 36 104 1175 pc lat. The omission of the second and third ὁ θεός is supported by B E Ψ 33 1739 Ï pc. The other time that Exod 3:6 is quoted in Acts (7:32) the best witnesses also lack the repeated ὁ θεός, but the three other times this OT passage is quoted in the NT the full form, with the thrice-mentioned θεός, is used (Matt 22:32; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37). Scribes would be prone to conform the wording here to the LXX; the longer reading is thus most likely not authentic. NA²⁷ has the words in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity.

[3:13]  ¹⁴ tn Or “ancestors”; Grk “fathers.”

[3:13]  ¹⁵ sn Has glorified. Jesus is alive, raised and active, as the healing illustrates so dramatically how God honors him.

[3:13]  ¹⁶ sn His servant. The term servant has messianic connotations given the context of the promise, the note of suffering, and the titles and functions noted in vv. 14-15.

[3:13]  ¹⁷ tn Or “denied,” “disowned.”

[3:13]  ¹⁸ tn This genitive absolute construction could be understood as temporal (“when he had decided”) or concessive (“although he had decided”).

[3:14]  ¹⁹ tn Or “denied,” “disowned.”

[7:52]  ²⁰ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:52]  ²¹ sn Which…persecute. The rhetorical question suggests they persecuted them all.

[7:52]  ²² tn Grk “And they.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[7:52]  ²³ sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ.

[7:52]  ²⁴ sn Whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. The harsh critique has OT precedent (1 Kgs 19:10-14; Neh 9:26; 2 Chr 36:16).

[5:6]  ²⁵ tn Literally a series of verbs without connectives, “you have condemned, you have murdered…he does not resist.”