Not all the sins that Amos identified appear in verses 6-8; two more appear in verse 12. Amos named seven sins of Israel all together rather than just one, as in the previous oracles, though he continued to use the "for three transgressions and for four"formula. Seven seems to be the full measure of Israel's sin. The idea of "the straw that broke the camel's back"carries over from the first seven oracles into the eighth with double force.
2:6 Israel's first sin was that the Israelites took advantage of righteous, needy people for their own personal, material advantage and sold them into slavery, perhaps into debt (cf. 2 Kings 4:1-7). They sold, for the price of what they owed, honest people who would have repaid their debts if given the opportunity. They would even sell into slavery someone who could not pay the small price of a pair of sandals. Another interpretation is that they would take as a bribe as little as what a pair of sandals cost. The Israelites should have been generous and openhanded toward the poor (Deut. 15:7-11). Sin often results in the devaluation of human life.
2:7 Second, the Israelites were perverting the legal system to exploit the poor. The courts were siding with creditors against their debtors; they were "stepping on"the poor. This was as painful and humiliating as having one trample on one's head as it lay in the dust. The oppressors longed to see the poor reduced to extreme anguish. They may have been so greedy that they craved even the dust that the poor threw on their heads in mourning. The Mosaic Covenant called for justice in Israel's courts (Exod. 23:4; Deut. 16:19).
Third, fathers and sons were having sexual intercourse with the same woman. The women in view may be temple prostitutes, servant girls taken as concubines, or female relatives (cf. Exod. 21:7-11; Lev. 18:8, 15). This showed contempt for Yahweh's holy character (cf. Exod. 3:13-15). The Law forbade fornication, including incest (Lev. 18:6-18; 20:11, 17-21).
2:8 Fourth, the Israelites failed to return garments taken as collateral for debts owed them. The Law specified that the Israelites could take a garment as a pledge, except the garment of a widow (Deut. 24:17), but they were to return it to the owner before nightfall (Exod. 22:26-27; Deut. 24:10-13; cf. Deut. 24:6; Job 22:6). The Israelites were even taking these garments with them and displaying them at the public feasts honoring whatever god they worshipped.
Fifth, the Israelites had worshipped other gods (cf. v. 4). They were using the wine that they had received as fines, or had extracted from the poor, to honor heathen gods. The proper course of action would have been to drink wine that the worshipper had paid for himself or present it in worship of the true God.
