The Meaning of Amos 8:6 Explained

Amos 8:6

KJV: That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?

YLT: To purchase with money the poor, And the needy for a pair of sandals, Yea, the refuse of the pure corn we sell.

Darby: that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; and that we may sell the refuse of the wheat.

ASV: that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the refuse of the wheat?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

That we may buy  the poor  for silver,  and the needy  for a pair of shoes;  [yea], and sell  the refuse  of the wheat? 

What does Amos 8:6 Mean?

Context Summary

Amos 8:1-14 - The Worst Famine Of All
What is more fragile than summer fruit! So beautiful, so refreshing, yet so readily corrupted and diseased. To Amos it was an emblem of the rapidity with which dissolution would overtake his rebellious nation. The end had arrived. The Great Husbandman could do no more. When the harvest has come, separation between good and bad is inevitable. See Isaiah 5:4; Matthew 13:30.
The crimes of the ruling class were enormous. Eager to increase their stores, they wearied of time given to religion. They grudged passing a day without opening their salesrooms. They did not scruple to make their measures (ephah) small, and to demand a greater weight of money (shekel) from their clients. These were crimes that could not be passed over. It is an awful sentence when God says, "I will never forget," Amos 8:7. Invasion would sweep the land like an inundation. Since the people would not heed the God-sent messengers, they would be withdrawn. There would be a famine of the Word of God, and those who had most despised it, because enamored with the fascinations of youth, would be smitten with an insatiable appetite for it. [source]

Chapter Summary: Amos 8

1  By a basket of summer fruit is shown the approach of Israel's end
4  Oppression is reproved
11  A famine of the word of God threatened

What do the individual words in Amos 8:6 mean?

that we may buy for silver the poor and the needy for a pair of sandals and Even bad the wheat sell
לִקְנ֤וֹת בַּכֶּ֙סֶף֙ דַּלִּ֔ים וְאֶבְי֖וֹן בַּעֲב֣וּר נַעֲלָ֑יִם וּמַפַּ֥ל בַּ֖ר ؟ נַשְׁבִּֽיר

לִקְנ֤וֹת  that  we  may  buy 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: קָנָה 
Sense: to get, acquire, create, buy, possess.
בַּכֶּ֙סֶף֙  for  silver 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: כֶּסֶף  
Sense: silver, money.
דַּלִּ֔ים  the  poor 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural construct
Root: דַּל  
Sense: low, poor, weak, thin, one who is low.
וְאֶבְי֖וֹן  and  the  needy 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adjective, masculine singular
Root: אֶבְיׄון  
Sense: in want, needy, chiefly poor, needy person.
נַעֲלָ֑יִם  a  pair  of  sandals 
Parse: Noun, fd
Root: נַעַל  
Sense: sandal, shoe.
וּמַפַּ֥ל  and  Even  bad 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מַפָּל  
Sense: refuse, hanging parts.
בַּ֖ר  the  wheat 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: בַּר 
Sense: corn, grain.
؟ נַשְׁבִּֽיר  sell 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, first person common plural
Root: שָׁבַר  
Sense: to buy or purchase grain.