Bible Strands
Amos 2:7
They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the earth; they push the needy out of their way. A man and his father have relations with the same girl and so profane My holy name.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks through the prophet Amos to Israel, pronouncing judgment for their repeated transgressions. This declaration follows the indictment of selling the righteous for silver and precedes the description of profaning altars with pledged garments.
The words — הַשּׁוֹאֲפִים (ha./sho'a.Fim) translates literally to "those who trample," describing the violent oppression of the דַלִּים (da.Lim), or "poor." This imagery of crushing the needy into the עֲפַר אֶרֶץ ('a.far 'e.retz), or "dust of the earth," emphasizes total physical degradation.
The thread — The condemnation of oppressing the poor and needy runs through Amos 5:12 regarding bribery and withheld justice, Isaiah 10:2 regarding the deprivation of the oppressed, and Ezekiel 22:11 regarding sexual immorality and the profaning of sacred boundaries.
Why it lands — The text states that economic exploitation and sexual immorality directly profane God's holy name. It requires readers to acknowledge that systemic injustice and religious hypocrisy operate together under divine judgment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name:
Cross-references
- Amos 5:12 For I know that your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous. You oppress the righteous by taking bribes; you deprive the poor of justice in the gate.
- Isaiah 10:2 to deprive the poor of fair treatment and withhold justice from the oppressed of My people, to make widows their prey and orphans their plunder.
- Ezekiel 22:11 One man commits an abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another wickedly defiles his daughter-in-law; and yet another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter.
- Micah 2:2 They covet fields and seize them; they take away houses. They deprive a man of his home, a fellow man of his inheritance.
- Micah 2:9 You drive the women of My people from their pleasant homes. You take away My blessing from their children forever.
- 1 Corinthians 5:1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.
- Leviticus 18:8 You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; it would dishonor your father.
- Leviticus 18:15 You must not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; you are not to have sexual relations with her.
- Leviticus 20:3 And I will set My face against that man and cut him off from his people, because by giving his offspring to Molech, he has defiled My sanctuary and profaned My holy name.
- 2 Samuel 12:14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have shown utter contempt for the word of the LORD, the son born to you will surely die.”