Bible Strands
Amos 8:4
Hear this, you who trample the needy, who do away with the poor of the land,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Amos speaks on behalf of the Lord GOD to the merchant class of Israel while temple worship continues amid systemic economic abuse. The declaration occurs at a turning point where religious ritual is about to be replaced by divine judgment.
The words — The Hebrew שִׁמְעוּ (shim‘u) issues a direct command to "hear," while הַשֹּׁאֲפִים (haššōʾăpîm) literally means "those who trample" or "draw out," targeting אֶבְי֑וֹן ('ebyôn) "the needy" and עֲנִיֵּי (‘ănîyyê) "the afflicted" of אָֽרֶץ ('ereṣ) "the land." The phrase לַשְׁבִּית (laššəḇîṯ) explicitly means "to put an end to" their livelihood.
The thread — This indictment of economic exploitation runs parallel to Amos 5:11, which condemns trampling the poor and exacting grain taxes, Psalms 14:4, which describes workers of iniquity devouring God's people, and Proverbs 30:14, which portrays a generation whose jaws consume the oppressed from the earth.
Why it lands — The text states that those in power are actively crushing vulnerable populations to profit, directly linking their commercial practices to divine condemnation. It requires readers to recognize that economic violence is not a private matter but a public indictment that nullifies religious observance.
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
Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
Cross-references
- Proverbs 30:14 there is a generation whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are knives, devouring the oppressed from the earth and the needy from among men.
- Psalms 14:4 Will the workers of iniquity never learn? They devour my people like bread; they refuse to call upon the LORD.
- Amos 5:11 Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted.
- Isaiah 32:6 For a fool speaks foolishness; his mind plots iniquity. He practices ungodliness and speaks falsely about the LORD; he leaves the hungry empty and deprives the thirsty of drink.
- Psalms 12:5 “For the cause of the oppressed and for the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”
- Psalms 140:12 I know that the LORD upholds justice for the poor and defends the cause of the needy.
- Amos 2:6 This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Israel, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals.
- Matthew 23:13 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.
- James 5:6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous, who did not resist you.
- 1 Kings 22:19 Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left.