That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes - i:e., that we may compel the needy for money, or any other thing of however little worth, to sell themselves to us as bondmen, in defiance of Leviticus 25:39; the very thing which brings down God's judgment (Amos 2:6, "For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes").
The poor, х daliym (H1800)] - literally, 'the afflicted.'
Yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat - which contains no nutriment, but which the poor eat at a low price, being unable to pay for flour.
The refuse - literally, the falling; what fell through the sieve, the bran, or the unfilled grain. With this they adulterated the meal which they sold.