Amos: a root text for social justice

Part 3: Establish justice in the gate

Amos' description of injustice


What kind of social injustice does Amos condemn?  Here are most
of the passages, other than the one already quoted, in 
which he describes exactly what people are doing wrong:

They recline by every altar
On garments taken in pledge,
And drink in the House of their God
Wine bought with fines they imposed

[...]

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan
On the hill of Samaria--
Who defraud the poor,
Who rob the needy;
Who say to your husbands,
"Bring, and let's carouse!"

[...]

They hate the arbiter in the gate
And detest him whose plea is just.
Assuredly,
Because you impose a tax on the poor
And exact from him a levy of grain,
You have built houses of hewn stone,
But you shall not live in them;
You have planted delightful vineyards,
But shall not drink their wine.
For I have noted how many are your crimes,
And how countless your sins--
You enemies of the righteous,
You takers of bribes,
You who subvert in the gate
The cause of the needy!

[...]

Hate evil and love good
And establish justice in the gate;
Perhaps the Lord, the God of Hosts,
Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

[...]

Listen to this, you who devour the needy, annihilating the poor
of the land, saying, "If only the new moon were over, so that 
we could sell grain: the sabbath, so that we could offer wheat 
for sale, using an ephah [measure] that is too small, and a shekel that
is too big; tilting a dishonest scale, and selling grain refuse 
as grain!  We will buy the poor for silver, the needy for a
pair of sandals." 


Almost all of the passages are followed by a promise of deadly
consequences.  We'll look at that in the next section.  For now,
let's look at the commonality of the injustices that Amos speaks 
against.  Also, note that there is no equivalent for the phrase 
"social justice", nor does Amos really talk about how people 
can do good; it is the concern with specific kinds of injustices 
that has led to our concept of social justice.

The commonly condemned evildoers are cheaters, profiteers, corrupt 
and grasping rulers, in short all those who use their position of 
power to treat the poor unfairly, and who take the necessities of life 
from them so that they might be rich.  But the single most often mentioned
complaint is that of injustice "in the gate".  The city gate was the site
of most public activity, where the elders of the community could be found.
They acted as judges because of their knowledge of customary law.  So
the "gate" is most closely translated as the law court, and Amos is
speaking of legal justice and equality before the law.

Amos makes no distinction between what we'd call "private" injustice
(the sellers of grain who use measures that are too small) and 
governmental injustice (the unjust taxes and bribe-taking judges).
Both are seen as part of a common oppression of the poor by the rich.

This conception of social justice seems highly concerned with fairness
of process, not fairness of distribution of wealth.  In other words, 
Amos seems to beleive that if the rich were "fair" with the poor, then 
the poor could get what they need on their own.  There is no explicit 
mention of wealth redistribution or land reform, and there certainly is 
no call for charity.  But Amos probably viewed the uncorrupted laws of the
people as ensuring each family their own inheritance of land, enough 
to meet their needs.  The laws that were, at least in theory, supposed
to be followed included the forgiving of debts every seven years and the
return of ancestral famaly lands in the "Jubilee Year" every 49 years.
In effect, the prophets seemed to beleive that the farming land, the 
source of wealth, had once been fairly distributed, and that it was 
being taken from those who should rightly have it and concentrated in 
a few hands. 

Also note that there is no trace of condescension towards the poor.
Amos never suggests that the poor "need help" or some such phrase.
And the idea of "spending money on social justice" or "volunteering
for social justice work" would be alien to Amos' conception.  A later
section will deal with Amos' view of hypocrites and token actions.

Finally, the framework of Amos' attacks on injustice, and their emphasis
on fairness, leads directly to the liberal conception of social justice
as being equal rights for all within society, including those treated
unfairly because of race, ethnicity, or other reasons.  Amos only mentions
the poor, but it is easy to see how the ideas and even phrases from this
book were used much later in other causes, such as the U.S. Civil
Rights movement.

The next section will look at the consequences of injustice.