Amos 2:6. They sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes.
See also Amos 8:6.
Neal may be rendered either “shoe” or “sandal.” From the form of expression here used the meanest, cheapest kind of sandal is evidently meant the poor debtor was sold into slavery because he could not pay for so small a matter as a pair of sandals. A similar mode of speech is noticed in India at the present day. “When a person wishes to insult another in reference to the price of any article he says, ‘I will give you my sandals for it.’ ‘That fellow is not worth the value of my sandals.’” (Roberts, Oriental illustrations, p. 504).
See further note on Matthew 3:11 (#633); and for a description of sandals, see note on Acts 12:8 (#832).