A dramatic shift occurs as the prophetic warning turns its focus directly toward the Kingdom of Israel. God declares that although the people have committed three terribly severe sins—idolatry, sexual immorality, and bloodshed—their ultimate doom and exile are not sealed by these acts alone. Instead, the final punishment, the breaking point where God no longer holds back His anger, is triggered by a fourth offense: systemic robbery, oppression, and social corruption. This mirrors the generation of the Flood, whose fate was ultimately sealed by their theft and violence [רד״ק, מלבי״ם]. The severity of this judgment lies in the nature of communal sin. While God is patient with an individual up to three times, when an entire society commits its fourth major offense, strict justice strikes without delay [חומת אנך, אהבת יהונתן].
The primary approach among commentators is that this heavy criticism is aimed squarely at a corrupt legal system and its judges. Those who are victimized are not necessarily religious saints, but rather ordinary people who are innocent and legally in the right during a court dispute [אבן עזרא, רד״ק]. Corrupt judges accept bribes from guilty parties and twist verdicts against the innocent. This betrayal is viewed as if the judges have literally sold the innocent for money [אבן עזרא], an act that sometimes even leads to the innocent being executed based on the testimony of false witnesses [מלבי״ם]. Ultimately, this is a broad condemnation of the widespread social injustices committed against the masses of poor people in the Kingdom of Israel, rather than a reference to any single individual [אברבנאל].
The depth of this corruption becomes even more apparent in the way the needy are discarded for the equivalent of basic footwear. One perspective explains that the legal system is so thoroughly rotten that judges are willing to ruin a poor person's life for a painfully small bribe, something as cheap and insignificant as a simple pair of shoes [מצודת דוד, מלבי״ם, אברבנאל, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Another view connects the concept of footwear to the idea of locking or enclosing an area. In this scenario, a corrupt judge covets a poor man's field that happens to sit right between the judge's own properties. The judge deliberately rules against the poor man in court, driving him into debt. The poor man is then forced to sell his land to the judge for almost nothing, allowing the corrupt official to effectively lock and fence his newly expanded estate into one continuous property [רש״י, רד״ק, צאינה וראינה]. A third explanation links this to an ancient legal custom where property was officially acquired by handing over a shoe. The judges abuse their power to legally force the poor to hand over their land in a formal, binding transaction [רד״ק, צאינה וראינה].
Beyond the immediate social critique, an additional historical layer connects these events to the story of Joseph. In this view, the innocent person sold for silver is actually Joseph, who was betrayed by his own brothers. The detail of footwear in this historical context highlights his deep humiliation as he was forced into slavery. In those days, slaves were forbidden from wearing shoes, as footwear was a symbol of free people. Selling him for the price of shoes was a calculated move to prove that his brothers were the true masters, while he had been reduced to a mere slave [חומת אנך, אהבת יהונתן].