It is probable that in this verse also, the judges are reproved by the Prophet, though what is here said may be extended to the whole people: but as nearly the whole discourse is leveled against the judges, I readily subscribe to the opinion, that the Prophet now accuses the judges on this account, -- because they could not bear to be reproved for the great license they allowed themselves, but, on the contrary, abhorred all those who reproved them. What then he says as to the reprover being hated in the gate, is to be thus explained: When judges sat in the gate and perverted justice and right, and when any one reminded them of their duty, they haughtily rejected all admonitions, and even hated them. In the gate then, that is, They who ought to rule others, and to correct whatever vice there may be among the people, cannot themselves bear any reprover, when their own vices require strong remedies. And well would it be, if this disease were healed at this day. We indeed see that kings, and those in authority, wish to be deemed sacred, and they will allow no reproof. Instantly the majesty of God is violated in their person; for they complain and cry out, whenever teachers and God's servants dare to denude their wicked conduct. This vice then, which the Prophet condemns, is not the vice of one time; for, even in the present day, those who occupy the seats of judgment wish to be exempt from all reproofs, and would claim for themselves a free liberty in sinning, inasmuch as they think not that they belong to the common class of men, and imagine themselves exempt from all reprehension; in short, they wish to rule without any equity, for power with them is nothing but unbridled licentiousness. We now understand the Prophet's meaning. It now follows --

They hate him that rebuketh - "The gate" is the well-known place of concourse, where just or, in Israel now, unjust judgment was given Deuteronomy 25:7; Job 5:4; Job 31:21; 2-Samuel 15:2; Proverbs 22:22; Isaiah 29:21, where all was done which was to be done publicly Ruth 4:1, Ruth 4:11. Samaria had a large area by its chief gate, where two kings could hold court, and the 400 false prophets and the people, in great numbers, could gather 1-Kings 22:10; 2-Chronicles 18:9, and a market could be held 2-Kings 7:1. Josiah brake down an idol-shrine, which was in one of the gates of Jerusalem 2-Kings 23:8. The prophets seized the opportunity of finding the people together, and preached to them there. So it was even in the days of Solomon. "Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets; she crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates, in the city she uttereth her words, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity?..." Proverbs 1:20-22, and again, "She standeth in the top of high places, by the way, in the meeting of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors; Unto you, O men, I call, "Proverbs 8:2-4. Jeremiah mentions two occasions, upon which God bade him reprove the king and people in the gates of Jerusalem Jeremiah 17:19; Jeremiah 19:2. There doubtless Amos and Hosea reproved them, and, for reproving, were "hated." As Isaiah says, "they lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate" Isaiah 29:21. They sinned publicly, and therefore they were to be rebuked publicly. They sinned "in the gate" by injustice and oppression, and therefore were to be "rebuked before all, that others also might fear" 1-Timothy 5:20.
And they abhor him that speaketh uprightly - Literally, "perfectly." The prophets spoke "perfectly" , "for they spoke the all-perfect word of God, of which David says, "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul" Psalm 19:7. "Carnal eyes hate the light of truth, which they cast aside for execrable lies, closing to themselves the fountain of the divine mercy" . Rup.: "This is the sin which hath no remission; this is the sin of the strong and mighty, who sin not out of ignorance or weakness, but with impenitent heart proudly defend their sin, and 'hate him that rebuketh arid abhor him who' dareth to 'speak perfectly,' that is, not things which please them, but resisting their evil." This, like all other good of God and evil of man, met most in and against Christ. Rup.: "Who is he who 'rebuked in the gate' or who 'spake perfectly?' David rebuked them, and spake much perfectly, and so they hated him and said, 'what portion have we in David, or what inheritance have we in the son of Jesse?' 1-Kings 12:16, Him also who spake these very words, and the other prophets they hated and abhorred. But as the rest, so this too, is truly and indubitably fulfilled in Christ, rebuking justly and speaking perfectly. He Himself saith in a Psalm, 'They that sat in the gate spake against Me' Psalm 69:12, wherefore, when He had said, 'he that hateth Me hateth My Father also' John 15:23-25, and, 'now they have. both seen and hated both Me and My Father,' He subjoined, 'that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, they hated Me without a cause.' Above all then, we understand Christ, whom they hated, 'rebuking in the gate,' that is, openly and in public; as He said, 'I spake openly to the world, and in secret have I said nothing' John 18:20. He alone spake perfectly, 'Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.' 1-Peter 2:22. In wisdom also and doctrine, He alone spake perfectly, perfectly. and so wonderfully, that 'the officers of the chief priests and Pharisees' who were 'sent to take, Him, said, Never man spake like this Man.' John 7:45-46.
Jerome: "it is a great sin to hate him who rebuketh, especially if he rebuke thee, not out of dislike, but out of love, if he doth it 'between thee and him alone Matthew 18:15-17, if, taking with' him a brother, if afterward, in the presence of the Church, so that it may be evident that he does not blame thee out of any love of detraction, but out of zeal for thine amendment."

They hate him that rebuketh in the gate - They cannot bear an upright magistrate, and will not have righteous laws executed.

They hate him (f) that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
(f) They hate the Prophets, who reprove them in the open assemblies.

They hate him that rebuketh in the gate,.... Openly and publicly in the courts of judicature: wicked judges hated the prophets of the Lord, such as Amos, who faithfully reproved them for the perversion of justice, even when they were upon the bench: or the people were so corrupt and degenerate, that they hated those faithful judges who reproved them for their vices in the open courts of justice, when they came before them, The former sense seems best, and more agreeable to the context:
and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly; not only hate him, but abhor him, cannot bear the sight of him, or to hear his name mentioned that speaks out his mind freely and honestly, and tells them of their sins, and advises them to repent of them, and leave them.

him that rebuketh in the gate--the judge who condemns their iniquity in the place of judgment (Isaiah 29:21).
abhor him that speaketh uprightly--the prophet telling them the unwelcome truth: answering in the parallelism to the judge, "that rebuketh in the gate" (compare 1-Kings 22:8; Proverbs 9:8; Proverbs 12:1; Jeremiah 36:23).

"They hate the monitor in the gate, and abhor him that speaketh uprightly. Amos 5:11. Therefore, because ye tread upon the poor, and take the distribution of corn from him, ye have built houses of square stones, and will not dwell therein; planted pleasant vineyards, and will not drink their wine. Amos 5:12. For I know how many are your transgressions, and how great your sins; oppressing the righteous, taking atonement money; and ye bow down the poor in the gate." However natural it may seem to take מוכיח and דּבר תּמים in Amos 5:10 as referring to prophets, who charge the ungodly with their acts of unrighteousness, as Jerome does, this explanation is precluded not only by bassha‛ar (in the gate), since the gate was not the meeting-place of the people where the prophets were accustomed to stand, but the place where courts of judgment were held, and all the public affairs of the community discussed (see at Deuteronomy 21:19); but also by the first half of Amos 5:11, which presupposes judicial proceedings. Mōkhı̄ăch is not merely the judge who puts down unjust accusers, but any one who lifts up his voice in a court of justice against acts of injustice (as in Isaiah 29:21). דּבר תּמים, he who says what is blameless, i.e., what is right and true: this is to be taken generally, and not to be restricted to the accused who seeks to defend his innocence. תּעב is a stronger expression than שׂנא. The punishment for this unjust oppression of the poor will be the withdrawal of their possessions. The ἁπ. λεγ. bōshēs is a dialectically different form for בוסס, from בוּס, to trample down (Rashi, Kimchi), analogous to the interchange of שׁריון and סריון, a coat of mail, although as a rule שׁ passes into ס, and not ס into שׁ. For the derivation from בושׁ, according to which בושׁס would stand for בושׁשׁ (Hitzig and Tuch on Genesis p. 85), is opposed both to the construction with על, and also to the circumstance that בּושׁשׁ means to delay (Exodus 32:1; Judges 5:28); and the derivation suggested by Hitzig from an Arabic verb, signifying to carry one's self haughtily towards others, is a mere loophole. Taking a gift of corn from the poor refers to unjust extortion on the part of the judge, who will only do justice to a poor man when he is paid for it. The main clause, which was introduced with lâkhēn, is continued with בּתּי גזית: "thus have ye built houses of square stones, and shall not dwell therein;" for "ye shall not dwell in the houses of square stones which ye have built." The threat is taken from Deuteronomy 28:30, Deuteronomy 28:39, and sets before them the plundering of the land and the banishment of the people. Houses built of square stones are splendid buildings (see Isaiah 9:9). The reason for this threat is given in Amos 5:12, where reference is made to the multitude and magnitude of the sins, of which injustice in the administration of justice is again held up as the chief sin. The participles צררי and לקחי are attached to the suffixes of פּשׁעיכם and חטּאתיכם: your sins, who oppress the righteous, attack him, and take atonement money, contrary to the express command of the law in Numbers 35:31, to take no kōpher for the soul of a murderer. The judges allowed the rich murderer to purchase exemption from capital punishment by the payment of atonement money, whilst they bowed down the right of the poor. Observe the transition from the participle to the third person fem., by which the prophet turns away with disgust from these ungodly judges. Bowing down the poor is a concise expression for bowing down the right of the poor: compare Amos 2:7 and the warnings against this sin (Exodus 23:6; Deuteronomy 16:19).

They - The judges and people. In the gate - Where judges sat, and where the prophets many times delivered their message.