Amos 7:12 Meaning and Explanation

Now Amaziah turns to Amos directly: "O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah." He tells the prophet to go home to the southern kingdom and there "eat bread, and prophesy." The insinuation is that prophecy is a trade, a way to make a living, and that Amos should ply it somewhere more welcoming.

The command reveals how Amaziah understands religion -- as a profession for hire, bent to please its patrons. He cannot imagine a man speaking simply because God has sent him, with no wage and no welcome to gain. By telling Amos to earn his bread elsewhere, the priest exposes his own assumption that every voice can be bought or relocated. He offers Amos a quiet exit, expecting that a paid messenger will take the easier road and trouble Bethel no more.