This is the second scene discussed under 7.10-17. It should be a new paragraph. We are not told what the relation of this scene is to the previous one. The translation, however, will depend on how that relationship is pictured. Is Amaziah doing what the king ordered in his reply? This is not very likely, since Amaziah’s report had to be sent by messenger to Samaria, which would mean a delay of several days. Amaziah seems to have acted on his own account, and seems to have tried to get Amos to leave the kingdom before the king could act.

The translator should be careful not to see more in this than the Hebrew text allows. Notice the Revised Standard Version: O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there. In Hebrew the tone is neutral, without indicators of emotion.

Many English translations, on the contrary, make Amaziah sound angry or scolding: “Off with you, visionary” (New American Bible); “You dreamer! Be off to Judah and earn your living there; play the prophet there” (Moffatt); “Be off, you seer! Off with you to Judah!” (New English Bible); That’s enough, prophet! It is doubtful that such translations are equivalent. The Hebrew word for seer did not have a derogatory tone, and such people were not looked down on in Hebrew culture. Also, the Hebrew eat bread for “earn a living” is not derogatory. On the contrary, the grammatical form in combination with the Hebrew verb for “to flee away” shows some kindheartedness in Amaziah’s words.

So the translation should not use strong and negative language. It could be something like “Leave from here, you who see visions, save yourself in the country of Judah; speak there the message of God; they will give you your bread/food and you will eat it.”

There is also a possibility that Amaziah is using the fact of his report to Jeroboam as a lever to get Amos to leave. Whether Jeroboam reacts or not, if Amaziah gets Amos out, he accomplishes his purpose: “Why don’t you escape to Judah while there is time? You can always prophesy there and make your living. But don’t you dare stay around here and prophesy at Bethel any more! This is the national temple, the place where the king worships.”

And Amaziah said to Amos/Amaziah then said to Amos. In some cases the style used by Amaziah in speaking to Amos will have to be different from that used with the king in the previous scene. How he speaks to Amos will depend on the decision concerning his motives, as discussed just above.

Seer/prophet! These two words overlap in meaning so that prophet can be justified in English. For the translation of prophet and prophesy, see 2.11, 12.

Go, flee away to the land of Judah/Go on back to Judah. Many languages use more than one verb in a row, as the Hebrew does, but not necessarily in the same order.

And eat bread there/Let them pay you for it. Prophetic work included the right to be supported by the community. Good News Translation changes the order to show the relation between the activities. Other translations should probably do the same. On the other hand, although Let them pay you for it may be a necessary translation for money economies, in many cultures and eat bread there, “and let them feed you” or “get your rice from them” would be better.

Good News Translation prints them in special type to emphasize it so that the sentence will not be understood wrongly as “Let them d payd* you for it” (the most normal reading in English). Such a device is not recommended in a common-language translation. The same effect could have been made by a different wording: “You can get your pay from them,” “Let the people there pay you.”

And prophesy there/and do your preaching there. See 2.11, 12. There does not seem to be any need to use preaching here, as Good News Translation has done, although the meanings overlap.

Quoted with permission from de Waard, Jan & Smalley, William A. A Handbook on Amos. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1979. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .