Amos 8:2
And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.
And he said, Amos, what seest thou?.... To quicken his attention, who might disregard it as a common thing; and in order to lead him into the design of it, and show him what it was an emblem of:
And I said, A basket of summer fruit; some render it "a hook" {w}, such as they pull down branches with to gather the fruit; and the word so signifies in the Arabic language {x}; but the other is the more received sense of the word:
Then said the LORD unto me; by way of explanation of the vision: the end is come upon my people Israel: the end of the kingdom of Israel; of their commonwealth and church state; of all their outward happiness and glory; their "summer was ended", and they "not saved", Jeremiah 8:20; all their prosperity was over; and, as the Targum, their
"final punishment was come,''
the last destruction threatened them {y}:
I will not again pass by them any more; pass by their offences, and forgive their sins; or pass by their persons, without taking notice of them, so as to afflict and punish them for their iniquities: or, "pass through them and more" {z} now making an utter end of them;
See Gill on "Amos 7:8".
{w} bwlk "unicuus", V. L.
{x} "ferramentum incurvum, seu uncus ex quo de sella commeatum suspendit viator", Giggeius apud Golium, col. 2055.
{y} There is an elegant play on words in the words Uyq, "summer", and
Uq, "the end".
{z} So Mercerus, Grotius.