Amos 8:2

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" F23 כלוב "unicuus", V. L. , such as they pull down branches with to gather the fruit; and the word so signifies in the Arabic language F24 "ferramentum incurvum, seu uncus ex quo de sella commeatum suspendit viator", Giggeius apud Golium, col. 2055. ; 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 F25 There is an elegant play on words in the words קיץ , "summer", and קץ , "the end". :

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" F26 So Mercerus, Grotius. now making an utter end of them; See Gill on Amos 7:8 .