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;
w כלוב "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 קיץ, "summer", and
קץ, "the end". z So Mercerus, Grotius.