Amos 8:2

2 He asked, "'Amos, what do you see?" I answered, "A basket of summer [Hebrew: kayitz] fruit." Then ADONAI said to me, "The end [Hebrew: ketz] has come for my people, I will never again overlook their offenses.

Amos 8:2 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 8:2

And he said, Amos, what seest thou?
&c.] 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, such as they pull down branches with to gather the fruit; and the word so signifies in the Arabic language ^F24; 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: 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 now making an utter end of them; (See Gill on Amos 7:8).

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 (bwlk) "unicuus", V. L.
F24 <arabic> "ferramentum incurvum, seu uncus ex quo de sella commeatum suspendit viator", Giggeius apud Golium, col. 2055.
F25 There is an elegant play on words in the words (Uyq) , "summer", and (Uq) , "the end".
F26 So Mercerus, Grotius.

Amos 8:2 In-Context

1 Here is what Adonai ELOHIM showed me: there in front of me was a basket of summer fruit.

2 He asked, "'Amos, what do you see?" I answered, "A basket of summer [Hebrew: kayitz] fruit." Then ADONAI said to me, "The end [Hebrew: ketz] has come for my people, I will never again overlook their offenses.

3 When that time comes, the songs in the temple will be wailings," says Adonai ELOHIM. "There will be many dead bodies; everywhere silence will reign."

4 Listen, you who swallow the needy and destroy the poor of the land!

5 You say, "When will Rosh-Hodesh be over, so we can market our grain? and Shabbat, so we can sell wheat?" You measure the grain in a small eifah, but the silver in heavy shekels, fixing the scales, so that you can cheat,