Jeremiah 1:11

I see a rod of an almond tree The almond tree in Palestine has been compared to the snowdrop with us, as giving one of the first signs of approaching spring. Dr Tristram (Nat. Hist. of the Bible) tells us that at Bethany in the month of January he gathered the blossoms in full bloom. They appear before the leaves open, like those of the peach-tree in England. The Hebrew used here (shâkêd) is not the ordinary word for an almond tree, but a poetical expression, meaning that which is awakening, and referring to the blossoming of this tree as taking place while others are still in their winter sleep. There is a play on the words shâkêdand (Jeremiah 1:12) shôkêd(watching over). Cp. Amos 8:1, where the sight of a basket of summer fruit (kayitz) is to the prophet symbolic of the end (kêtz) which is coming upon his nation.