The commentary on the Book of Joel discusses its historical context, suggesting that Joel's prophecies were delivered during a time of calamity, possibly the reign of King Ahaz or the time of the young King Joash, around 835-830 BC. The text outlines the four main parts of Joel's prophecy: describing the devastation caused by locusts, calling for repentance, foretelling the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and proclaiming God's judgment against neighboring nations. Joel's distinctive style combines poetic diction with a clear narrative structure, emphasizing God's judgment and the hope for renewal through repentance.

1. JOEL 1 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
INTRODUCTION
BENSON, "THERE is much uncertainty as to the exact time when Joel
prophesied. Some think he was cotemporary with Hosea: and that as Hosea
prophesied chiefly to the ten tribes, so Joel addressed chiefly the two tribes of
Judah and Benjamin. It seems most probable, from some parts of this prophecy,
that it was delivered in the reign of Ahaz, after the Edomites had smitten Judah,
and used great violence; (compare 2 Chronicles 28:17, and Joel 3:19;) and after
the Philistines had invaded their cities, and slain or expelled their inhabitants,
(compare 2 Chronicles 28:18, and Joel 3:4,) and were both of them triumphing in
their success; upon which account God particularly threatens them by this
prophet. And as to the Philistines, Joel’s prediction was executed against them in
Hezekiah’s reign, who succeeded Ahaz; it being expressly predicted of him by
Isaiah 14:29, that he should dissolve and destroy them, which we find from his
history he actually did. The prophecy consists of four parts: 1st, The prophet
describes and bewails the destruction which should be made by locusts, and the
distress the country should be in through an excessive drought, Joel 1:1 to Joel
2:12. 2dly, He calls the people to repentance, to which he encourages them with
promises of a removal of the judgment, and of God’s taking them into his favour
on their complying with his exhortation, Joel 2:12-27. 3dly, He foretels the
plentiful effusion of the Holy Spirit, which should take place in the latter days,
namely, in the days of the Messiah, Joel 2:28-32. 4thly, He proclaims God’s
judgments against the neighbouring nations, which had unjustly invaded,
plundered, and carried his people into captivity: and foretels glorious things of
the gospel Jerusalem, and of’ the prosperity and perpetuity of it, chap. 3.
The style of Joel is essentially different from that of Hosea; but the general
character of his diction, though of a different kind, is not less poetical. He is
elegant, perspicuous, copious, and fluent; he is also sublime, animated, and
energetic. In the first and second chapters he displays the full force of the
prophetic poetry, and shows how naturally it inclines to the use of metaphors,
allegories, and comparisons. Nor is the connection of the matter less clear and
evident than the complexion of the style: this is exemplified in the display of the
impending evils which gave rise to the prophecy; the exhortation to repentance;
the promises of happiness and success, both terrestrial and eternal, to those who
become truly penitent; the restoration of the Israelites; and the vengeance to be
taken of their adversaries. But while we allow this just commendation to his
perspicuity, both in language and arrangement, we must not deny that there is
sometimes great obscurity observable in his subject, and particularly in the latter
part of the prophecy. See Bishop Lowth, De Sacra Poesi Hebræorum, Prælec. 21.
PETT, "Introduction
The Grounds For Seeing Chapter 1 As Referring To Real Locusts And Chapter
2 As Referring To An Invading Army.
1

2. Clearly the arguments above support the first part of this position, and the
second part is based on the kind of language used in chapter 2. This would be a
fairly strong case if all that was in mind was a visit by flying locusts, but
descriptions such as Dr Thomson’s (see above) of the creeping army of young
wingless locusts helps to vividly explain that language. Indeed as we shall see, it
brings chapter 2 alive. On the other hand, once the metaphorical idea of an army
is removed, the remainder of the language clearly refers to the activities of
insects as witnessed by Joel himself and vividly portrayed.
The Grounds For Seeing Both Chapters As Referring To Human Armies.
This view demands a leap of the imagination from what is presented in chapter 1
to the idea of human armies, and is usually held by those who interpret Joel in
accordance with their own pre-conceived notions. Apart from the use of the
word ‘nation’, which can be explained otherwise (compare its use in Zephaniah
2:14 where it means different species of animals in their groupings, and the
reference to different species of creatures as a ‘people’ in Proverbs 30:25-27),
there are really no grounds in chapter 1 for considering that it speaks of a
human army, and it is noteworthy that the devastations described all adequately
apply to insects like locusts, while nothing of what we would see as characteristic
of humans (killing, rape, use of the sword, taking captives, etc.), is found
anywhere in the narrative (of either chapter 1 or chapter 2). Note how all
through it is only natural things that are affected, together with the provision of
meal and wine for Temple offerings, with not a word said of any other effects. If
Joel wanted us to think that he had locusts in mind he has certainly made a good
job of it.
BRIDGEWAY BIBLE COMMENTARY
BACKGROUND
Among the prophets of the Old Testament, Joel differs from most of the others in
that he does not state the period during which he preached. One suggestion is
that he prophesied in Judah around the period835-830 BC, during the reign of
the boy-king Joash. This would explain why the book does not mention Syria,
Assyria or Babylon, the chief enemies during the time of the divided kingdom, as
these nations had not yet begun to interfere in Judah's affairs. It would also
explain why the prophet does not mention a reigning king, for at that time the
government of the country was largely in the hands of the priest Jehoiada ( 2
Kings 11:1-21; 2 Kings 12:1-2). The prominence of Jehoiada may also account
for Joel's interest in the temple and its services ( Joel 1:9; Joel 1:13; Joel 2:12;
Joel 2:15-17).
An alternative suggestion is that the book was written after the Jews' return
from captivity. The most likely period is either520-510 BC (after the ministry of
Haggai and Zechariah and the rebuilding of the temple) or around400 BC (a
generation or so after the reforms of Ezra and Nehemiah). According to these
suggestions, Joel is among either the first or the last of the writing prophets.
2

3. Purpose of the book
In spite of the absence of a specific date, the present-day reader should have no
great difficulty in understanding the book of Joel. This is because the single
event that forms the book's basis is not concerned with details of Judah's local
politics or international affairs. The event is a severe locust plague, and the
setting appears to be Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside.
The locust plague brought extensive agricultural damage and created
widespread suffering to the people. What made the plague even more devastating
was its occurrence at the height of a crippling drought. Joel interpreted these
events as God's judgment on Judah for its sin. He promised the people that if
they repented, God would renew his blessing by giving them productive crops
and a more enlightened knowledge of himself. Joel saw these events as symbolic
of God's future judgment on all enemies and his blessing on his people.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR.
I. In what period should Joel's activity be placed ? — Before we can
get a true idea of any man who played an important part on the stage of the
world in past days, it is essential that we should know something of his environ-
ment — what the character of his age was, who his contemporaries were. This
knowledge is of peculiar value in connection witli the prophets ; for, more than
anything else, they were God's messengers and missionaries to those among
whom
they lived and moved and had their being. They preached first to the generation
and the epoch in which their lot was cast. No doubt their words had other
applications, because God's truth, like God from whom it comes, may fulfil itself
in many ways. But we shall hold a very unnatural and a very inadequate theory
of prophecy if we think of it as dealing solely, or even principally, with the
future.
It is the philosophy of history, unveiling its meaning and pointing its lessons.
If the prophet had had to do only or mainly with the distant future, it would
have mattered little to us in what particular age he chanced to live. Because
he was linked very truly and vitally to his own days and his own people, it is
most needful that we should try to understand his surroundings. What, then,
did Joel preach and labour ? We cannot say that there is anything like unanimity
in the reply to the question. That he belonged to the kingdom of Judah and
dwelt in Jerusalem itself — these facts are admitted by all, and are indeed
rendered
indisputable by the prophet's frequent references to Zion, to the house of
Jehovah,
to the porch and the altar, the priests and the ministers, the meat-offering and
the drink-offering. His date, however, is not so easily determined as his home.
Opinions have varied from the middle of the tenth century before Christ down
to the late days of the Maccabees. But, after all, it is pretty certain that Joel
is among the very oldest of the prophets. Amos, himself one of the first in that
3

4. goodly fellowship, knew his writings and loved them, and regarded their author
as a teacher, at whose feet he was willing to sit and listen. The herdsman of
Tekoa, to whose soul the breath of the Spirit came impelling him to speak,
opened
his prophecy with the awful declaration with which Joel had clo.sed his — " The
Lord shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem." Isaiah, too,
though he was so great and original, was not ashamed to glean from the son of
Pethuel some of those spirit-stirring thoughts which he uttered in the ears of
his people.' Evidently Joel was more ancient than these two. Something
may be learned, too, from the silences of his prophecy as well as from its positive
declarations ; for there are significant omissions in his writings. He does not
BO much as allude to Assyria, the terrible power, whose armies, having menaced
"tsrael often, at last carried its tribes into captivity, and whose might and cruelty
and doom are frequent themes with the prophets. No dovbt there are inter-
preters who find Assyria and its people everywhere latent under Joel's glowing
language ; but they are the exponents, as we shall see, of a theory which is not
the wisest or the best. Nor has our prophet anything to say even of Syria, a
nearer neighboin* of Israel and Judah, with whom they were often at war. We
may conclude that its people did not harass his during the time when he fulfilled
his mission, else he would surely have had some message fiom God regarding
them. And so the invasion under Hazael, when, because King Joash had for-
gotten the lessons which he had learned from the godly priest Jehoiada, and had
acted foolishly, and unlike a king of Jehovah's holy nation, " the host of Syria
came up against him to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of
the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the kin-j
of Damascus," — this invasion, so glorious for Syria but so ignominious for
Judah,
could hardly have fallen within the years when Joel lived and preached. But
it took place about the middle of the ninth century before Christ ; and we are
constrained therefore to fix his age before that time. Yet not very long before ;
for he could exult in the brilliant victory which, in the opening years of this
centurj
Jehoshaphat had gained over the forces that combined themselves against him
and against his God ; and could speak of it as the picture in miniature of a still
nobler triumph which the Lord would win in the latter days. " I will also gather
all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will
contend with them there for My people and for My heritage Israel." Such con-
siderations help us to a decision — to this decision, that Joel prophesied nearly
nine hundred years before the advent of Christ, perhaps in the days when Joash
was still a child, and when the kingdom of which he was the nominal sovereign
was managed by others in his stead. For the preacher's counsel is not addressed
to any king, but to the old men, and to the inhabitants of the land, and above
all to the priests, who were the real rulers during the regency ; and why should
he have so much to say to these classes, if not because they were more prominent
in his time than the monarch himself ? The reign of Joash commenced about
877 B.C., when he was but seven years of age ; and in the years just succeeding
his accession we may imagine Joel coming forth in the presence of the people
to utter the prophecies of which we have some fragments in the book which bears
his name. One other proof, confirmatory of this date, may be added. Names,
4

5. we know, were significant among the Hebrews. Jewish fathers and mothers
were very careful what they called their children. And Joel means " Jehovah
is God."' But that had been the cry of the Israelites on Mount Carmel, on the
memorable day when Elijah triumphed over the prophets of Baal, and slew them
with his own hand until Kishon ran red with their blood. " Jehovah, He is the
God," they exclaimed, " Jehovah, He is the God." Now, the birth of Joel,
if he belonged to the period to which I have assigned him, would fall just about
the time when on Carmel Elijah waxed valiant in fight, and turned to flight the
armies of the aliens. Joining this link of evidence to all the rest, have we not
a chain comparatively strong ?
II. Is Joel's prophecy literal ok figurative ? — Does he deal with the
present and the actual, or rather with events which were still in the future, and
which he depicts only in the language of metaphor and imagery ? Each belief
has found its advocates. To all outward seeming he speaks of a solemn visitation
of God's providence, which lay heavily on the land of Judah in his owti time.
Swarm after swarm of locusts had spread over the country, and had perTuitted
no green thing to escape them. Matters were sad enough, indeed, before they
showed themselves. Long-continued drought had robbed the fields of their
wonted fertility. The vine was dried up, and the fig-tree languished ; the pome-
granate and the palm and the apple were withered ; the herds of cattle were
perplexed because they had no pasture ; all joy was gone fion the sons of men.
But when the locusts appeared the crowning desolation came. How graphically
and vividly Joel describes these locusts ! Joel, we shall acknowledge, had mani-
festly an intimate acquaintance with the natirral history' of the locust. Then,
too, in what splendid coloiu-s he paints the invasion of the insect-host ! He
speaks of the shadow which their number throw over the land — a shadow
resem-
bling that of the dim, grey twilight of " the morning spread upon the
mountains."
He tells how they advance ; " like horsemen do they come " ; " like the noise
of chariots they leap upon the tops of the hills " ; " like the noise of a flame of
fire that devoureth the stubble " ; " as a strong people set in battle array." They
are well disciplined, for Joel can confirm from his own observation the scientifio
language ; but they are the exponents, as we shall see, of a theory which is not
the wisest or the best. Nor has our prophet anything to say even of Syria, a
nearer neighboin* of Israel and Judah, with whom they were often at war. We
may conclude that its people did not harass his during the time when he fulfilled
his mission, else he would surely have had some message fiom God regarding
them. And so the invasion under Hazael, when, because King Joash had for-
gotten the lessons which he had learned from the godly priest Jehoiada, and had
acted foolishly, and unlike a king of Jehovah's holy nation, " the host of Syria
came up against him to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of
the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the kin-j
of Damascus," — this invasion, so glorious for Syria but so ignominious for
Judah,
could hardly have fallen within the years when Joel lived and preached. But
it took place about the middle of the ninth century before Christ ; and we are
constrained therefore to fix his age before that time. Yet not very long before ;
5

6. for he could exult in the brilliant victory which, in the opening years of this
centurj
Jehoshaphat had gained over the forces that combined themselves against him
and against his God ; and could speak of it as the picture in miniature of a still
nobler triumph which the Lord would win in the latter days. " I will also gather
all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will
contend with them there for My people and for My heritage Israel." Such con-
siderations help us to a decision — to this decision, that Joel prophesied nearly
nine hundred years before the advent of Christ, perhaps in the days when Joash
was still a child, and when the kingdom of which he was the nominal sovereign
was managed by others in his stead. For the preacher's counsel is not addressed
to any king, but to the old men, and to the inhabitants of the land, and above
all to the priests, who were the real rulers during the regency ; and why should
he have so much to say to these classes, if not because they were more prominent
in his time than the monarch himself ? The reign of Joash commenced about
877 B.C., when he was but seven years of age ; and in the years just succeeding
his accession we may imagine Joel coming forth in the presence of the people
to utter the prophecies of which we have some fragments in the book which bears
his name. One other proof, confirmatory of this date, may be added. Names,
we know, were significant among the Hebrews. Jewish fathers and mothers
were very careful what they called their children. And Joel means " Jehovah
is God."' But that had been the cry of the Israelites on Mount Carmel, on the
memorable day when Elijah triumphed over the prophets of Baal, and slew them
with his own hand until Kishon ran red with their blood. " Jehovah, He is the
God," they exclaimed, " Jehovah, He is the God." Now, the birth of Joel,
if he belonged to the period to which I have assigned him, would fall just about
the time when on Carmel Elijah waxed valiant in fight, and turned to flight the
armies of the aliens. Joining this link of evidence to all the rest, have we not
a chain comparatively strong ?
II. Is Joel's prophecy literal ok figurative ? — Does he deal with the
present and the actual, or rather with events which were still in the future, and
which he depicts only in the language of metaphor and imagery ? Each belief
has found its advocates. To all outward seeming he speaks of a solemn visitation
of God's providence, which lay heavily on the land of Judah in his owti time.
Swarm after swarm of locusts had spread over the country, and had perTuitted
no green thing to escape them. Matters were sad enough, indeed, before they
showed themselves. Long-continued drought had robbed the fields of their
wonted fertility. The vine was dried up, and the fig-tree languished ; the pome-
granate and the palm and the apple were withered ; the herds of cattle were
perplexed because they had no pasture ; all joy was gone fion the sons of men.
But when the locusts appeared the crowning desolation came. How graphically
and vividly Joel describes these locusts ! Joel, we shall acknowledge, had mani-
festly an intimate acquaintance with the natirral history' of the locust. Then,
too, in what splendid coloiu-s he paints the invasion of the insect-host ! He
speaks of the shadow which their number throw over the land — a shadow
resem-
bling that of the dim, grey twilight of " the morning spread upon the
mountains."
6

7. He tells how they advance ; " like horsemen do they come " ; " like the noise
of chariots they leap upon the tops of the hills " ; " like the noise of a flame of
fire that devoureth the stubble " ; " as a strong people set in battle array." They
are well disciplined, for Joel can confirm from his own observation the scientifio
truth which Rabbi Agur imparted to his disciples, Ithiel and Ucal — the truth
that, though the locusts have no king, yet they go forth by ordered bands. " They
march every one on his ways," he assures us ; " they do not break their ranks,
neither does one thrust another." Before their onset the people are powerless.
*' They run to and fro in the streets " ; " they mount the wall " ; " they climb
up upon the houses " ; " they go in at the windows like a thief." How, indeed,
can they be defeated and put to shame ? For this is the army of Jehovah ; and
they are strong — they cannot but be strong, whether they be angels or men or
locusts of the field — who execute His word. And so, by heaping terror upon
terror, Joel leads his hearers on to the goal towards which he has been aiming.
He calls on them to repent of their sin. He bids them, in the Lord's name, rend
their hearts and not their garments. At this stage, with this call to repentance,
the first part of his prophecy ends. We may imagine a pause, of longer or shorter
duration, diu-ing which Joel sees his commands complied with. Priest and
people humble themselves, and seek the pardon of the God whom they have
offended. It is not in vain that they do so. When these poor men cry, the
Lord hears and saves them out of all their troubles. This joyful fact Joel com-
memorates when he opens his lips again, and his strain ]>asses fiom the minor to
the major key. Translate the futures of the 18th verse of the second chapter,
where the happier section of the prophecy begins, by imperfects, as there can
be little doubt they should be translated ; and you will know how true was the
repentance of Judah — how seasonable was God's succour — how thoroughly
the winter passed from the prophet's soul, and lo, the time of the singing of birds
was come. And then the horizon of the prophet widens. He thinks of better
blessings still which God has for His sons and daughters. He predicts the shame
of those ancient foes of Israel's youth — the only foes of Jehovah's people with
whom Joel was acquainted — Egypt, and Edom, and Philistia, and Phoenicia,
and the merchants of the north who sold Hebrew children as slaves to the Greeks
of Asia Minor, giving a boy for an harlot and a girl for wine. He prophesies
the near approach of a day of the Lord, full of darkness like the pillar of cloud
for all His enemies, of light and peace like the pillar of fire for all His friends.
When he ceases to speak, this is the vision which he leaves with us — on the one
side, nothing ; and on the other, Judah and Jerusalem. God's foes have become
non-existent ; only His people survive. " Egypt shall be a desolation, and
Edom a desolate wilderness ; but Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem
from generation to generation." With this note of stern triumph, of lofty intoler-
ance, Joel draws to a close the second and brighter part of his prophecy. Such
in substance is the book. Is it not strange that some interpreters should have
refused to adopt what seems its plain and evident sense ? The drought was not
a literal drought, they say ; the locusts were not the insects of the natural world
v/liich have carried ruin and destitution many a time to Eastern lands. One
(;ritic thinks that Joel intended the work of the locusts to represent " the
gnawing
care of prosperity and the unsatisfied desire left by a life of luxury." And others
are sure that the prophet's words dealt with the futiire and not with the present,
7

8. and that it was the scourge of the Assyrians of which he chiefly thought. It
is true that Assyiia did not vex Judah imtil the time of Hezekiah, many years
after Joel's day ; but to the seer's mind, gifted with the vision and the faculty
Divine, are not all things, even things distant and remote, laid naked and bare ?
It is difficult to conceive any reason for this figurative interpretation. Surely,
in God's hand, the locusts, which destroyed the pastures and trees, and brought
want and woe and grim death to many homes, were a scourge sufficiently
terrible
to justify the raising up of a prophet who should expound the lessons of the
awful
visitation. They were as worthy instruments for the execution of the Lord's
punishments upon a guilty people as the Chaldeans could be ; and if Joel had
them for his text his theme was sad and weighty enough. To unfold the meaning
of God's providence — to show that the world of nature, with its " tooth and
claw," its earthquakes and storms and fearful diseases, its tribes of creatiu-es
which can work the most mournful ruin, is under His government and
control, —
is not that as lofty and responsible a mission as any prophet could desire ?
Indeed,
the allegorical view is the outcome of that very insuflicient conception of
prophecy
which considers it to consist almost exclusively of prediction. Perhaps, in the
case of Joel, there has been this further thought in some minds, that, being one
of the firstborn among the prophets, he was bound to deal with those themes
which were principally to occupy the attention of his successors. He must sketch.
in outline the picture which they would fill in detail. But I prefer to believ«
that, as the needs of men demanded, God sent out to them His servants, each
at his own hour of the day and with his own allotted task to do — this servant
among the rest, who had a very real and actual diflBculty to grapple with, and
who was sufficiently honoured in being chosen to encounter and overcome it.
" Every man shall bear his own burden " is a rule which holds good in prophecy
as well as in daily life. But the book itself is the best refutation of the figurative
theory. It is a marvel that any could read its graphic sentences without feeling
that the whole soul of the author was concerned about a present trouble — the
trouble which he describes so powerfully. And it takes half of the grandeur
and sublimity out of these chapters to make them deal with Assyrians. " They
shall run like mighty men ; they shall climb the wall like men of war ; they
shall run to and fro in the city ; they shall climb up upon the houses," — under-
stand these sentences of soldiers, and they are commonplace prose ; understand
them of locusts, and they are throbbing, beautiful, impressive poetry. They
rob Joel of his genius who abandon the literal interpretation of his prophecy.
III. For, turning now to the characteristics of his style, I think we must
be struck most of all by the poetic cast of his thought and expression. There
is no probability that this book contains all his prophetic utterances. In every
likelihood it is but a sample of the words he was wont to speak to the people ;
but if the rest resembled these, how much we could wish that we had heard them
all ! If Joel wrestled with a literal trouble, he did not deal with it in a matter-
8

9. of-fact way. His sentences, we might well affirm, sound in our ears " like sweet
bells at the evening- time most musically rung " ; only, the music is for the most
part
pathetic or terrible rather than joyous, and the bells, while they never lose their
harmony, ring out now a plaintive and again a loud and spirit-stirring peal. If
you
wish an example of this sorrowful music — this mournful and yet most attractive
melody — read the exquisite metaphors of the opening chapter. Joel has three
different troubles to describe, each deeper and bitterer than the other ; but he
does not depict them like a pre-Raphaelite in their unlovely reality ; he throws
a halo of imagination round them. First, he wishes to tell his audience how
the locusts had taken away the luxuries which men enjoyed before, and he paints
the picture of a drunkard whose wine has been cut off, and who weeps that he
is denied his old delight. And then, advancing in his account of the griefs of
the land, he narrates how God's worship could not be fittingly observed, for the
meat-offering and the drink-offering were nowhere to be found ; and he paints
another picture, very tenderly and feelingly, of a young wife bereaved and
mourn-
ing and girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. And yet further
and deeper he goes in the sad history. The very necessities of life, the things
which men required for ordinary sustenance, could not now be procured. There
was no family but felt the pinch of poverty ; no home but learned from
experience
how gaunt and fierce the wolf is that comes to the door in time of famine. And,
that he may portray this lowest extremity, Joel paints a third picture, the com-
panion of the others — the pictm-e of some disappointed husbandmen and vine-
dressers, who go out to their fields and vineyards at the season when the fruits
of the earth should be gathered in, and discover only waste and barrenness. In
this book you may find two characteristics of true poetry — a great sympathy
with nature, and a great sympathy with man, in his varied life, his hopes and
fears and joys and griefs.
IV. What is Joel's pi^ce in history and revelation ? — He was the successor
of Elijah and Elisha. When he opened his mouth to speak what God had put
into his heart, the great warfare between Jehovah and Baal was accomplished.
There was no need to insist now on the truth that the Lord alone was God. His
unity and His sovereignty and His spirituality had already been placed beyond
all dispute ; and to Joel was entrusted the mission of unveiling and enforcing
other lessons about God — lessons which followed naturally on those taught by
his predecessors. That God works in the world, and that men are connected
with Him, and that there is a Divine event towards which things are tending — .
these were the doctrines which this prophet was bidden proclaim. He made
clear to his people the meaning of two words which are very familiar to us — -
the words " providence " and " judgment." He showed them that God does
not sleep, and does not only start at times into spasmodic activity — that He
is a constant power moving among His creatures ; that with Him men have
in a most real and solemn v/ay to do. And whilst Joel was charged to deliver
this message, he was honourt J in being permitted to hint at other truths, to
9

10. which
his successors often returned. What are some of these truths which appear
in his book in embryo and germ ? To him there was revealed, first among the
prophets, the great thought of " a day of the Lord " — dies irae dies ilia — when
the current of history should stand still, and this present age of the world should
come to an end. This prophet, too, lays stress on the idea of an effectual Divine
call, which comes to men, and which, when it comes in its majesty and grace,
they cannot resist. " In Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance,
as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call." Of course,
Joel did not attach to the idea the full doctrinal significance which the apostle
Paul, for example, was wont to do. God's revelation of this truth, as of all truth,
was gradual. A remnant, he said, called of God, would escape the desolating
ruin wrought by the locusts. These illustrations of the legacy of truth which
this prophet bequeathed to his successors might be multiplied ; but I choose
only one other. He was the first to speak of the outpouring of the Spirit, which
should be characteristic of the new dispensation. They were his sayings which
Peter quoted on the day of Pentecost. And his surely was a great honour, as
well as a great personal happiness, who, before any other, was permitted to
behold
this glory of the Gospel day. And can we not fancy now, in some measure, what
manner of man he was ? He was very humble ; for, though so high a mission
was intrusted to him, he did not exalt himself. It was sufficient to him that he
should publish the " word of the Lord that came to him " ; that he should be
a voice crying on God's behalf, not in the desert, indeed, but in the populous
city; that he should finish the work given him to do, and then go quietly back
to the darkness and the silence out of which for a moment he had been raised.
He was very stern, too, towards all sin ; and when he spoke of God's displeasure
against transgression, men trembled as they listened, and went straightway
and did those things which he commanded. And yet he had in him a tender
and loving heart, and perhaps there were tears in his eyes when he told out his
story of the wrath of the Lord. For he was much afiected by the miseries of
the creatures, and of the men and women and little children who were in sorrow
around him. (A. Smellie, M.A.) The prophet Joel: — Of Joel we know
absolutely nothing but what may be gathered from his prophecy, and that tells
us neither when nor where he flourished, save by hints and implications which
are still variously read. That he lived in Judah, probably in Jerusalem, we
may infer from the fact that he never mentions the northern kingdom of Israel,
and that he shows himself familiar with the temple, the priests, the ordinances
of worship; he moves through the sacred city and the temple of the Lord as one
that is at home in them, as one who is native, and to the manner born. On this
point the commentators are pretty well agreed ; but no sooner do we ask, "
Wlien
did Joel live and prophecy ? " than we receive the most diverse and
contradictory
replies. He has been moved along the chronological line of at least two centuries,
and fixed, now here, now there, at almost every point. He was probably the
earliest of the prophets whose writings have come down to us. There are hints
in his poem or prophecy which indicate that it must have been written in the
ninth century before Christ (cir. 870 — 860), more than a hundred years before
10

11. Isaiah " saw the Lord sitting on His throne, high and lifted up," and some fdiy
years after Elijah was carried " by a whirlwind into heaven." Joel's style is that
of the earlier age. So marked, indeed, is the " antique vigour and
imperativenet^s
of his language " that surely on this ground Ewald, whose fine, critical instinct
deserves a respect which his dogmatism often averts, places him, without a
doubt,
first in the rank of the earlier prophets, and makes him the conteiuporary of
Joash. All we can say is that, in all probability, the son of Pethuel lived in
Jerusalem during the reign of Joash ; that he aided Jehoiada, the high priest,
in urging the citizens to repair the temple, and to recur to the service of
Jehovah ;
and that his prophecy is the oldest in our hands, and was written in that com-
paratively calm and pure interval in which Jerusalem was free from the bloody
rites and licentious orgies of the Baalim worship. That the prophet was an
accomplished and gifted man is proved by his work. The style is pure, severe,
animated, finished, and full of happy rhythms and easy, graceful tiuns. " He
has no abrupt transitions, is everywhere connected, and finishes whatever he
takes up. In description he is graphic and perspicuous, in an-angeinent lucid j
in imagery original, copious, and varied." Even in this early poem we find
some instances of the tender refrains and recurring " burdens " which
characterise
much of the later Hebrew poetry. In short, there are marks both of the scholar
and of the artist in his style, which distinguish him very clearly from Amos the
shepherd, and Haggai the exile. It is almost beyond a doubt that he was a
practised author, of whose many poems and discourses only one haa come down
to us. (Samud Cox, D.D.)
Abgumbnts fob thb iatbb datb of Joel. — ^The probable date of the book
of Joel is a matter of much dispute. Some Biblical critics place it as early as 837,
others as late as 440 B.C. This is unfortimate, as the estimate of the value of
the prophecy is directly affected by the position adopted. Joel is either at the
heaa of the aristocracy of this famous line of prophets, or one of the less gifted
who bring up the rear. He is either indebted for ideas and phrjises to twelve
other Old Testament writers, or they are indebted to him. When the smallness
of the book is taken into consideration it seems much more likely that he
borrowed
from twelve than that twelve borrowed from him. Other reasons support the
conclusion that the book is of late date. There is no mention of the crass tendency
to idolatry, against which the early prophets declaimed. On the contrary, the
people appear docile and devout. The northern tribes of Israel form no part
of the body politic ; direct reference is made to the captivity of Judah and
Jerusalem and to the dispersed ; the exile is apparently a thing of the past.
Assyria as a world-power is not even darkly hinted at. There is no mention
of a king. These facts favour a late date imder the Persian era. Moreover,
almost exceptional importance is attached to the temple ritual. That was an
outstanding characteristic of the time succeeding the great reform of Ezra and
Nehemiah (440 B.C.). The bitter hatred of the heathen shown in the idea of
11

12. their utter annihilation (iii. 13), and the narrow, national exclusiveness revealed
in the fond conception of Jerusalem as a sacred city imdefiled by the foot of the
foreigner (iii. 17), afford convincing evidence that the book belongs to the later
days of Judaism. Further, the " Day of the Lord," which in the time of Amos
was popularly regarded as the dawn of blessing rather than of judgment,
appears
in the writings of Joel in the sharpest contrast of light and shade that the idea
had yet attained in the successive stages of its development. Such stumbling-
blocks as the references to Egypt and Edom (iii. 19) may be accounted for on
the lines of Ezekiel's visions (Ezek. xxix. 9, xxxii. 15). On the other hand,
Greece appears on the horizon m a clear light (Joel iii. 6). These and other
arguments set forth by various writers afford weighty evidence, which the tone
and character of the book seem altogether to confirm. {Thomas M' William,
M.A.)
1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel son of
Pethuel.
BARNES, "The word of the Lord that came to Joel - Joel, like Hosea,
mentions the name of his father only, and then is silent about his extraction, his
tribe, his family. He leaves even the time when he lived, to be guessed at. He would
be known only, as the instrument of God. “The word of the Lord came to” him (see
the note at Hos_1:1), and he willed simply to be the voice which uttered it. He was
“content to live under the eyes of God, and, as to people, to be known only in what
concerned their salvation.” But this he declares absolutely, that the Word of God
came to him; in order that we may give faith to his prophecy, being well assured that
what he predicted, would come to pass. So the Saviour Himself says, ““My words
shall not pass away” Mat_24:35. For truth admits of nothing false, and what God
saith, will certainly be. For “He confirmeth the word of His servant, and performeth
the counsel of His messengers” Isa_44:26. The prophet claimeth belief then, as
speaking not out of his own heart, but out of the mouth of the Lord speaking in the
Spirit.” Joel signifies, “The Lord is God.” It owns that God who had revealed Himself,
is alone the God. The prophet’s name itself, embodied the truth, which, after the
miraculous answer to Elijah’s prayer, all the people confessed, “The Lord He is the
God, The Lord He is the God.” Pethuel signifies, “persuaded of God.” The addition of
his father’s name distinguished the prophet from others of that name, as the son of
Samuel, of king Uzziah, and others.
CLARKE, "The word of the Lord that came to Joel - See the introduction
for some account of this prophet, whose history is very obscure. Bishop Newcome
thinks that he prophesied while the kingdom of Judah subsisted, and refers to Joe_
2:1, Joe_2:15, (see also Joe_1:14 (note), and the note there), but not long before its
12

13. subversion as his words, Joe_3:1, seem to imply that its captivity was approaching.
See 2Ki_21:10-15. He therefore favors the conjecture of Drusius, that this prophet
lived under Manasseh, and before his conversion, 2Ch_33:13; that is, some time
from before Christ 697 to (suppose) 660.
GILL, "The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. Who
this Pethuel was is not known; Jarchi takes him to be the same with Samuel the
prophet, who had a son of this name, 1Sa_8:2; and gives this reason for his being
called Pethuel, because in his prayer he persuaded God; but the long span of time will
by no means admit of this, nor the character of Samuel's son agree with Joel; and
therefore is rightly denied by Aben Ezra, who observes, however, that this man was
an honourable man, and therefore his name is mentioned; and gives this as a rule,
that whenever any prophet mentions the name of his father, he was honourable.
Perhaps, it is here observed, to distinguish him from another of the same name; and
there was one of this name, Joel, a high priest in the reigns of Uzziah and Jotham,
according to Seder Olam Zuta (i) and Abarbinel (k); in whose time Joel is by some
thought to prophesy.
HENRY, "It is a foolish fancy which some of the Jews have, that this Joel the
prophet was the same with that Joel who was the son of Samuel (1Sa_8:2); yet one of
their rabbin very gravely undertakes to show why Samuel is here called Pethuel. This
Joel was long after that. He here speaks of a sad and sore judgment which was now
brought, or to be brought, upon Judah, for their sins. Observe,
I. The greatness of the judgment, expressed here in two things: - 1. It was such as
could not be paralleled in the ages that were past, in history, or in the memory of any
living, Joe_1:2. The old men are appealed to, who could remember what had
happened long ago; nay, and all the inhabitants of the land are called on to testify, if
they could any of them remember the like. Let them go further than any man's
memory, and prepare themselves for the search of their fathers (Job_8:8), and they
would not find an account of the like in any record. Note, Those that outdo their
predecessors in sin may justly expect to fall under greater and sorer judgments than
any of their predecessors knew. 2. It was such as would not be forgotten in the ages
to come (Joe_1:3): “Tell you your children of it; let them know what dismal tokens of
the wrath of God you have been under, that they make take warning, and may learn
obedience by the things which you have suffered, for it is designed for warning to
them also. Yea, let your children tell their children, and their children another
generation; let them tell it not only as a strange thing, which may serve for matter of
talk” (as such uncommon accidents are records in our almanacs - It is so long since
the plague, and fire - so long since the great frost, and the great wind), “but let them
tell it to teach their children to stand in awe of God and of his judgments, and to
tremble before him.” Note, We ought to transmit to posterity the memorial of God's
judgments as well as of his mercies.
JAMISON, "Joe_1:1-20. The desolate aspect of the country through the plague of
locusts; the people admonished to offer solemn prayers in the temple; for this
calamity is the earnest of a still heavier one.
Joel — meaning, “Jehovah is God.”
son of Pethuel — to distinguish Joel the prophet from others of the name.
Persons of eminence also were noted by adding the father’s name.
13

14. BENSON, "Joel 1:1-3. Hear this, ye old men — Ye that have seen and remember
many things. Hath this been in your days, &c. — Give attention; and when you
have heard and considered, say whether any thing like the calamities which I am
about to denounce hath ever happened in your days, or in the days of your
fathers. In this way the prophet shows how great and unparalleled this dearth,
which he fore-tels, would be. Tell ye your children — Let these prophecies be
handed down to distant generations, and also an account of the events; that, the
events being compared with the prophecy, it may be seen how exactly they were
foretold.
COFFMAN, "Verse 1
This whole chapter (Joel 1:1-20) relates to a terrible and destructive locust
plague that came upon Israel, particularly Judah, a disaster so overwhelming
that no escape was possible. The fact of it is dramatically stated (Joel 1:1-4); the
prophet's admonition to the people is given in three terse commandments: (1)
"Awake ..." (Joel 1:5-7), (2) "Lament" (Joel 1:8-12), and (3) "Gird yourselves
with sackcloth ..." (Joel 1:13-14). Despite the fact of these appeals being directed
to three different classes, namely, the drunkards, the agricultural community,
and the priests, they should be understood as applicable generally to all the
people, and not merely to specific groups.
As in many another human disaster resulting from natural causes, the prophets
of God, and all persons with spiritual discernment, have invariable associated
such things with the wrath of God, due to divine disapproval of human sin and
wickedness. Joel at once concluded that the locust disaster was a harbinger of
"the day of the Lord," a truth that is not nullified by the fact that the Final
Judgment was not to occur for at least 2,700 years! That disaster which so long
ago brought fear and despair to a portion of the earth's population was a type of
the final and eternal judgment that shall overwhelm all men; and significantly,
many other such natural disasters since that time (as well as before that time)
should be understood in exactly the same way! We must therefore reject the
superficial interpretation of the final paragraph of this chapter (Joel 1:15-20)
which views it merely as Joel's foolish fear that the end of time was at hand.
Joel 1:1
"The word of Jehovah that came to Joel the son of Pethuel."
"The word of Jehovah ..." This phrase identifies the content of this prophecy as
the inviolate and eternal word of Almighty God, and so we receive and interpret
it. It had an immediate and compelling relevance to the first generation that
received it and is no less pertinent and relevant to our own times. Great natural
disasters are still taking place on earth, in the face of which men are just as
powerless and helpless as were the ancient Jews who struggled against an
overwhelming invasion of devastating locusts. God wanted his people to see in
that natural catastrophe something far more than merely an awesome natural
phenomenon; and therefore God moved to reveal through his holy prophet what
the genuine significance of such an event really is. This significance still should
14

15. be recognized in all physical disasters that torment and destroy men upon earth,
as was beautifully discerned by Boren:
"It is my conviction that the eruption of Mount St. Helens is an awesome display
of the omnipotent power of God, and one of the countless warnings of God to
humankind of impending judgment! Certainly, God warns through his word;
but he also warns through the observable cataclysmic happenings of the natural
world."[1]
One of the reasons, therefore, why God gave his word to Joel upon the occasion
of a great natural disaster is that men of all subsequent centuries should know
how to interpret such things.
It is wrong to refer the judgments and conclusions that are set forth in Joel as
merely the judgments and conclusions of the prophet himself. On the day of
Pentecost, an inspired apostle of Christ said:
"This is that which hath been spoken through the prophet Joel: And it shall be
in the last days, saith God, I will pour forth of my Spirit .... etc." (Acts 2:16-17).
Note particularly the words "spoken through the prophet Joel ... saith God ..."
We may be certain therefore that no merely naturalistic origin of the great
conclusions in Joel is possible. The words spoken and the conclusions given are
of God Himself, and not merely based upon the prophet's fears, interpretations
and discernments. For this reason, such interpretations as the following should
be rejected:
"So terrible was the devastation that the prophet feared that Yahweh's Day, the
judgment of Yahweh's people, was near at hand.[2] Joel regards the locust
plague as comparable to any other mighty act of Israel's history."[3]
It was not merely Joel's fears that connected the locust plague with the Day of
the Lord; it was not merely Joel's private conclusion that the locust plague was
comparable to any other mighty act of God in the history of Israel. These
conclusions were part of the "word of Jehovah" which came to Joel.
"Joel the son of Pethuel ..." Despite the fact of there being a dozen persons
named "Joel" in the O.T., the name "Pethuel" is found nowhere else. It has the
utility, thus, of dissociating Joel from others of the same name in Hebrew history.
The use of expressions like, "son of ... etc." "was analogous to our use of second
names."[4
ELLICOTT, “(1) Joel.—Compounded of Jehovah—El, the composite title of the
God of Revelation and of Nature, which is the subject of Psalms 19. It was a
favourite name among the Jews, and was borne by an ancestor of Samuel, who
gave it to his elder son. There is nothing known of the personal history of Joel
the prophet, except the name of his father, Pethuel, or—LXX.—Bethuel.
NICOLL, "The Message of the Book of Joel
15

16. Joel 1:1
The book of Joel , as we have it, consists of two parts.
I. A violent plague of locusts had visited the land, and from this destruction the
Prophet saw nothing to save the people but repentance. In his call to repentance
we notice four suggestions.
a. He discovers to the people the condition of affairs. He challenges them to say
whether, in the memory of anyone living, a crisis of such importance had arisen.
b. He bids them wait for the desolation that covers the land. He calls in the
nation to weep as a virgin mourning for the spouse of her youth.
c. He warns them that all that has happened is but the prelude of more awful
judgments.
d. But having described to them the greatness of their danger, the Prophet goes
on to tell them that from this danger they can only escape by genuine contrition
and sincere repentance.
II. The Prophet"s call to repentance had not been in vain, and to the humble and
penitent nation Joel was sent to declare the Divine promise. In this we notice that
it was:—
a. A promise of Restoration. Very shortly after refreshing showers had fallen,
and the country, bare, barren, and desolate, was once more showing signs of life.
b. A promise of Refreshment. Upon the nation penitent and restored, the gift of
God"s spirit was to fall, bringing with it a new revelation of God, and a new
power to serve Him in the world.
c. A promise of Deliverance. The day of the Lord, which was certainly coming,
was to be a day of salvation to the Lord"s people by being a day of destruction to
their enemies.
d. A promise of Rest. No more famine, no more scarcity, no more barrenness, no
more conflict; but rest and peace and joy in favour of the Lord.
III. The story of the book of Joel is a story with a national bearing. The language
of this book had a clear and definite meaning for those to whom it was spoken,
and no doubt much in the book has been already fulfilled. But the fulfilment of
the book as a whole belongs to the time of the millennial glory when Israel shall
have received and enthroned as King her long rejected Messiah.
IV. But let us not lose sight of its individual bearing. It is a call to contrition and
repentance. God bids us recognize, and that speedily, the sinfulness of our
present lives, and bids us humble ourselves before Him because of that.
16

17. —G. H. C. Macgergor, Messages of the Old Testament, p167.
References.—II:1.—J. Keble, Sermons for Sundays After Trinity, part ii. p342.
G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, pp163 , 272.
BRIDGEWAY, "1:1-2:11 THE GREAT LOCUST PLAGUE
Effects of the plague (1:1-20)
So devastating is the current locust plague, that even the oldest people cannot
remember anything like it. The whole countryside has been stripped bare. Joel
tells the people to pass the story of the plague on to their children and
grandchildren, so that it will not be forgotten (1:1-4). Those who have greedily
lived for their own pleasure are punished. They will no longer get drunk with
wine, because the locusts have destroyed the vineyards (5-7).
The people mourn as a young bride mourns when she has lost her bridegroom.
She had looked forward to happiness, but instead she has misery (8). The priests
mourn, because with the destruction of the fields and vineyards the people
cannot bring their cereal and wine offerings (9). The ground mourns, because it
cannot fulfil its natural purpose of producing grain, wine and oil (10). And the
farmers mourn, because their crops have been ruined (11-12).
Joel now reveals that the locust plague is not an accident; it is a direct judgment
from God. The priests therefore must lead the nation in repentance. First they
must show their own repentance, then they must gather the leaders and people
together to cry to the Lord for mercy (13-14).
The people must acknowledge that this disaster is from God. It is a foretaste of
the great day of the Lord when he intervenes in judgment in the affairs of the
human race. They have the evidence before their eyes in the form of hungry
people, ruined crops and starving animals. Surely, they must see that this is
God's judgment upon them (15-18). Therefore, God is the one to whom the
prophet cries; he alone can save the nation from total ruin (19-20).
NISBET, "
THE PROPHET JOEL
‘The word of the Lord that came to Joel.’
Joel 1:1
There is this value in the study of Joel—that he touches nearly the whole round
of the Christian year, or which is the same thing, of Christian experience. Joel is
the prophet of the great repentance, of the Pentecostal gift, and of the final
conflict of great principles.
17

18. He brings a message for Lent, for Whitsuntide, and for Advent. We hear the
words—‘Turn ye to the Lord.’ We read of the outpouring of the Spirit, and we
shall not be less earnest for missions when we recall that promise given us by
Joel—‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.’ We may mark the multitudes
gathered in the valley of decision.
I. Of the man himself and his ago we know practically nothing.—The man is
little more than a name to us. His father was Pethuel—that is all. What manner
of man?—in what rank of life?—what forces or gifts of frame he possessed?—we
cannot tell. The date assigned to him has been as early as Joash, and as late as
after the Exile. The tendency of recent opinion is towards the later date; but for
our purpose he is Joel, the son of Pethuel; and he is nothing more to us.
This is, perhaps, the more strange because he was a successful prophet. He
accomplished a remarkable moral revolution; he announced the great
illumination of the Holy Spirit; he spoke of the great conflict of history. His
words, so far as this goes, did not fall on dull ears. He spoke; the people heard.
All classes, ages, and degrees joined in the solemn service; they adopted his
words, and prayed as he bade them. His ascendancy was complete—I had almost
said unique, compared with the broken and doubtful supremacy of other
prophets. And yet of this successful prophet we know, as I have said, just
nothing.
II. One reflection here is simple enough. What are we compared with the
work?—The temple of God has to be built: stones—living stones—converted and
regenerated men and women—are to form the material of that sanctuary. When
the temple is built, who asks the names of the workmen who laid the separate
stones? Will it not be enough for us, when we see the noble proportions and
dazzling beauty of the divinely-royal building, that we have been privileged to
place a single stone there? The joy of the true prophet is like that of the Baptist.
He (the Lord and Master) must increase. What matter if I decrease, or I be
forgotten, so long as their growth in joy is fulfilled?
Where this spirit of self-suppression is, there is power. No dim or uncertain
thought mars the concentration of purpose. Feebler or more selfish natures
dread to lose self,—shrink from sitting in King Arthur’s chair—but Sir Galahad
saw its meaning and understood its transforming power, and how it gave in
seeming to take away, and he sat within the chair where all self died away,
saying, ‘If I lose myself—I find myself.’
III. Another reflection may arise from our ignorance here.—We scarcely know
the date in which he lived, but this is not necessary for understanding the
direction and drift of his ministry. The spiritual value of many things is
independent of chronology. Doubtless if we could settle his era with accuracy we
should more clearly understand some of his allusions, and enter with a more
minute appreciation into the significance of some of his phrases; but the broad
features of his teaching, the force, value, and method of his ministry, are
singularly independent of these details.
18

19. III. What then is his message?—He teaches spiritual principles, not for an age
but for all time.
(1) He is a prophet of rebuke and repentance. In this indeed he does not stand
alone. Few prophets were otherwise; but Joel calls to the people, and so
influences them that they gather to a great day of humiliation.
(2) The prophet gave guidance to people’s thoughts and pointed the significance
of the calamity.
Mere trouble does not melt the heart or subdue the will, but startling troubles
which come to disturb the monotony of indolently-expected prosperity are
nevertheless messengers of the Lord. The day of calamity, if rightly understood,
is the day of the Lord. Another prophet speaks the same truth. There were those
who imagined that the day of the Lord could only mean prosperous times. The
day of the Lord, said Amos, is darkness and not light.
The day of the Lord is described by Joel as a day of darkness and gloominess, a
day of clouds and thick darkness.
The calamity broke up two of the accustomed orders of life. The gifts of nature’s
order—the harvest of corn and wine—are snatched away. The usages of
religious order are suspended.
It is on this which the prophet fastens. True, the chains which bind the people to
their God are broken; the order of natural bounties is disturbed. Heaven no
longer gives food, and man deems that he can no longer win the favour of
Heaven by gifts since the daily offering is cut off.
May not the suspension of the accustomed order of things be the witness to the
existence of the highest order—the righteous order in which the righteous God
rules?
Thus this calamity is indeed the day of the Lord! It calls man to repair the bond
which is more precious than the bond of benefits or material gifts and sacrifices.
(3) Here we may pause and consider how hard it is boldly to rebuke vice in such
a sort as to lead men to repentance. It is hard to maintain this power of rebuke.
It is hard also to maintain the purity of this power. Rebuke of men’s sins so
easily enlists the assistance of our personal feelings. When once this unholy
alliance is permitted we assail men rather than men’s vices.
Bishop Boyd Carpenter.
Illustration
‘Pictorial, dramatic, awe-inspiring is the utterance of this prophet’s soul. The
effect is that of soul-disturbing music—mysterious, tragic, solemnising, yet
uplifting. In Joel we have a new and thrilling chapter in the age-long story of
19

20. man’s sense of God. Here is a soul aflame with the vision of God’s nearness to
the life of the world. The historic setting of this inspired truth-teller and his word
of God may be obscure, but Joel’s vivid sense of God abides to inspire all who
have ears to hear God’s varied messages to man. Be the vision twenty-three
hundred or six and twenty hundred years old, the spirit of man can still be
touched by its vision of God to reverence, humility, and hope.’
EXPOSITORS BIBLE COMMENTARY, "THE LOCUSTS AND THE DAY OF
THE LORD
Joel 1:2-20; Joel 2:1-17
JOEL, as we have seen, found the motive of his prophecy in a recent plague of
locusts, the appearance of which and the havoc they worked are described by
him in full detail. Writing not only as a poet but as a seer, who reads in the
locusts signs of the great Day of the Lord, Joel has necessarily put into his
picture several features which carry the imagination beyond the limits of
experience. And yet, if we ourselves had lived through such a plague, we should
be able to recognize how little license the poet has taken, and that the seer, so far
from unduly mixing with his facts the colors of Apocalypse, must have
experienced in the terrible plague itself enough to provoke all the religious and
monitory use which he makes of it.
The present writer has seen but one swarm of locusts, in which, though it was
small and soon swept away by the wind, he felt not only many of the features
that Joel describes, but even some degree of that singular helplessness before a
calamity of portent far beyond itself, something of that supernatural edge and
accent, which, by the confession of so many observers, characterize the locust-
plague and the earthquake above all other physical disasters. One summer
afternoon, upon the plain of Hauran, a long bank of mist grew rapidly from the
western horizon. The day was dull, and as the mist rose athwart the sunbeams,
struggling through clouds, it gleamed cold and white, like the front of a distant
snow storm. When it came near, it seemed to be more than a mile broad, and was
dense enough to turn the atmosphere raw and dirty, with a chill as of a summer
sea-fog, only that this was not due to any fall in the temperature. Nor was there
the silence of a mist. We were enveloped by a noise, less like the whirring of
wings than the rattle of hail or the crackling of bush on fire. Myriads upon
myriads of locusts were about us, covering the ground, and shutting out the view
in all directions. Though they drifted before the wind, there was no confusion in
their ranks. They sailed in unbroken lines, sometimes straight, sometimes wavy;
and when they passed pushing through our caravan, they left almost no
stragglers, except from the last battalion, and only the few dead which we had
caught in our hands. After several minutes they were again but a lustre on the
air, and so melted away into some heavy clouds in the east.
Modern travelers furnish us with terrible impressions of the innumerable
multitudes of a locust plague, the succession of their swarms through days and
weeks, and the utter desolation they leave behind them. Mr. Doughty writes:
20

21. "There hopped before our feet a minute brood of second locusts, of a leaden
color, with budding wings like the spring leaves, and born of those gay swarms
which a few weeks before had passed over and despoiled the desert. After forty
days these also would fly as a pestilence, yet more hungry than the former, and
fill the atmosphere." And later: "The clouds of the second locust brood which
the Aarab call ‘Am’dan, ‘pillars,’ flew over us for some days, invaded the booths
and for blind hunger even bit our shins." It was "a storm of rustling wings."
"This year was remembered for the locust swarms and great summer heat." A
traveler in South Africa says: "For the space of ten miles on each side of the Sea-
Cow river and eighty or ninety miles in length, an area of sixteen or eighteen
hundred square miles, the whole surface might literally be said to be covered
with them." In his recently published book on South Africa, Mr. Bryce writes:-
"It is a strange sight, beautiful if you can forget the destruction it brings with it.
The whole air, to twelve or even eighteen feet above the ground, is filled with the
insects, reddish brown in body, with bright gauzy wings. When the sun’s rays
catch them it is like the sea sparkling with light. When you see them against a
cloud they are like the dense flakes of a driving snow-storm. You feel as if you
had never before realized immensity in number. Vast crowds of men gathered at
a festival, countless tree-tops rising along the slope of a forest ridge, the chimneys
of London houses from the top of St. Paul’s-all are as nothing to the myriads of
insects that blot out the sun above and cover the ground beneath and fill the air
whichever way one looks. The breeze carries them swiftly past, but they come on
in fresh clouds, a host of which there is no end, each of them a harmless creature
which you can catch and crush in your hand, but appalling in their power of
collective devastation."
And take three testimonies from Syria:
"The quantity of these insects is a thing incredible to any one who has not seen it
himself; the ground is covered by them for several leagues."
"The whole face of the mountain was black with them. On they came like a living
deluge. We dug trenches and kindled fires, and beat and burnt to death heaps
upon heaps, but the effort was utterly useless. They rolled up the mountain-side,
and poured over rocks, walls, ditches, and hedges, those behind covering up and
passing over the masses already killed. For some days they continued to pass.
The noise made by them in marching and foraging was like that of a heavy
shower falling upon a distant forest."
"The roads were covered with them, all marching and in regular lines, like
armies of soldiers, with their leaders in front; and all the opposition of man to
resist their progress was in vain." Having consumed the plantations in the
country, they entered the towns and villages. "When they approached our
garden all the farm servants were employed to keep them off, but to no avail;
though our men broke their ranks for a moment, no sooner had they passed the
men than they closed again, and marched forward through hedges and ditches as
before. Our garden finished, they continued their march toward the town,
devastating one garden after another. They have also penetrated into most of our
21

22. rooms: whatever one is doing one hears their noise from without, like the noise of
armed hosts, or the running of many waters. When in an erect position their
appearance at a little distance is like that of a well-armed horseman."
Locusts are notoriously adapted for a plague, "since to strength incredible for so
small a creature, they add saw-like teeth, admirably calculated to eat up all the
herbs in the land." They are the incarnation of hunger. No voracity is like theirs,
the voracity of little creatures, whose million separate appetites nothing is too
minute to escape. They devour first grass and leaves, fruit and foliage,
everything that is green and juicy.
Then they attack the young branches of trees, and then the hard bark of the
trunks. "After eating up the corn, they fell upon the vines, the pulse, the willows,
and even the hemp, notwithstanding its great bitterness." "The bark of figs,
pomegranates, and oranges, bitter, hard, and corrosive, escaped not their
voracity." "They are particularly injurious to the palm-trees; these they strip of
every leaf and green particle, the trees remaining like skeletons with bare
branches." "For eighty or ninety miles they devoured every green herb and
every blade of grass." "The gardens outside Jaffa are now completely stripped,
even the bark of the young trees having been devoured, and look like a birch-tree
forest in winter." "The bushes were eaten quite bare, though the animals could
not have been long on the spot. They sat by hundreds on a bush gnawing the rind
and the woody fibres." "Bamboo groves have been stripped of their leaves and
left standing like saplings after a rapid bush fire, and grass has been devoured so
that the bare ground appeared as if burned." "The country did not seem to be
burnt, but to be much covered with snow through the whiteness of the trees and
the dryness of the herbs." The fields finished, they invade towns and houses, in
search of stores. Victual of all kinds, hay, straw, and even linen and woolen
clothes and leather bottles, they consume or tear in pieces. They flood through
the open, unglazed windows and lattices: nothing can keep them out.
These extracts prove to us what little need Joel had of hyperbole in order to read
his locusts as signs of the Day of Jehovah; especially if we keep in mind that
locusts are worst in very hot summers, and often accompany an absolute drought
along with its consequence of prairie and forest fires. Some have thought that, in
introducing the effects of fire, Joel only means to paint the burnt look of a land
after locusts have ravaged it. But locusts do not drink up the streams, nor cause
the seed to shrivel in the earth. [Joel 1:20; Joel 1:17] By these the prophet must
mean drought, and by "the flame that has burned all the trees of the field," [Joel
1:19] the forest fire, finding an easy prey in the trees which have been reduced to
firewood by the locusts’ teeth.
Even in the great passage in which he passes from history to Apocalypse, from
the gloom and terror of the locusts to the lurid dawn of Jehovah’s Day, Joel
keeps within the actual facts of experience:-
"Day of darkness and murk,
Day of cloud and heavy mist,
22

23. Like dawn scattered on the mountains,
A people many and powerful."
No one who has seen a cloud of locusts can question the realism even of this
picture: the heavy gloom of the immeasurable mass of them, shot by gleams of
light where a few of the sun’s imprisoned beams have broken through or across
the storm of lustrous wings. This is like dawn beaten down upon the hilltops, and
crushed by rolling masses of cloud, in conspiracy to prolong the night. No: the
only point at which Joel leaves absolute fact for the wilder combinations of
Apocalypse is at the very close of his description, Joel 2:10-11, and just before his
call to repentance. Here we find, mixed with the locusts, earthquake and
thunderstorm; and Joel has borrowed these from the classic pictures of the Day
of the Lord, using some of the very phrases of the latter:-
"Earth trembles before them,
Heaven quakes, Sun and moon become black,
The stars withdraw their shining,
And Jehovah utters His voice before His army."
Joel, then, describes, and does not unduly enhance, the terrors of an actual
plague. At first his whole strength is so bent to make his people feel these, that,
though about to call to repentance, he does not detail the national sins which
require it. In his opening verses he summons the drunkards (Joel 1:5), but that is
merely to lend vividness to his picture of facts, because men of such habits will be
the first to feel a plague of this kind. Nor does Joel yet ask his hearers what the
calamity portends. At first he only demands that they shall feet it, in its
uniqueness and its own sheer force.
Hence the peculiar style of the passage. Letter for letter, this is one of the
heaviest passages in prophecy. The proportion in Hebrew of liquids to the other
letters is not large; but here it is smaller than ever. The explosives and dentals
are very numerous. There are several key-words, with hard consonants and long
vowels, used again and again: Shuddadh, ‘a-bhlah, ‘umlal, hobbish. The longer
lines into which Hebrew parallelism tends to run are replaced by a rapid series
of short, heavy phrases, falling like blows. Critics have called it rhetoric. But it is
rhetoric of a very high order and perfectly suited to the prophet’s purpose. Look
at Joel 1:10 :shuddadh sadheh, ‘abhlah ‘adhamah, shuddadh daghan, hobhish
tirosh, ‘umlal yishar. Joel loads his clauses with the most leaden letters he can
find, and drops them in quick succession, repeating the same heavy word again
and again, as if he would stun the careless people into some sense of the bare,
brutal weight of the calamity which has befallen them.
Now Joel does this because he believes that, if his people feel the plague in its
proper violence, they must be convinced that it comes from Jehovah. The
23

24. keynote of this part of the prophecy is found in Joel 1:15 : "Keshodh
mishshaddhai," "like violence from the All-violent doth it come." "If you feel
this as it is, you will feel Jehovah Himself in it. By these very blows, He and His
Day are near. We had been forgetting how near." Joel mentions no crime, nor
enforces any virtue: how could he have done so in so strong a sense that "the
Judge was at the door"? To make men feel that they had forgotten they were in
reach of that Almighty Hand, which could strike so suddenly and so hard-Joel
had time only to make men feel that, and to call them to repentance. In this we
probably see some reflection of the age: an age when men’s thoughts were
thrusting the Deity further and further from their life; when they put His Law
and Temple between Him and themselves: and when their religion, devoid of the
sense of His Presence, had become a set of formal observances, the rending of
garments and not of hearts. But He, whom His own ordinances had hidden from
His people, has burst forth through nature and in sheer force of calamity. He has
revealed Himself, El-Shaddhai, God All-violent, as He was known to their
fathers, who had no elaborate law or ritual to put between their fearful hearts
and His terrible strength, but cowered before Him, helpless on the stripped soil,
and naked beneath His thunder. By just these means did Elijah and Amos bring
God home to the hearts of ancient Israel. In Joel we see the revival of the old
nature-religion, and the revenge that it was bound to take upon the elaborate
systems which had displaced it, but which by their formalism and their artificial
completeness had made men forget that near presence and direct action of the
Almighty which it is nature’s own office to enforce upon the heart.
The thing is true, and permanently valid. Only the great natural processes can
break up the systems of dogma and ritual in which we make ourselves
comfortable and formal, and drive us out into God’s open air of reality. In the
crash of nature’s forces even our particular sins are forgotten, and we feel, as in
the immediate presence of God, our whole, deep need of repentance. So far from
blaming the absence of special ethics in Joel’s sermon, we accept it as natural
and proper to the occasion.
Such, then, appears to be the explanation of the first part of the prophecy, and
its development towards the call to repentance, which follows it. If we are
correct, the assertion is false that no plan was meant by the prophet. For not only
is there a plan, but the plan is most suitable to the requirements of Israel, after
their adoption of the whole Law in 445, and forms one of the most necessary and
interesting developments of all religion: the revival, in an artificial period, of
those primitive forces of religion which nature alone supplies, and which are
needed to correct formalism and the forgetfulness of the near presence of the
Almighty. We see in this, too, the reason of Joel’s archaic style, both of
conception and expression: that likeness of his to early prophets which has led so
many to place him between Elijah and Amos. They are wrong. Joel’s simplicity is
that not of early prophecy, but of the austere forces of this revived and applied to
the artificiality of a later age.
One other proof of Joel’s conviction of the religious meaning of the plague might
also have been pled by the earlier prophets, but certainly not in the terms in
which Joel expresses it. Amos and Hoses had both described the destruction of
24

25. the country’s fertility in their day as God’s displeasure on His people and (as
Hosea puts it) His divorce of His Bride from Himself. But by them the physical
calamities were not threatened alone: banishment from the land and from
enjoyment of its fruits was to follow upon drought, locusts, and famine. In
threatening no captivity Joel differs entirely from the early prophets. It is a mark
of his late date. And he also describes the divorce between Jehovah and Israel,
through the interruption of the ritual by the plague, in terms and with an accent
which could hardly have been employed in Israel before the Exile. After the
rebuilding of the Temple and restoration of the daily sacrifices morning and
evening, the regular performance of the latter was regarded by the Jews with a
most superstitious sense of its indispensableness to the national life. Before the
Exile, Jeremiah, for instance, attaches no importance to it, in circumstances in
which it would have been not unnatural for him, priest as he was, to do so.
[Jeremiah 14:1-22] But after the Exile, the greater scrupulousness of the
religious life, and its absorption in ritual, laid extraordinary emphasis upon the
daily offering, which increased to a most painful degree of anxiety as the
centuries went on. The New Testament speaks of "the Twelve Tribes constantly
serving God day and night"; [Acts 26:7] and Josephus, while declaring that in no
siege of Jerusalem before the last did the interruption ever take place in spite of
the stress of famine and war combined, records the awful impression made alike
on Jew and heathen by the giving up of the daily sacrifice on the 17th of July,
A.D. 70, during the investment of the city by Titus. This disaster, which Judaism
so painfully feared at every crisis in its history, actually happened, Joel tells us,
during the famine caused by the locusts. "Cut off are the meal and the drink
offerings from the house of Jehovah. [Joel 1:9; Joel 1:13] Is not food cut off from
our eves, joy and gladness from the house of our God? [Joel 2:14] Perhaps He
will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him, meal and drink offering
for Jehovah our God." [Joel 1:16] The break "of the continual symbol of
gracious intercourse between Jehovah and His people, and the main office of
religion," means divorce between Jehovah and Israel. "Wail like a bride girt in
sackcloth for the husband of her youth! Wail, O ministers of the altar, O
ministers of God!" [Joel 1:8; Joel 1:13] This then was another reason for reading
in the plague of locusts more than a physical meaning. This was another proof,
only too intelligible to scrupulous Jews, that the great and terrible Day of the
Lord was at hand. Thus Joel reaches the climax of his argument. Jehovah is
near, His Day is about to break. From this it is impossible to escape on the
narrow path of disaster by which the prophet has led up to it. But beneath that
path the prophet passes the ground of a broad truth, and on that truth, while
judgment remains still as real, there is room for the people to turn from it. If
experience has shown that God is in the present, near and inevitable, faith
remembers that He is there not willingly for judgment, but with all His ancient
feeling for Israel and His zeal to save her. If the people choose to turn, Jehovah,
as their God and as one who works for their sake, will save them. Of this God
assures them by His own word. For the first time in the prophecy He speaks for
Himself. Hitherto the prophet has been describing the plague and summoning to
penitence. "But now oracle of Jehovah of Hosts." [Joel 2:12] The great covenant
name, "Jehovah your God," is solemnly repeated as if symbolic of the historic
origin and age-long endurance of Jehovah’s relation to Israel; and the very
words of blessing are repeated which were given when Israel was called at Sinai
25

26. and the covenant ratified:-
"For He is gracious and merciful,
Long-suffering and plenteous in leal love.
And relents Him of the evil"
He has threatened upon you. Once more the nation is summoned to try Him by
prayer: the solemn prayer of all Israel, pleading that He should not give His
people to reproach.
"The Word of Jehovah which came to Jo’el the son of Pethfl’el. Hear this, ye old
men, And give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has the like been in your days, Or
in the days of your fathers? Tell it to your children, And your children to their
children, And their children to the generation that follows. That which the
Shearer left the Swarmer hath eaten, And that which the Swarmer left the
Lapper hath eaten, And that which the Lapper left the Devourer hath eaten."
These are four different names for locusts, which it is best to translate by their
literal meaning. Some think that they represent one swarm of locusts in four
stages of development, but this cannot be, because the same swarm never returns
upon its path, to complete the work of destruction which it had begun in an
earlier stage of its growth. Nor can the first-named be the adult brood from
whose eggs the others spring, as Doughty has described, for that would account
only for two of the four names. Joel rather describes successive swarms of the
insect, without reference to the stages of its growth, and he does so as a poet,
using, in order to bring out the full force of its devastation, several of the Hebrew
names that were given to the locust as epithets of various aspects of its
destructive power.
The names, it is true, cannot be said to rise in climax, but at least the most
sinister is reserved to the last.
"Rouse ye, drunkards, and weep, And wail, all ye bibbers of wine! The new wine
is cut off from your month! For a nation is come up on My land, Powerful and
numberless; His teeth are the teeth of the lion, And the fangs of the lioness his.
My vine he has turned to waste, And My fig-tree to splinters; He hath peeled it
and strawed it, Bleached are its branches!"
"Wail as a bride girt in sackcloth for the spouse of her youth. Cut off are the
meal and drink offerings from the house of Jehovah! In grief are the priests, the
ministers of Jehovah. The fields are blasted, the ground is in grief, Blasted is the
corn, abashed is the new wine, the oil pines away. Be ye abashed, O ploughmen!
Wail, O vine-dressers, For the wheat and the barley; The harvest is lost from the
field! The vine is abashed, and the fig-tree is drooping; Pomegranate, palm too
and apple, All trees of the field are dried up: Yea, joy is abashed and away from
the children of men."
26

27. In this passage the same feeling is attributed to men and to the fruits of the land:
"In grief are the priests, the ground is in grief." And it is repeatedly said that all
alike are "abashed." By this heavy word we have sought to render the effect of
the similarly sounding "hobhisha," that our English version renders "ashamed."
It signifies to be frustrated, and so "disheartened," "put out" "soured" would be
an equivalent, applicable to the vine and to joy and to men’s hearts.
"Put on mourning, O priests, beat the breast; Wail, ye ministers of the altar;
Come, lie down in sackcloth, O ministers of my God: For meal-offering and
drink-offering are cut off from the house of your God."
"Hallow a fast, summon an assembly, Gather all the inhabitants of the land to
the house of your God; And cry to Jehovah! ‘Alas for the Day! At hands the Day
of Jehovah. And as vehemence from the Vehement doth it come.’ Is not food cut
off from before us, Gladness and joy from the house of our God? The grains
shrivel under their hoes, The garners are desolate, the barns broken down, For
the corn is withered-what shall we put in them? The herds of cattle huddle
together, for they have no pasture; Yea, the flocks of sheep are forlorn. To Thee,
Jehovah, do I cry":
"For fire has devoured the pastures of the steppes, And the flame hath scorched
all the trees of the field. The wild beasts pant up to Thee: For the watercourses
are dry, And fire has devoured the pastures of the steppes."
Here, with the close of chapter 1, Joel’s discourse takes, pause, and in chapter 2
he begins a second with another call to repentance in face of the same plague.
But the plague has progressed. The locusts are described now in their invasion
not of the country but of the towns, to which they pass after the country is
stripped. For illustration of the latter see above. The "horn" which is to be
blown, Joel 2:1, is an "alarm horn," to warn the people of the approach of the
Day of the Lord, and not the Shophar which called the people to a general
assembly, as in Joel 2:15.
"Blow a horn in Zion, Sound the alarm in My holy mountain! Let all inhabitants
of the land tremble, For the Day of Jehovah comes-it is near! Day of darkness
and murk, day of cloud and heavy mist. Like dawn scattered on the mountains,
A people many and powerful; Its like has not been from of old, And shall not
again be for years of generation upon generation. Before it the fire devours, And
behind the flame consumes. Like the garden of Eden [Ezekiel 36:35] is the land
in front, And behind it a desolate desert; Yea, it lets nothing escape. Their visage
is the visage of horses, And like horsemen they run. They rattle like chariots over
the tops of the hills, Like the crackle of flames devouring stubble, Like a
powerful people prepared for battle. Peoples are writhing before them, Every
face gathers blackness."
"Like warriors they run, Like fighting men they come up the wall; They march
every man by himself, And they ravel not their paths. None jostles his comrade,
They march every man on his track, And plunge through the missiles unbroken.
They scour the city, run upon the walls, Climb into the houses, and enter the
27

28. windows like a thief, Earth trembles before them, Heaven quakes, Sun and moon
become black, The stars withdraw their shining. And Jehovah utters His voice
before His army: For very great is His host; Yea, powerful is He that performeth
His word, Great is the Day of Jehovah, and very awful: Who may abide it?"
"But now hear the oracle of Jehovah: Turn ye to Me with all your heart, And
with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend ye your hearts and not your
garments, And turn to Jehovah your God: For He is gracious and merciful,
Long-suffering and plenteous in love, And relents of the evil. Who knows but He
will turn and relent, And leave behind Him a blessing, Meal-offering and drink-
offering to Jehovah your God?"
"Blow a horn in Zion, Hallow a fast, summon the assembly! Gather the people,
hallow the congregation, Assemble the old men, gather the children, and infants
at the breast; Let the bridegroom come forth from his chamber, And the bride
from her bower.
Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep between porch and altar; Let
them say, Spare, O Jehovah, Thy people, And give not Thine heritage to
dishonor, for the heathen to mock.
Why should it be said among the nations, Where is their God?"
An Invasion of Locusts
2 Hear this, you elders;
listen, all who live in the land.
Has anything like this ever happened in your
days
or in the days of your ancestors?
BARNES, "Hear this, ye old men - By reason of their age they had known and
28

29. heard much; they had heard from their fathers, and their father’s fathers, much
which they had not known themselves. Among the people of the east, memories of
past times were handed down from generation to generation, for periods, which to us
would seem incredible. Israel was commanded, so to transmit the vivid memories of
the miracles of God. The prophet appeals “to the old men, to hear,” and, (lest,
anything should seem to have escaped them) to the whole people of the land, to give
their whole attention to this thing, which he was about to tell them, and then,
reviewing all the evils which each had ever heard to have been inflicted by God upon
their forefathers, to say whether this thing had happened in their days or in the days
of their fathers.
CLARKE, "Ye old men - Instead of ‫הזקנים‬ hazzekenim old men, a few MSS.
have ‫הכהנים‬ haccohanim, ye priests, but improperly.
Hath this been in your days - He begins very abruptly; and before he proposes
his subject, excites attention and alarm by intimating that he is about to announce
disastrous events, such as the oldest man among them has never seen, nor any of
them learnt from the histories of ancient times.
GILL, "Hear this, ye old men,.... What the prophet was about to relate,
concerning the consumption of the fruits of the earth, by various sorts of creatures,
and by a drought; and these are called upon to declare if ever the like had been
known or heard of by them; who by reason of age had the greatest opportunities of
knowledge of this sort, and could remember what they had heard or seen, and would
faithfully relate it: this maybe understood of elders in office, as well as in age;
and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land; or "earth", not of the whole earth;
but of the land of Judea; who were more particularly concerned in this affair, and
therefore are required to listen attentively to it:
hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? that is, not
the selfsame thing, but anything equal to it; a judgment of the same kind and nature,
and of the same degree. By this question it seems the like had never been in the
memory of any man living; nor in former times, in the days of their ancestors, as
could be averted upon report; or attested on the credit of annals, chronicles, or other
methods of conveying the history of ages past. As for the plague of locusts in Egypt,
though they were such as; never find been, nor would be there any more; yet such or
greater, and more in number than those, might be in Judea; besides, they continued
but a few, lays at most, these four years successively, as Kimchi observes; and who
thinks that in Egypt there was but one sort of locusts, here four; but the passage he
quotes in Psa_78:46; contradicts him; to which may be added Psa_105:34.
HENRY, " The greatness of the judgment, expressed here in two things: - 1. It was
such as could not be paralleled in the ages that were past, in history, or in the
memory of any living, Joe_1:2. The old men are appealed to, who could remember
what had happened long ago; nay, and all the inhabitants of the land are called on to
testify, if they could any of them remember the like. Let them go further than any
man's memory, and prepare themselves for the search of their fathers (Job_8:8),
and they would not find an account of the like in any record. Note, Those that outdo
their predecessors in sin may justly expect to fall under greater and sorer judgments
than any of their predecessors knew. 2. It was such as would not be forgotten in the
ages to come (Joe_1:3): “Tell you your children of it; let them know what dismal
29

30. tokens of the wrath of God you have been under, that they make take warning, and
may learn obedience by the things which you have suffered, for it is designed for
warning to them also. Yea, let your children tell their children, and their children
another generation; let them tell it not only as a strange thing, which may serve for
matter of talk” (as such uncommon accidents are records in our almanacs - It is so
long since the plague, and fire - so long since the great frost, and the great wind), “but
let them tell it to teach their children to stand in awe of God and of his judgments,
and to tremble before him.” Note, We ought to transmit to posterity the memorial of
God's judgments as well as of his mercies.
JAMISON, "A spirited introduction calling attention.
old men — the best judges in question concerning the past (Deu_32:7; Job_32:7).
Hath this been, etc. — that is, Hath any so grievous a calamity as this ever been
before? No such plague of locusts had been since the ones in Egypt. Exo_10:14 is not
at variance with this verse, which refers to Judea, in which Joel says there had been
no such devastation before.
COFFMAN, ""Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land.
Hath this been in your days, or in the days of your fathers?"
"Old men ..." This is not a reference to some special class of leaders among the
people, but merely an appeal to those of the most advanced age who could more
readily confirm the uniqueness of the disaster that was upon them.
"All ye inhabitants of the land ..." The whole prophecy is addressed to all the
people, and not merely, to special classes.
"Hear this ..." The prophet, having himself heard God's Word is constrained to
share it with others.
God's Word is never for our selfish enjoyment; it brings with it a responsibility
for others. Perhaps that is why, in the N.T., so much stress is laid on oral
confession of Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9)[5]
The New English Bible is obviously correct in rendering "aged men" in this
verse instead of "elders," since it is not of "the rulers" of the people that the
prophet speaks here, but merely of those of great age, who neither in their own
lives or that of their ancestors as communicated to them had there ever occurred
anything of the magnitude of that overwhelming infestation of locusts.
COKE, “Joel 1:2. Hear this, ye old men— This prophesy begins with threatening
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the land of Judah, with such desolation of their
country, by swarms of locusts, as had never happened to them before in the
memory of the oldest inhabitants of the land, and as should occasion the utmost
distress to all sorts of persons among them. The havock that should be made by
these creatures is described in a lively manner. Their corn of all sorts should be
devoured, and all their choicest fruit-trees entirely destroyed; so that there
should be the greatest scarcity of provision in the land, and not enough to supply
30

31. the meat and drink-offerings for the altar of God. And what should increase this
calamity was, the excessive heat and drought which should happen at the same
time, whereby their herds and flocks should be almost ready to perish for want
of water. Chandler.
ELLICOTT, “(2, 3) Hath this been in your days.—The introduction points to the
startling nature of the portent: it was unexampled; it was a cause of
consternation to all who beheld it; it would be recollected as a subject of
wondering comment among succeeding generations. The hand of God was
evident, recalling the marvellous things he did in the land of Egypt, in the field of
Zoan.
WHEDON, “2. Hear this — A solemn summons to give attention to the words
about to be uttered (Amos 3:1; Amos 4:1; Amos 5:1).
Inhabitants of the land — With Joel, Judah, since all his interest seems to center
there (see Joel 1:14; Joel 2:1; Joel 2:32; Joel 3:1; Joel 3:17, etc.).
Old men — Not “elders” in an official sense, for, if mentioned at all by Joel, these
do not appear until Joel 1:14; but those who have lived longest, who have
experienced most, whose memories run back farthest, and whose testimony,
therefore, will be of greatest weight in a case where appeal to past experiences is
made.
This — That is, a calamity such as the one described in Joel 1:4. The witnesses
are asked whether such a calamity had been in their days, or whether the present
generation had been told that there had ever been one like it.
In the days of your fathers — “Among the people of the East memories of past
times were handed down from generation to generation for periods which to us
would seem incredible.” 3. The reply is not stated; the prophet continues, well
aware that the answer could only be an emphatic No! He requests his hearers to
hand down the story of the calamity from one generation to another as an event
unique and unparalleled.
Tell — The Hebrew verb comes from the same root from which is derived the
word “book.” Here the verb is in the intensive form; it means more, therefore,
than ordinary telling; it means the giving of careful, detailed information. This
verse may be compared with Psalms 78:5-7; Deuteronomy 4:9; Deuteronomy
6:6-7; Deuteronomy 6:20-24; Deuteronomy 11:19, etc. The memory of the
wonders of Jehovah’s love, his deliverances, his laws and statutes were to be
handed down from father to son; here the memory of unparalleled woe and
judgment; such story would not be without its lessons.
PETT, "Verses 2-5
The Call To Hear What God Has To Say (Joel 1:2-5).
The prophecy opens with a call to all in Judah to hear what God has to say. The
31

32. opening call has in mind Exodus 10:1-2 which, in the context of a plague of
locusts, says, ‘Then YHWH said to Moses, --- “And that you may tell in the
hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the
Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am
YHWH.” Here Joel similarly calls on the old men, and all the inhabitants of the
land, to recognise the uniqueness of the occasion, and pass on what they learn to
those who will follow them, for he wants them to see that it is a judgment from
YHWH, a warning shot concerning what is to come in even greater measure in
the final Day of YHWH.
The judgment that they have experienced is then portrayed in terms of huge
plagues of locusts, both of flying locusts and of hopping locusts, possibly
following one after another in vast numbers, which have eaten up all that is in
the land and left it desolated.
Analysis of Joel 1:2-5.
a Hear this, you old men, and give ear, all you inhabitants of the land. Has this
been in your days, or in the days of your fathers? Tell you your children of it,
and your children their children, and their children another generation (Joel
1:2-3).
b What the adult locust (or ‘shearing locust’) has left the maturing locust (or
‘swarming locust’) has eaten, and what the maturing locust has left the young
locust (or ‘hopping locust’) has eaten, and what the young locust has left the
infant locust (or ‘destroying locust’) has eaten (Joel 1:4).
a Awake, you drunkards, and weep, and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because
of the sweet wine, for it is cut off from your mouth (Joel 1:5).
Note how the emphasis is on the huge plagues of locusts, with the call to consider
it going out in ‘a’ to the old men and all the people, and in the parallel to the
drunkards and drinkers of wine.
Joel 1:2-3
‘Hear this, you old men,
And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land.
Has this been in your days,
Or in the days of your fathers?’
‘Tell you your children of it, and your children their children,
And their children another generation.
The fact that the message has to be passed on for a number of generations
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33. indicates that this is something that is seen as a part of history and not as
something occurring at the end of it. What he is describing is not descriptive of
the final day of YHWH, but is rather something that is to be remembered in the
light of it being an example of what could happen in the Day of YHWH, that day
when YHWH brings about His purposes through judgment. The call to hear his
words are first spoken to the ‘old men’, because they are the wisest and most
knowledgeable in the land. Let them consider the significance of what has
happened. YHWH has spoken. And the call is then extended to all the people,
because what has happened has a message for everyone. And that message is
with regard to something the like of which has never been seen in living memory.
Indeed it is so important that its occurrence and its implications must be passed
on to succeeding generations. As mentioned in the introduction we have here a
parallel to Exodus 10:1-2, ‘Then YHWH said to Moses, --- “And that you may
tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly
with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know
that I am YHWH.” Similarly Joel wanted the people of his and succeeding days
to recognise in what had just happened a sign from YHWH of what He has done
and of what He will yet do.
And what is it that Joel sees as so climactic that he wants it to be noted and
remembered? It is that Judah have been visited by plagues of locusts unlike any
in living memory, plagues that have devastated the whole land, and which are a
sign of YHWH’s displeasure with Judah. Plagues of locusts were one of the
recognised curses which could come on God’s people when they broke the
covenant (Deuteronomy 28:38), and Solomon recognised in his prophetic prayer
that God would punish His people with locust swarms, and prayed that when
this happened they might seek and find forgiveness ((1 Kings 8:37; 2 Chronicles
6:28). So Joel had every reason to see in what had happened a signal judgment of
YHWH.
3 Tell it to your children,
and let your children tell it to their children,
and their children to the next generation.
BARNES, "Tell ye your children of it - In the order of God’s goodness,
generation was to declare to generation the wonders of His love. “He established a
testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers
33

34. that they should make them known to their children, that the generation to come
might know them, the children which should be born, who should arise and declare
them to their children that they might ... not forget the works of God” Psa_78:5-7.
This tradition of thankful memories God, as the Psalmist says, enforced in the law;
“Take heed to thyself, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, but
teach them thy sons and thy sons’ sons” (Deu_4:9; add Deu_6:6-7; Deu_11:19). This
was the end of the memorial acts of the ritual, that their sons might inquire the
meaning of them, the fathers tell them God’s wonders Deu_6:20-24. Now
contrariwise, they are, generation to generation, to tell concerning it, this message of
unheard-of woe and judgment. The memory of God’s deeds of love should have
stirred them to gratitude; now He transmits to them memories of woe, that they
might entreat God against them, and break off the sins which entail them.
CLARKE, "Tell ye your children of it - To heighten the effect, he still conceals
the subject, and informs them that it is such as should be handed down from father
to son through all generations.
GILL, "Tell ye your children of it,.... Give them a particular account of it;
describe the creatures and their number as near as you can; say when they begun and
how long they continued, and what devastations they made, and what was the cause
and reason of such a judgment, your sins and transgressions:
and let your children tell their children, and their children other
generation; or, "to the generation following" (l); let it be handed down from one
generation to another that it may be a caution to future posterity how they behave
and lest they bring down the like awful judgments on them. What this referred to was
as follows:
HENRY, "It was such as would not be forgotten in the ages to come (Joe_1:3):
“Tell you your children of it; let them know what dismal tokens of the wrath of God
you have been under, that they make take warning, and may learn obedience by the
things which you have suffered, for it is designed for warning to them also. Yea, let
your children tell their children, and their children another generation; let them tell
it not only as a strange thing, which may serve for matter of talk” (as such uncommon
accidents are records in our almanacs - It is so long since the plague, and fire - so
long since the great frost, and the great wind), “but let them tell it to teach their
children to stand in awe of God and of his judgments, and to tremble before him.”
Note, We ought to transmit to posterity the memorial of God's judgments as well as
of his mercies.
PULPIT, "Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their
children, and their children another generation. The prophet thus draws
attention to the event which be is about to relate, or rather predict, a8 a calamity
unknown in the memory of living men, unheard of in the days of their fathers,
unparalleled in the past experience of their nation, and one affecting all the
inhabitants of the land. He challenges the old men whose memory went furthest
back, and whose experience had been longest and largest, to confirm his statements;
he calls on the inhabitants of the land to consider an event in which they were all
34

35. concerned, and to recognize the hand of God in a disaster in which all would be
involved. But, though the visitation with which they are threatened had had no
precedent or parallel among the generation then present, or that which preceded it,
or for many long years before, it was not to remain without memorial or record in the
time to come. To this end the prophet commands his countrymen of Judah to relate
it to their children, to their grandchildren, and even to their great-grand-children.
The expression reminds us of Virgil’s—
"Yea, sons of sons, and those who shall from them be born."
It reads like a reminiscence of what is recorded of one of the plagues—the plague of
locusts—in Egypt, of which we read in Exo_10:6, "Which neither thy fathers, nor thy
fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day they were upon the earth unto this day;"
while the direction to have it transmitted by tradition seems an echo of what we read
in the second verse of the same chapter: "That thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son,
and of thy son’s son, what things I have wrought in Egypt." Similarly, it is written in
Psa_78:5, Psa_78:6, "He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in
Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their
children: that the generation to come might know them, even the children which
should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children." The solemn
manner in which the prophet draws attention to this by "Hear," "Give ear," and the
earnestness with which he insists on the record of it being handed on from
generation to generation, are intended to impress on the people the work of God in
this visitation, its severity, the sin that caused it, and the call to repentance conveyed
by it.
COFFMAN, ""Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their
children, and their children another generation."
Locust plagues were ordinary experiences in that part of the world during the
times of Joel, and for centuries prior to and subsequently to his times, as indeed
they still are; but this was not an ordinary locust plague.
The special significance of this one related not only to its severity, but also to the
fact that it is seen as a prelude to the divine devastation the prophet envisions for
the disobedient people of God, and those nations which have oppressed her.[6]
"Tell ye your children ... etc." There is unmistakable allusion to Exodus 10:2,
where the Lord charges Moses to tell Pharaoh that he will do signs,"[7] with
similar instructions for Pharaoh to tell his sons, etc. This indicates that this
mighty plague was comparable in gravity and origin to the plagues of Egypt and
the deliverance of God's people through the Red Sea. It must not be understood
as merely an extraordinary natural phenomenon, but as a direct judgment of
God upon wickedness. The reason why the details of this disaster were to be
remembered and passed on to succeeding generations was rightly stated by
Myers, "as a deterrent to sin."[8]
The proper understanding and interpretation of such natural disasters as that
recounted in Joel must always include the discernment of God's hand in them.
35

36. "God would ever have his children recognize his hand in all such visitations. For
the believer, there are no second causes. The Lord has said, "I Jehovah create
peace, and create evil." And he asks the question, "Shall there be evil in a city,
and the Lord hath not done it?" (Isaiah 45:7; Amos 3:6).[9]
4 What the locust swarm has left
the great locusts have eaten;
what the great locusts have left
the young locusts have eaten;
what the young locusts have left
other locusts[a] have eaten.
BARNES, "That which the palmerworm hath left, hath the locust
eaten - The creatures here spoken of are different kinds of locusts, so named from
their number or voracity. We, who are free from this scourge of God, know them only
by the generic name of locusts. But the law mentions several sorts of locusts, each
after its kind, which might be eaten . In fact, above eighty different kinds of locusts
have been observed , some of which are twice as large as that which is the ordinary
scourge of God . Slight as they are in themselves, they are mighty in God’s Hand;
beautiful and gorgeous as they are, floating in the sun’s rays , they are a scourge,
including other plagues, famine, and often, pestilence.
Of the four kinds, here named by the prophet, that rendered “locust” is so called
from its multitude, (from where Jeremiah says “they are more numerous than the
locust” See Jdg_6:5; Jdg_7:12; Psa_105:34; Nah_3:15. It is a proverb in Arabic
also)), and is, probably, the creature which desolates whole regions of Asia and
Africa. The rest are named from their voracity, the “gnawer,” “licker,” “consumer,”
but they are, beyond doubt, distinct kinds of that destroyer. And this is the
characteristic of the prophet’s threatening, that he foretells a succession of
destroyers, each more fatal than the preceding; and that, not according to the order
of nature. For in all the observations which have been made of the locusts, even when
successive flights have desolated the same land, they have always been successive
clouds of the same creature.
Over and above the fact, then, that locusts are a heavy chastisement from God,
these words of Joel form a sort of sacred proverb. They are the epitome of his whole
prophecy. It is “this” which he had called the old men to hear, and to say whether
they had known anything like “this;” that scourge came after scourge, judgment after
judgment, until man yielded or perished. The visitation of locusts was one of the
punishments threatened in the law, “Thou shall carry much seed out into the field,
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37. and shalt gather but little in, for the locust shall consume it” Deu_28:38. It was one
of God’s ordinary punishments for sin, in that country, like famine, or pestilence, or
blight, or mildew, or murrain, or (in this) potato disease. Solomon, accordingly, at
the dedication of the temple mentions the locust among the other plagues, which he
then solemnly entreated God to remove, when individuals or the whole people should
spread forth their hands in penitence toward that house 1Ki_8:37-38.
But the characteristic of “this” prophecy is the successiveness of the judgments,
each in itself, desolating, and the later following quick upon the earlier, and
completing their destructiveness. The judgments of God are linked together by an
invisible chain, each drawing on the other; yet, at each link of the lengthening chain,
allowing space and time for repentance to break it through. So in the plagues of
Egypt, God, “executing His judgments upon them by little and little, gave them time
for repentance” (Wisd. 12:10); yet, when Pharaoh hardened his heart, each followed
on the other, until he perished in the Red Sea. In like way God said, “him that
escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay; and him that escapeth from the sword
of Jehu shall Elisha slay” 1Ki_19:17. So, in the Revelation, the “trumpets” are
sounded Rev_8:1-13; Rev. 9; Rev_11:15, and “the vials of the wrath of God are
poured out upon the earth, one after the other” Rev. 16. Actual locusts were very
likely one of the scourges intended by the prophet. They certainly were not the whole;
but pictured others fiercer, more desolating, more overwhelming. The proverbial
dress gained and fixed people’s attention on the truth, which, if it had been presented
to the people nakedly, they might have turned from. Yet as, in God’s wisdom, what is
said generally, is often fulfilled specially, so here there were four great invaders which
in succession wasted Judah; the Assyrian, Chaldaean, Macedonian and Roman.
Morally, also, four chief passions desolate successively the human heart. : “For
what is designated by the “palmerworm,” which creeps with all its body on the
ground, except it be lust, which so pollutes the heart which it possesses, that it
cannot rise up to the love of heavenly purity? What is expressed by the “locust,”
which flies by leaps, except vain glory which exalts itself with empty presumptions?
What is typified by the “cankerworm,” almost the whole of whose body is gathered
into its belly, except gluttony in eating? What but anger is indicated by mildew,
which burns as it touches? What the “palmerworm” then “hath left the locust heath
eaten,” because, when the sin of lust has retired from the mind, vain glory often
succeeds. For since it is not now subdued by the love of the flesh, it boasts of itself, as
if it were holy through its chastity. “And that which the locust hath left, the
cankerworm hath eaten,” because when vain glory, which came, as it were, from
holiness, is resisted, either the appetite, or some ambitious desires are indulged in
too immoderately. For the mind which knows not God, is led the more fiercely to any
object of ambition, in proportion as it is not restrained by any love of human praise.
“That which the cankerworm hath left,” the mildew consumes, because when the
gluttony of the belly is restrained by abstinence, the impatience of anger holds fiercer
sway, which, like mildew, eats up the harvest by burning it, because the flame of
impatience withers the fruit of virtue. When then some vices succeed to others, one
plague devours the field of the mind, while another leaves it.”
CLARKE, "That which the palmerworm hath left - Here he begins to open
his message, and the words he chooses show that he is going to announce a
devastation of the land by locusts, and a famine consequent on their depredations.
What the different insects may be which he specifies is not easy to determine. I shall
give the words of the original, with their etymology.
The palmerworm, ‫גזם‬ gazam, from the same root, to cut short; probably the
37

38. caterpillar, or some such blight, from its cutting the leaves of the trees into pieces for
its nourishment.
The locust, ‫ארבה‬ arbeh, from ‫רבה‬ rabah, to multiply, from the immense increase
and multitude of this insect.
Cankerworm, ‫ילק‬ yelek, from ‫לק‬ lak, to lick or lap with the tongue; the reference is
uncertain.
Caterpillar, ‫חסיל‬ chasil, from ‫חסל‬ chasal, to consume, to eat up, the consumer.
Bishop Newcome translates the first grasshopper; the second, locust; the third,
devouring locust; and the fourth, consuming locust. After all that has been said by
interpreters concerning these four animals, I am fully of opinion that the arbeh, or
locust himself, is the gazam, the yelek, and the chasil and that these different names
are used here by the prophet to point out the locust in its different states, or progress
from embryo to full growth. See the note on Joe_2:2 (note).
GILL, "That which the palmer worm hath left hath the locust eaten,....
These, with the two following, are four kinds of, locusts as Jarchi observes; though it
is difficult to fix the particular species designed; they seem to have their names from
some peculiar properties belonging to them; as the first of these from their sheering
or cropping off the fruits and leaves of trees; and the second from the vast increase of
them, the multitude they bring forth and the large numbers they appear in:
and that which the locust hath left hath the canker worm eaten; which in
the Hebrew language is called from its licking up the fruits of the earth, by which it
becomes barren:
and that which the canker worm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten;
which has its name from wasting and consuming all that comes in its way: now these
came not together, but followed one another; not one one year, and another the
second, and so on throughout four years, as Kimchi thinks; for though the calamity
lasted some years as is manifest from Joe_2:25; yet it is not reasonable, that, for
instance what the palmer worm left the first year should remain in the fields and
vineyards, on the fig trees and vines till the next year for the locust to consume and is
on:, but rather these all appeared in succession in one and the same year; and so
what the palmer worm left having eaten up what was most agreeable to them, the
locust came and devoured what they had left; and then what they left was destroyed
by the canker worm, which fed on that which was most grateful to them; and last of
all came the caterpillar, and consumed all the others had left; and this might be
continued for years successively: when this calamity was, we have no account in
sacred history; whether it was in the seven years' famine in the days of Elisha, or the
same with what Amos speaks of, Amo_4:6; is not easy to say: and though it seems to
be literally understood, as the drought later mentioned, yet might be typical of the
enemies of the Jews succeeding one another in the destruction of them. Not of the
four monarchies, the Babylonians, Persians, Grecians, and Romans, as Lyra and
Abarbinel; since the Persians particularly never entered into the land of Judea and
wasted it; though this is the sense of the ancient Jews, as Jerom relates; for he says
the Hebrews interpret the "palmer worm" of the Assyrians, Babylonians, and
Chaldeans, who, coming from one climate of the world, destroyed both the ten and
the two tribes, that is, all the people of Israel: the locust they interpret of the Medes
and Persians, who, having overturned the Chaldean empire, carried the Jews captive:
the "canker worm" is the Macedonians, and all the successors of Alexander;
especially King Antiochus, surnamed Epiphanes, who like a canker worm sat in
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39. Judea, and devoured all the remains of the former kings, under whom were the wars
of the Maccabees: the "caterpillar" they refer to the Roman empire, the fourth and
last that oppressed the Jews, and drove them out of their borders. Nor of the several
kings of Assyria and Babylon, who followed one another, and wasted first the ten
tribes, and then the other two, as Tiglathpileser, Shalmaneser, Sennacherib, and
Nebuchadnezzar, so Theodoret; since this prophecy only relates to the two tribes.
Rather therefore this may point at the several invasions and incursions of the
Chaldean army into Judea, under Nebuchadnezzar and his generals; first, when he
came up against Jerusalem, and made Jehoiakim tributary to him; a second time,
when he carried Jehoiachin and his family into Babylon, with a multitude of the
Jews, and their wealth; a third time, when he besieged Jerusalem, and took it, and
Zedekiah the king, and carried him captive; and a fourth time, when Nebuzaradan
came and burnt the temple, and the houses of Jerusalem, and broke down the walls
of it, and cleared the land of its inhabitants and riches; see 2Ki_24:1.
HENRY, "The judgment itself; it is an invasion of the country of Judea by a great
army. Many interpreters both ancient and modern understand it of armies of men,
the forces of the Assyrians, which, under Sennacherib, took all the defenced cities of
Judah, and then, no doubt, made havoc of the country and destroyed the products of
it: nay, some make the four sorts of animals here names (Joe_1:4) to signify the four
monarchies which, in their turns, were oppressive to the people of the Jews, one
destroying what had escaped the fury of the other. Many of the Jewish expositors
think it is a parabolic expression of the coming of enemies, and their multitude, to lay
all waste. So the Chaldee paraphrast mentions these animals (Joe_1:4); but
afterwards (Joe_2:25) puts instead of them, Nations, peoples, tongues, languages,
potentates, and revenging kingdoms. But it seems much rather to be understood
literally of armies of insects coming upon the land and eating up the fruits of it.
Locusts were one of the plagues of Egypt. Of them it is said, There never were any
like them, nor should be (Exo_10:14), none such as those in Egypt, none such as
these in Judah - none like those locusts for bigness, none like these for multitude and
the mischief they did. The plague of locusts in Egypt lasted but for a few days; this
seems to have continued for four years successively (as some think), because here are
four sorts of insects mentioned (Joe_1:4), one destroying what the other left; but
others think they came all in one year. We are not told, in the history of the Old
Testament, when this happened, but we are sure that no word of God fell to the
ground; and, though a devastation by these insects is primarily intended here, yet it
is expressed in such a language as is very applicable to the destruction of the country
by a foreign enemy invading it, because, if the people were not humbled and
reformed by that less judgment which devoured the land, God would send this
greater upon them, which would devour the inhabitants; and by the description of
that they are bidden to take it for a warning. If this nation of worms do not subdue
them, another nation shall come to ruin them. Observe, 1. What these animals are
that are sent against them - locusts and caterpillars, palmer-worms and canker-
worms, Joe_1:4. We cannot now describe how these differed one from another; they
were all little insects, any one of them despicable, and which a man might easily
crush with his foot or with his finger; but when they came in vast swarms, or shoals,
they were very formidable and ate up all before them. Note, God is Lord of hosts, has
all creatures at his command, and, when he pleases, can humble and mortify a proud
and rebellious people by the weakest and most contemptible creatures. Man is said to
be a worm; and by this it appears that he is less than a worm, for, when God pleases,
worms are too hard for him, plunder his country, eat up that for which he laboured,
destroy the forage, and cut off the subsistence of a potent nation. The weaker the
instrument is that God employs the more is his power magnified. 2. What fury and
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40. force they came with. They are here called a nation (Joe_1:6), because they are
embodied, and act by consent, and as it were with a common design; for, though the
locusts have no king, yet they go forth all of them by bands (Pro_30:27), and it is
there mentioned as an instance of their wisdom. It is prudence for those that are
weak severally to unite and act jointly. They are strong, for they are without number.
The small dust of the balance is light, and easily blown away, but a heap of dust is
weighty; so a worm can do little (yet one worm served to destroy Jonah's gourd), but
numbers of them can do wonders. They are said to have teeth of a lion, of a great
lion, because of the great and terrible execution they do. Note, Locusts become as
lions when they come armed with a divine commission. We read of the locusts out of
the bottomless pit, that their teeth were as the teeth of lions, Rev_9:8. 3. What
mischief they do. They eat up all before them (Joe_1:4); what one leaves the other
devours; they destroy not only the grass and corn, but the trees (Joe_1:7): The vine is
laid waste. There vermin eat the leaves which should be a shelter to the fruit while it
ripens, and so that also perishes and comes to nothing. They eat the very bark of the
fig-tree, and so kill it. Thus the fig-tree does not blossom, nor is there fruit in the
vine.
JAMISON, "This verse states the subject on which he afterwards expands. Four
species or stages of locusts, rather than four different insects, are meant (compare
LeviticusLev_11:22). Literally, (1) the gnawing locust; (2) the swarming locust; (3)
the licking locust; (4) the consuming locust; forming a climax to the most destructive
kind. The last is often three inches long, and the two antennae, each an inch long.
The two hinder of its six feet are larger than the rest, adapting it for leaping. The first
“kind” is that of the locust, having just emerged from the egg in spring, and without
wings. The second is when at the end of spring, still in their first skin, the locusts put
forth little ones without legs or wings. The third, when after their third casting of the
old skin, they get small wings, which enable them to leap the better, but not to fly.
Being unable to go away till their wings are matured, they devour all before them,
grass, shrubs, and bark of trees: translated “rough caterpillars” (Jer_51:27). The
fourth kind, the matured winged locusts (see on Nah_3:16). In Joe_2:25 they are
enumerated in the reverse order, where the restoration of the devastations caused by
them is promised. The Hebrews make the first species refer to Assyria and Babylon;
the second species, to Medo-Persia; the third, to Greco-Macedonia and Antiochus
Epiphanes; the fourth, to the Romans. Though the primary reference be to literal
locusts, the Holy Spirit doubtless had in view the successive empires which assailed
Judea, each worse than its predecessor, Rome being the climax.
PULPIT, "Joe_1:4
That which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that
which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the
canker-worm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten. Some interpreters
consider, and rightly, we think, that the prophet enumerates in this verse four
different species of locusts. The common or general name is arbeh, from rabhah, to
be many; the gazam, or palmer-worm, is the gnawer, or biter, from a root (guzam)
which signifies "to gnaw, bite, or cut off;" the yeleq, or canker-worm, is the licker,
from yalaqlaqaq, to lick, or lick off; the chasil, or caterpillar, is the devourer, from
chasal, to cut off. Thus we have the locust, or multitudinous one, the gnawer, the
licker, and the devourer, either as
(1) four different species of locust; or
40

41. (2) the gnawer, licker, and devourer are poetical epithets of the locust, or
multitudinous one.
These names do not denote the locust
(1) at different stages, according to Credner. Nor
(2) can we with propriety understand them allegorically, with Jerome, Cyril, and
Theodoret, of the enemies of the Jews, whether
(a) the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Chaldeans,
(b) Medes and Persians,
(c) Macedonians and successors of Alexander, especially Antiochus, and
(d) the Romans;
or the hostile kings,
(a) Shahnaneser,
(b) Nebuchadnezzar,
(c) Antiochus, and
(d) the Romans;
or those other kings,
(a) Tiglath-Pileser,
(b) Shalma-neser,
(c) Sennacherib, and
(d) Nebuchadnezzar.
The most celebrated Hebrew commentators understand the passage of locusts in the
proper and literal sense. Thus Rashi says, "The palmer-worm locust, cankerworm,
and caterpillar are species of locusts; and the prophet prophesies about them that
they will come; and they came in those days, and they devoured all the fruit of the
trees and every herb of the field." Abon Ezra says, "This the prophet prophesied in
reference to the locust which should come to destroy the land. In the days of Moses
there was one kind of locust alone, but now, with the arbeh, there are the gazam and
yeleq and chasil, and these three kinds are joined." He also quotes Japhet as saying
"that gazam is equivalent to gozez, cutting, and the mere is like mere in chinmam
reykam; and yeleq, that which licks (yiloq) with its tongue … and chasil of some
signification (yachsele-nenu) as shall consume it." In like manner Kimohi gives the
derivation of the words as follows: "Some say that gazam is so called because it cuts
(gozez) the increase; and arbeh, because it is numerous in species; and yeleq,
because it licks and depastures by licking the herb; and chasil, became it cuts the
whole, from ’And the locust shall consume it’ (Deu_28:38)." When, however, Kimchi
distributes the comings of the locusts into four separate and successive years, we
must reject his interpretation in that respect. He says, "What the gazam left in the
first year, the locust ate in the second year; for the four kinds did not come in one
year, but one after another in four years; and he says, ’ I will restore to you the years
the locust hath eaten.’"
41

42. BENSON, "Joel 1:4. That which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust
eaten — A succession of noxious creatures hath perfectly destroyed the fruits of
the earth; which makes this judgment so strange and remarkable. It is usual with
the prophets to speak of things which were certainly about to take place, as
already come to pass; and it is likely that the prophet speaks thus here; and that
the sense is, That which the palmer-worm shall leave the locust shall eat. Bochart
hath assigned many probable reasons to show that the four Hebrew words here
used signify four species of locusts.
COFFMAN, ""That which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten; and
that which the locust hath left hath the canker-worm eaten; and that which the
canker-worm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten."
The two great problems of interpretation encountered in this verse regard (1) the
four different names applied to the destroying insects, and (2) the question of
whether or not this was a literal infestation.
As to the four different names, they have been supposed to refer to the locust at
various stages of its development, but the most thorough studies of that insect do
not reveal four different phases in its life cycle. As Keil said, "These words never
appear in simple plain prose,"[10] and all of them may therefore be poetic
references to the same insect. "The four names are not names applied in natural
history to four distinct species."[11]
The question about whether this was a literal disaster, or perhaps a symbolical
depiction of some future event prophesied by Joel, is decided by Joel 1:3, where
there is an undeniable reference to Exodus 10:2, with the mandatory deduction
that this disaster was comparable to the Egyptian plagues, which, of course, were
literal events.
The allegorical interpretation of these locusts, however, has been very attractive
to whole generations of interpreters.
On the margin of the Greek Codex Marchalianus (Q) of the sixth century, the
words for locusts in Joel 2:25 are identified with the Egyptians, Babylonians,
Assyrians and Greeks ... According to Merx, Joel's locusts are supernatural
apocalyptic creatures in Joel 1, and symbols of the invading armies of the end
times in Joel 2.[12]
The denial that the locusts were a literal disaster is totally frustrated by "before
our eyes" (Joel 1:16). That the recapitulation of the disaster in Joel 2 indeed has
overtones of the end times can hardly be discounted, due principally to the
manner of the apostle John's treatment of the locusts in Revelation 9.
The palmer-worm, locust, canker-worm, and caterpillar may therefore be
understood in this chapter as saying that, "One swarm of locusts after another
has invaded the land, and completely devoured its fruit."[13]
42

43. The notion that plagues in successive years are meant is from the mention of "the
years that the locust hath eaten" (Joel 2:25); but, again, from Keil:
We cannot possibly think of the field and garden fruits of two successive years,
because the fruits of the second year are not the leavings of the previous year,
but have grown afresh in the year itself.[14]
Before leaving this verse, it is of interest that Deere translated the four names as,
"shearer, swarmer, lapper, and devourer, describing four of the eighty or ninety
species of locusts in the East."[15] This understanding of the terms as different
kinds of locusts is widely accepted; but the view preferred here is that the words
are poetic descriptions of wave after wave of the devouring insects.
COKE, “Joel 1:4. That which the palmer-worm hath left, &c.— Bochart has
given many probable reasons to believe, that the four Hebrew words here used,
‫חסיל‬ chasil, ‫ילק‬ ielek, ‫ארבה‬ arbeh, ‫גזם‬ gazam, signify four species of locust; which
the learned reader will find in his Hieroz. tom. ii. lib. v. c. 1. See also Scheuchzer
on the place.
ELLICOTT, “(4) That which the palmerworm hath left.—The picture is
introduced suddenly and graphically. “Behold the desolation!” “Note the cause.”
The earth is bared by locusts beyond all previous experience. There were
different sorts of locusts; as many as ninety have been reckoned. The four names,
palmerworm, locust, cankerworm, caterpiller, indicate different swarms of the
insect. The first—Gazam—points to its voracity; the second—Arbeh—its
multitude; the third—Yelek—its manner of “licking up” the grass like cattle; the
fourth—Chasil—its destructive effect. The number enumerated, four, draws
attention to the “four sore judgments” with which Ezekiel was instructed to
threaten Jerusalem, and to the four foreign invasions by the Assyrians,
Chaldæans, Macedonians, and Romans.
WHEDON, “4. Description of the calamity to which Joel 1:2-3 point. “The land
is bare, swarm after swarm of destructive locusts have devoured the crops and
the foliage.” What are we to understand by the four classes of locusts mentioned:
(1) gazam, (2) arbeh, (3) yeleq, (4) hasil; The first may be rendered “shearer,”
the second “swarmer,” the third “licker,” the fourth “devourer.” Of these four
names arbeh seems to be the generic term for locust; it is the one used most
frequently in the Old Testament. Gazam occurs again only in Joel 2:25, and
Amos 4:9; in Amos the name is selected in the place of the common one because
it suggests in itself destructiveness. Yeleq seems to be used in Psalms 105:34, as
equivalent to arbeh, and in Nahum 3:15, the two are used apparently as
synonyms. In a similar way hasil is used as equivalent to arbeh in Deuteronomy
28:38; Isaiah 33:4, etc. From these facts it may be safe to infer that gazam, yeleq,
and hasil are all epithets applied to arbeh. The prophet piles up these names
simply for rhetorical purposes, “to picture the work of destruction as complete
and final.” So Wellhausen and Nowack, “The names are heaped up to exhaust
the genus even to its last individual.” This is a more probable interpretation than
that which makes the four names designations of four different kinds of locusts,
43

44. or of locusts in four successive stages of development. The latter view is
advocated by Credner, Wuensche, and others, but it is made impossible by Joel
2:25, where the four names occur in different order; again, the stage designated
by arbeh would be an undeveloped state, which is improbable, since it is the most
common term for locust; besides, it would be difficult to distinguish between four
separate stages in the life of the locust. That four different kinds of locusts are
meant cannot be shown from the context, and the use of the names in other
passages speaks against this view. Driver’s view, also, which regards the four
names in part as synonymous designations of the same species, in part as
designations of different species and in part as designating the ordinary locust in
different stages of development is improbable.
PETT, "‘What the adult locust (or ‘gnawing locust’) has left the maturing locust
(or ‘swarming locust’) has eaten,
And what the maturing locust has left the young locust (or ‘hopping locust’) has
eaten,
And what the young locust has left the infant locust (or ‘destroying locust’) has
eaten.’
The size and scale of the locust invasion is emphasised either by reference to all
levels of locust from maturity to infancy, as in the text, or equally likely by
reference to a number of swarms of locusts each of which is described in terms of
one well known aspect of locusts, as in brackets. The words used are all
descriptions of locusts, but as seeing them from differing viewpoints. Taking into
account the roots behind the nouns the first word for locust has in mind its
ability to ‘shear or gnaw’ the grain and fruit from its source (the same noun is
used in Amos 4:9), the second has in mind its tendency to swarm at particular
times (this is the most common word for locust), the third has in mind its ability
to hop around on everything and everywhere (the locust is a form of
grasshopper, compare Psalms 105:34-35; Jeremiah 51:14; Jeremiah 51:27 :
Nahum 3:15-16), and the fourth has in mind its tendency to destroy all living
vegetation (compare 1 Kings 8:37; 2 Chronicles 6:28; Psalms 78:46; Isaiah 33:4).
In some of the cited verses the second type is used in parallel with either the third
or fourth which may suggest that two types of locust were being distinguished,
the second type possibly referring to the flying locusts, and the others to the
young locusts on the march (see introduction above). We may thus see the
gnawing locusts as having arrived by air in swarms, and denuded the land,
followed by swarming locusts who also had their fill and laid billions of eggs,
followed by the hatching out of the young hopping locusts who marched over the
land devouring everything in their paths, followed by the destroying locusts who
acted similarly. But however it was, the overall emphasis is firstly on the vast
scale of the invasions, so that as one appeared to be ending another one
appeared, and secondly on the fact that once they had all finished their work
nothing was left.
The all-embracing nature of the description calls to mind the similar all-
embracing descriptions in Exodus 10:5; Exodus 10:15, and no one who had
44

45. experienced such an invasion would ever forget it.
The ability of a swarm of locusts to swoop down and destroy all vegetation and
trees would have been well known, as would the ground based march of young
locusts from the millions of eggs that would have been laid (described in the
introduction). What was not expected was the intensity and widespread nature of
what had happened this time. It was on a vast scale unknown before (compare
Joel 2:2), denuding the whole land of grain, vegetation and trees.
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all you drinkers of wine;
wail because of the new wine,
for it has been snatched from your lips.
BARNES, "Awake, ye drunkards, and weep - All sin stupefies the sinner. All
intoxicate the mind, bribe and pervert the judgment, dull the conscience, blind the
soul and make it insensible to its own ills. All the passions, anger, vain glory,
ambition, avarice and the rest are a spiritual drunkenness, inebriating the soul, as
strong drink doth the body. : “They are called drunkards, who, confused with the love
of this world, feel not the ills which they suffer. What then is meant by, “Awake, ye
drunkards and weep,” but, ‘shake off the sleep of your insensibility, and oppose by
watchful lamentations the many plagues of sins, which succeed one to the other in
the devastation of your hearts?’” God arouse those who will be aroused, by
withdrawing from them the pleasures wherein they offended Him. Awake, the
prophet cries, from the sottish slumber of your drunkenness; awake to weep and
howl, at least when your feverish enjoyments are dashed from your lips. Weeping for
things temporal may awaken to the fear of losing things eternal.
CLARKE, "Awake, ye drunkards - The general destruction of vegetation by
these devouring creatures has totally prevented both harvest and vintage; so that
there shall not be wine even for necessary uses, much less for the purposes of
debauchery. It is well known that the ruin among the vines by locusts prevents the
vintage for several years after.
45

46. GILL, "Awake, ye drunkards, and weep: and howl, all ye drinkers of
wine,.... Who are used to neither, either to awake or to howl, being very prone to
drowsiness upon their drinking bouts, and to mirth and jollity in them; but now
should be awake, and sober enough, not as being a virtue in them, but through want
of wine; and for the same reason should howl, as follows:
because of the new wine, for it is cut off from your mouth; the locusts
having spoiled the vines and eaten the grapes, no new wine could be made, and so
none could be brought in cups to their mouths; nor they drink it in bowls, as they had
used to do; and which, being sweet and grateful to their taste, they were wont to
drink in great abundance, till they were inebriated with it; but now there was a
scarcity, their lips were dry, but not their eyes. The word, Kimchi says, signifies all
liquor which is squeezed by bruising or treading.
HENRY, "A call to the drunkards to lament this judgment (Joe_1:5): Awake and
weep, all you drinkers of wine. This intimates, 1. That they should suffer very
sensibly by this calamity. It should touch them in a tender part; the new wine which
they loved so well should be cut off from their mouth. Note, It is just with God to take
away those comforts which are abused to luxury and excess, to recover the corn and
wine which are prepared for Baal, which are made the food and fuel of a base lust.
And to them judgments of that kind are most grievous. The more men place their
happiness in the gratification of sense the more pressing temporal afflictions are
upon them. The drinkers of water need not to care when the vine was laid waste; they
could live as well without it as they had done; it was no trouble to the Nazarites. But
the drinkers of wine will weep and howl. The more delights we make necessary to
our satisfaction the more we expose ourselves to trouble and disappointment. 2. It
intimates that they had been very senseless and stupid under the former tokens of
God's displeasure; and therefore they are here called to awake and weep. Those that
will not be roused out of their security by the word of God shall be roused by his rod;
those that will not be startled by judgments at a distance shall be themselves arrested
by them; and when they are going to partake of the forbidden fruit a prohibition of
another nature shall come between the cup and the lip, and cut off the wine from
their mouth.
JAMISON, "Awake — out of your ordinary state of drunken stupor, to realize the
cutting off from you of your favorite drink. Even the drunkards (from a Hebrew root,
“any strong drink”) shall be forced to “howl,” though usually laughing in the midst of
the greatest national calamities, so palpably and universally shall the calamity affect
all.
wine ... new wine — “New” or “fresh wine,” in Hebrew, is the unfermented, and
therefore unintoxicating, sweet juice extracted by pressure from grapes or other fruit,
as pomegranates (Son_8:2). “Wine” is the produce of the grape alone, and is
intoxicating (see on Joe_1:10).
K&D 5-7, "In order that Judah may discern in this unparalleled calamity a
judgment of God, and the warning voice of God calling to repentance, the prophet
first of all summons the wine-bibbers to sober themselves, and observe the visitation
of God. Joe_1:5. “Awake, ye drunken ones, and weep! and howl, all ye drinkers of
wine! at the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. Joe_1:6. For a people has
come up over my land, a strong one, and innumerable: its teeth are lion's teeth, and
46

47. it has the bite of a lioness. Joe_1:7. It has made my vine a wilderness, and my fig-
tree into sticks. Peeling, it has peeled it off, and cast it away: its shoots have grown
white.” ‫יץ‬ִ‫ק‬ֵ‫ה‬ to awake out of the reeling of intoxication, as in Pro_23:35. They are to
howl for the new wine, the fresh sweet juice of the grape, because with the
destruction of the vines it is taken away and destroyed from their mouth. Joe_1:6
and Joe_1:7 announce through whom. In the expression gōi ‛âlâh (a people has come
up) the locusts are represented as a warlike people, because they devastate the land
like a hostile army. Gōi furnishes no support to the allegorical view. In Pro_
30:25-26, not only are the ants described as a people (‛âm), but the locusts also;
although it is said of them that they have no king. And ‛âm is synonymous with gōi,
which has indeed very frequently the idea of that which is hostile, and even here is
used in this sense; though it by no means signifies a heathen nation, but occurs in
Zep_2:9 by the side of ‛âm, as an epithet applied to the people of Jehovah (i.e., Israel:
see also Gen_12:2). The weapons of this army consist in its teeth, its “bite,” which
grinds in pieces as effectually as the teeth of the lion or the bite of the lioness (‫עוֹת‬ְ‫לּ‬ ַ‫ת‬ ְ‫;מ‬
see at Job_29:17). The suffix attached to ‫י‬ ִ‫צ‬ ְ‫ר‬ ַ‫א‬ does not refer to Jehovah, but to the
prophet, who speaks in the name of the people, so that it is the land of the people of
God. And this also applies to the suffixes in ‫י‬ִ‫נ‬ ְ‫ַפ‬‫גּ‬ and ‫י‬ ִ‫ָת‬‫נ‬ ֵ‫א‬ ְ‫תּ‬ in Joe_1:7. In the
description of the devastation caused by the army of locusts, the vine and fig-tree are
mentioned as the noblest productions of the land, which the Lord has given to His
people for their inheritance (see at Hos_2:14). ‫ָה‬‫פ‬ָ‫צ‬ְ‫ק‬ִ‫,ל‬ εἰς κλασμόν, literally, for
crushing. The suffix in chăsâphâh refers, no doubt, simply to the vine as the
principal object, the fig-tree being mentioned casually in connection with it.
Châsaph, to strip, might be understood as referring simply to the leaves of the vine
(cf. Psa_29:9); but what follows shows that the gnawing or eating away of the bark is
also included. Hishlı̄kh, to throw away not merely what is uneatable, “that which is
not green and contains no sap” (Hitzig), but the vine itself, which the locusts have
broken when eating off its leaves and bark. The branches of the vine have become
white through the eating off of the bark (sârı̄gı̄m, Gen_40:10).
(Note: H. Ludolf, in his Histor. Aethiop. i. c. 13, §16, speaking of the locusts,
says: “Neither herbs, nor shrubs, nor trees remain unhurt. Whatever is either
grassy or covered with leaves, is injured, as if it had been burnt with fire. Even the
bark of trees is nibbled with their teeth, so that the injury is not confined to one
year alone.”)
PULPIT, "Joe_1:5
Three classes are called on to lament—the winebibbers, the husbandmen, and the
priests. The verses before us (Joe_1:5-7) contain the prophet’s appeal to the
drunkards. Their sin had not alarmed them; the danger with which their soul was
imperilled bad not aroused them; now, however, the heavy visitation that awaited
them would affect them more vehemently, touching them more nearly. Deprived of
the means of their favourite indulgence, they are urged to awake from their stupid
slumber and perilous day-dream. They are summoned to weep, shedding silent but
bitter tears, and howl, venting their so,row and disappointment in loud and long
lamentation: Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of
wine! He backs this exhortation by a most cogent and unanswerable reason—
because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. The word asis is explained
by Kimchi thus: "Wine is called ‫,עסיס‬ and so every kind of drink that goes out (is
pressed out) by bruising and treading is called ‫,עסיס‬ according to the meaning of the
root ‫עסס‬ in Mal_3:1-18:21.
47

48. BENSON, "Joel 1:5. Awake, ye drunkards — From the long sleep occasioned by
your intoxication. Kimchi comments thus on the place: “You, who accustom
yourselves to get drunk with wine, awake out of your sleep, and weep night and
day; for the wine shall fail you, because the locust shall devour the grape.” The
exhortation implies, that the calamity should particularly affect those who were
given to an excess of drinking, and that it should touch them in a tender part; the
wine which they loved so well should be cut off from their mouths. Observe,
reader, it is just with God to take away those comforts which are abused to
luxury and excess.
COFFMAN, ""Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and wail, all ye drinkers of
wine, because of the sweet wine; for it is cut off from your mouth."
Joel viewed the locust plague as a manifestation of God's displeasure due to the
sins of his people; and, quite appropriately, he directed his first great
admonition, "Awake," to a prominent class of sinners always present in any
wicked society, the drunkards. Naturally, the destruction of all vegetation,
including the vineyards, would have interrupted and cut off the supply of
intoxicants. Notably, Joel did not address this class as unfortunates overcome by
some innocent disease. Ah no. The Biblical view of drinking intoxicants and
wallowing in drunkenness relates such conditions to wickedness, and not to
disease. Our own current society has repudiated this view; but it is nevertheless
correct. As Shakespeare put it:
O thou invisible spirit of wine,
If thou hast no name to be known by, let
Us call thee devil.[16]
Thomas' comment on this whole verse is pertinent:
Awake, you are sleeping on the bosom of a volcanic hill about to burst and engulf
you. And weep, because of the blessings you have abused, the injuries you have
inflicted upon your own natures, and upon others; weep because of the sins you
have committed against yourself, society, and God. Howl, all ye drinkers of
wine... If you were aware of your true situation, you would howl indeed, howl out
your soul in confession and prayer![17]
COKE, “Joel 1:5. Awake, ye drunkards— This character is given to Ephraim,
Isaiah 28:1; Isaiah 28:3.; and excessive drinking is assigned as a reason of the
captivity of Israel, Amos 6:6-7. Kimchi's commentary on the place, is, "You who
accustom yourselves to get drunk with wine; awake ye out of your sleep, and
weep night and day; for the wine shall fail you, because the locust shall devour
the grape." See Chandler, and Sharpe. The author of the Observations thinks
that new wine is a faulty translation; and that it should be rendered sweet wine;
sweet as the new-trodden juice of grapes, but old. Wines (says he) of this sort
were chiefly esteemed in former times, as appears from the Septuagint; for that
48

49. which our version of Esther 1:7 renders, Royal wine in abundance, according to
the state of the king, they read, Much and sweet wine, such as the king himself
drank. Dr. Russel observes of the white wines of Aleppo, that they are palatable,
but thin and poor, and seldom keep sound above a year. Now the prophet, in
chap. Joel 3:18 describes a state of great prosperity, by the mountains dropping
down sweet wine; as much as to say, the mountains of Judaea should not
produce wine like that of Aleppo, but that which was rich, and capable of being
long kept, and by that means of acquiring the greatest agreeableness. The same
word ‫עסיס‬ asiis, is very properly translated sweet wine in Amos 9:13 and the
same rendering in this place is confirmed and illustrated by an observation of
Dr. Shaw's, concerning the wine of Algiers; which, says he, before the locusts
destroyed the vineyards, in 1723 and 1724, was not inferior to the best
Hermitage, either in briskness of taste or flavour. But since that time it is much
degenerated; having not hitherto (that is, in 1732) recovered its usual qualities,
Travels, p. 146. It is a desolation of their vineyards by locusts that Joel threatens,
which thus injures their produce for many years as to briskness and flavour; and
consequently nothing was more natural than to call the drunkards of Israel to
mourn on that account. See Isaiah 49:26 and the Observations,
ELLICOTT, “(5) Awake, ye drunkards—i.e., awake from such an insensibility
as wine causes. The people failed to see the hand of God in the terrible calamity,
like an acted parable, of the locusts. Insensate, as the revellers in the halls of
Belshazzar, they carried on their feasting even while the enemies were at the city
gates.
It is cut off from your mouth.—Either joy and gladness, as given in the LXX., or
the means of indulgence have been suddenly taken away.
WHEDON, 5-12. The prophet calls upon all to lament, because all luxuries are
cut off (Joel 1:5-7); the worship of Jehovah has suffered through the
interruption, or at least threatened interruption, of the meal offerings and the
drink offerings (8-10); and the means for the sustenance of life are destroyed and
cut off by the locusts (Joel 1:11-12). Joel 1:5.
Wine — Frequently spoken of as a blessing from God (Hosea 2:8, etc.), which
was often abused. One of the results of abuse is the blinding of the spiritual
faculties. One of the six woes in Isaiah 5:8 ff., is against the dissipating nobles
who, as a result of their revelries, “regard not the work of Jehovah, neither have
they considered the operation of his hand.” Though the judgment has fallen, the
stupefied drunkards are not yet aware of it.
Awake — It is high time to awake from the sleep of intoxication (Genesis 9:24;
Proverbs 23:35).
Weep — If no other and higher motives appeal to them, at least the loss of the
wine should arouse them; the supply will soon be exhausted, the luxurious living,
the revelries, must cease.
New [“sweet”] wine — Hebrews ‘asis, “that which is pressed out”; therefore,
49

50. “the newly pressed wine,” “sweet wine,” “must.” In Joel 3:18, it is regarded as a
blessing from God (Amos 9:13). In Isaiah 49:26, it is referred to in a way that
would indicate its intoxicating character (compare Song of Solomon 8:2). The
exhortation was very appropriate if the vintage was near at hand when the
locusts appeared and laid waste the vineyards (Joel 1:7; Joel 1:12).
The drunkards, startled from their slumber, might inquire for the cause of it all.
Joel 1:6-7 furnish the answer. First the prophet calls attention to the immense
numbers of the enemies, then to their terrible weapons, finally to the awful
results of their attack.
Nation — Hebrews goy. The locusts devastate the land like a hostile army. The
use of goy furnishes no support to the allegorical view; it is synonymous with ‘am
(Joel 2:27), which is used of animals (Proverbs 30:25-26; Zephaniah 2:14); here
specially appropriate, because the figure of a hostile army is continued.
Come up upon — A military term used of the approach of an enemy (1 Kings
20:22; Isaiah 21:2; Nahum 2:2).
My land — A comparison with Joel 2:1, “my holy mountain,” might justify the
explanation that the prophet means Jehovah’s land (Pusey, Von Orelli, and
others), but it is better to interpret the pronoun as referring to the prophet, who
identifies himself with and speaks in the name of the people (Joel 1:7; Joel 1:13;
Joel 1:19, etc.).
Strong — Not easily tired, able to take a long journey, and to persevere until the
destruction is complete.
Without number — No exaggeration, if we accept the testimony of those who
have experienced calamities of this sort. “Myriads upon myriads of locusts were
about us, covering the ground and shutting out the view in all directions.”
Teeth — These are the weapons of the enemy. “The locusts’ teeth are edged like
a saw and very powerful; hence, though infinitely smaller, they may for
destructiveness be compared with those of a lion.” It is said by Morier that the
teeth of the locust “appear to have been created for a scourge; since to strength
incredible for so small a creature they add saw-like teeth admirably calculated to
eat up all the herbs in the land.” An interesting parallel to “a lion’s teeth” is
Sirach 21:2, where the teeth of sin are likened to the “teeth of a lion slaying the
souls of men.”
Cheek teeth — Better, jaw teeth — the sharp and prominent eyeteeth.
Lion,… great lion — Or, lioness — The second line is not a useless repetition, but
an advance over the first. It is generally thought that the lioness is even fiercer
than the lion in attack, especially when she tries to defend her whelps (see on
Hosea 13:8). An early writer, AElianus (Historia, 12:39), says, “Not only among
the Greeks, but also among the barbarians, the lioness is thought to be the
strongest animal and the one hardest to be fought.”
50

51. PETT, "‘What the adult locust (or ‘gnawing locust’) has left the maturing locust
(or ‘swarming locust’) has eaten,
And what the maturing locust has left the young locust (or ‘hopping locust’) has
eaten,
And what the young locust has left the infant locust (or ‘destroying locust’) has
eaten.’
The size and scale of the locust invasion is emphasised either by reference to all
levels of locust from maturity to infancy, as in the text, or equally likely by
reference to a number of swarms of locusts each of which is described in terms of
one well known aspect of locusts, as in brackets. The words used are all
descriptions of locusts, but as seeing them from differing viewpoints. Taking into
account the roots behind the nouns the first word for locust has in mind its
ability to ‘shear or gnaw’ the grain and fruit from its source (the same noun is
used in Amos 4:9), the second has in mind its tendency to swarm at particular
times (this is the most common word for locust), the third has in mind its ability
to hop around on everything and everywhere (the locust is a form of
grasshopper, compare Psalms 105:34-35; Jeremiah 51:14; Jeremiah 51:27 :
Nahum 3:15-16), and the fourth has in mind its tendency to destroy all living
vegetation (compare 1 Kings 8:37; 2 Chronicles 6:28; Psalms 78:46; Isaiah 33:4).
In some of the cited verses the second type is used in parallel with either the third
or fourth which may suggest that two types of locust were being distinguished,
the second type possibly referring to the flying locusts, and the others to the
young locusts on the march (see introduction above). We may thus see the
gnawing locusts as having arrived by air in swarms, and denuded the land,
followed by swarming locusts who also had their fill and laid billions of eggs,
followed by the hatching out of the young hopping locusts who marched over the
land devouring everything in their paths, followed by the destroying locusts who
acted similarly. But however it was, the overall emphasis is firstly on the vast
scale of the invasions, so that as one appeared to be ending another one
appeared, and secondly on the fact that once they had all finished their work
nothing was left.
The all-embracing nature of the description calls to mind the similar all-
embracing descriptions in Exodus 10:5; Exodus 10:15, and no one who had
experienced such an invasion would ever forget it.
The ability of a swarm of locusts to swoop down and destroy all vegetation and
trees would have been well known, as would the ground based march of young
locusts from the millions of eggs that would have been laid (described in the
introduction). What was not expected was the intensity and widespread nature of
what had happened this time. It was on a vast scale unknown before (compare
Joel 2:2), denuding the whole land of grain, vegetation and trees.
51

52. 6 A nation has invaded my land,
a mighty army without number;
it has the teeth of a lion,
the fangs of a lioness.
BARNES, "For a nation is come up upon my land - He calls this scourge of
God a “nation,” giving them the title most used in Holy Scripture, of pagan nations.
The like term, “people, folk,” is used of the “ants” and the “conies” Pro_30:25-26, for
the wisdom with which God teaches them to act. Here it is used, in order to include
at once, the irrational invader, guided by a Reason above its own, and the pagan
conqueror. This enemy, he says, is “come up” (for the land as being God’s land, was
exalted in dignity, above other lands,) “upon My land,” i. e. “the Lord’s land” Hos_
9:3, hitherto owned protected as God’s land, a land which, Moses said to them, “the
Lord thy God careth for; the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the
beginning of the year even unto the end of the year” Deu_11:12. Now it was to be
bared of God’s protection, and to be trampled upon by a pagan foe.
Strong and without number - The figure is still from the locust, whose
numbers are wholly countless by man. Travelers sometimes use likenesses to express
their number, as clouds darkening the sun (see the note at Joe_2:10) or discharging
flakes of snow ; some grave writers give it up, as hopeless. : “Their multitude is
incredible, whereby they cover the earth and fill the air; they take away the
brightness of the sun. I say again, the thing is incredible to one who has not seen
them.” “It would not be a thing to be believed, if one had not seen it.” “On another
day, it was beyond belief: they occupied a space of eight leagues (about 24 English
miles). I do not mention the multitude of those without wings, because it is
incredible.” : “When we were in the Seignory of Abrigima, in a place called Aquate,
there came such a multitude of locusts, as cannot be said. They began to arrive one
day about terce (nine) and until night they cease not to arrive; and when they arrived,
they bestowed themselves. On the next day at the hour of prime they began to depart,
and at mid-day there was not one, and there remained not a leaf on the trees. At this
instant others began to come, and staved like the others to the next day at the same
hour; and these left not a stick with its bark, nor a green herb, and thus did they five
days one after another; and the people said that they were the sons, who went to seek
their fathers, and they took the road toward the others which had no wings. After
they were gone, we knew the breadth which they had occupied, and saw the
destruction which they had made, it exceeded three leagues (nine miles) wherein
there remained no bark on the trees.”
Another writes of South Africa ; “Of the innumerable multitudes of the incomplete
insect or larva of the locusts, which at this time infested this part of Africa, no
adequate idea could be conceived without having witnessed them. For the space of
ten miles on each side of the Sea-Cow river, and eighty or ninety miles in length, an
area of 16, or 1800 square miles, the whole surface might literally be said to be
covered with them. The water of the river was scarcely visible on account of the dead
52

53. carcasses which floated on the surface, drowned in the attempt to come at the weeds
which grew in it.” : “The present year is the third of their continuance, and their
increase has far exceeded that of a geometrical progression whose whole ratio is a
million.” A writer of reputation says of a “column of locusts” in India ; “It extended,
we were informed, 500 miles, and so compact was it when on the wing, that, like an
eclipse, it completely hid the sun; so that no shadow was cast by any object, and some
lofty tombs, not more than 200 yards distant, were rendered quite invisible.”
In one single neighborhood, even in Germany, it was once calculated that near
17,000,000 of their eggs were collected and destroyed . Even Volney writes of those
in Syria , “the quantity of these insects is a thing incredible to anyone who has not
seen it himself; the ground is covered with them for several leagues.” “The steppes,”
says Clarke , an incredulous traveler, “were entirely covered by their bodies, and their
numbers falling resembled flakes of snow, carried obliquely by the wind, and
spreading thick mists over the sun. Myriads fell over the carriage, the horses, the
drivers. The Tartars told us, that persons had been suffocated by a fall of locusts on
the “steppes.” It was now the season, they added, in which they began to diminish.” :
“It was incredible, that their breadth was eight leagues.”
Strong - The locust is remarkable for its long flights. “Its strength of limbs is
amazing; when pressed down by the hand on the table, it has almost power to move
the fingers” .
Whose teeth are the teeth of a lion - The teeth of the locust are said to be
“harder than stone.” : “They appear to be created for a scourge; since to strength
incredible for so small a creature, they add saw-like teeth admirably calculated to “eat
up all the herbs in the land.”” Some near the Senegal, are described as “quite brown,
of the thickness and length of a finger, and armed with two jaws, toothed like a saw,
and very powerful.” The prophet ascribes to them the sharp or prominent eye-teeth
of the lion and lioness, combining strength with number. The ideal of this scourge of
God is completed by blending numbers, in which creatures so small only could exist
together, with the strength of the fiercest. : “Weak and short-lived is man, yet when
God is angered against a sinful people, what mighty power does He allow to man
against it!” “And what more cruel than those who endeavor to slay souls, turning
them from the Infinite and Eternal Good, and so dragging them to the everlasting
torments of Hell?”
CLARKE, "A nation is come up upon my land - That real locusts are
intended there can be little doubt; but it is thought that this may be a double
prophecy, and that the destruction by the Chaldeans may also be intended, and that
the four kinds of locusts mentioned above may mean the four several attacks made
on Judea by them. The first in the last year of Nabonassar, (father of
Nebuchadnezzar), which was the third of Jehoiakim; the second when Jehoiakim
was taken prisoner in the eleventh year of his reign; the third in the ninth year of
Zedekiah and the fourth three years after, when Jerusalem was destroyed by
Nebuchadnezzar. Others say that they mean four powers which have been enemies of
the Jews:
1. The palmerworm, the Assyrians and Chaldeans.
2. The locust, the Persians and Medes.
3. The cankerworm, the Greeks, and particularly Antiochus Epiphanes.
4. The caterpillar, the Romans.
53

54. Others make them four kings; Tiglath-pileser, Shalmaneser, Sennacherib, and
Nebuchadnezzar. But of such similitudes there is no end; and the best of them is
arbitrary and precarious.
GILL, "For a nation is come up upon my land,.... A nation of locusts, so called
from their great numbers, and coming from foreign parts; just as the ants are called a
"people", and the conies a "folk", Pro_30:25; and which were an emblem of the
nation of the Chaldeans, which came up from Babylon, and invaded the land of
Judea; called by the Lord "my land", because he had chosen it for the habitation of
his people; here he himself had long dwelt, and had been served and worshipped in
it: though Kimchi thinks these are the words of the inhabitants of the land, or of the
prophet; but if it can be thought they are any other than the words of God, they
rather seem to be expressed by the drunkards in particular, howling for want of wine,
and observing the reason of it:
strong, and without number; this description seems better to agree with the
Assyrians or Chaldeans, who were a mighty and powerful people, as well as
numerous; though locusts, notwithstanding they are weak, singly taken, yet, coming
in large bodies, carry all before them, and there is no stopping them:
whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great
lion; or "the grinders" (m) of such an one; being hard, strong, and sharp, to bite off
the tops, boughs, and branches of trees: Pliny (n) says, locusts will gnaw with their
teeth the doors of houses; so the teeth of locusts are described in Rev_9:8; this may
denote the strength, cruelty, and voraciousness of the Chaldean army.
JAMISON, "nation — applied to the locusts, rather than “people” (Pro_30:25,
Pro_30:26), to mark not only their numbers, but also their savage hostility; and also
to prepare the mind of the hearer for the transition to the figurative locusts in the
second chapter, namely, the “nation” or Gentile foe coming against Judea (compare
Joe_2:2).
my land — that is, Jehovah’s; which never would have been so devastated were I
not pleased to inflict punishment (Joe_2:18; Isa_14:25; Jer_16:18; Eze_36:5; Eze_
38:16).
strong — as irresistibly sweeping away before its compact body the fruits of man’s
industry.
without number — so Jdg_6:5; Jdg_7:12, “like grasshoppers (or “locusts”) for
multitude” (Jer_46:23; Nah_3:15).
teeth ... lion — that is, the locusts are as destructive as a lion; there is no
vegetation that can resist their bite (compare Rev_9:8). Pliny says “they gnaw even
the doors of houses.”
BENSON, "Joel 1:6. For a nation is come up upon my land — Insects are
described as a nation or people marching in order under their leaders, both by
sacred and profane writers, because of their power to do mischief, and their
being irresistible by human strength or art. Whose teeth are the teeth of a lion —
They devour every thing that comes in their way, and there is no possibility of
rescuing it from them. Pliny and other writers tell us, that they will not only
destroy the leaves and fruits of the trees on which they fasten, but will even
devour the very bark and stock thereof.
54

55. COFFMAN, ""For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without
number; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the jaw-teeth of a lioness."
"For a nation ..." This expression, of course, has been made a basis of advocating
a symbolical interpretation of the locusts. Such a personification of locusts is in
keeping with the Biblical description of ants and conies as "folk" and "people"
(Proverbs 30:25-27), and it is interpreted here as metaphorical description of the
locusts. However, there very well may be here an overtone of the wider
application of the locust invasion that appears in Joel 2.
As Kennedy said, "Viewed collectively, they were like an invading army. Such
indeed is the suggestion of the phrase has come up against my land (cf. 2 Kings
18:13)."[18] Barnes was probably correct in his understanding that:
Here it is used, in order to include at once, the irrational invader, guided by a
Reason above his own, and the heathen conqueror. For this enemy is come up
upon my land, the Lord's land.[19
COKE, “Joel 1:6. For a nation is come up— A word of consideration concerning
the locusts may not be altogether improper, says Dr. Sharpe in his Second
Argument, &c. And as the commentators are divided in their opinions, it will be
but fair to give a brief view of what has been said on both sides. To begin then
with Grotius, Houbigant, Rabbi Tanchum, Abarbanel, &c. they are of opinion,
that the prophet has used this image to set forth the multitude of the Chaldean
army; but then Bochart and others, on the contrary, assert, that it is an army of
real locusts, and not of men. Some, as Cyril and Theodoret, have interpreted it of
both. Jerome informs us, that some of the Jews before his time understood this
description of the locusts to be figurative, and to mean the most powerful
enemies of the Jews: and he himself is forced to confess, that while you read of
locusts, you think of the Babylonians. The force of the Chaldeans (says he) is
described under the metaphor of locusts. This interpretation is favoured also by
the Chaldee. Pocock has, with great learning and diligence, endeavoured to
prove, that locusts, not men, are here described by the prophet; and then, after
such his literal interpretation, he allows it will be lawful for any to apply them to
such things as he pleases. Throughout the prophesies of Daniel, kings, kingdoms,
and forces, are represented under the names and parts of animals; the lion, bear,
ram, goat, horns, wings. The king of Egypt is represented, Isaiah 27:1 by
leviathan, the crooked serpent; the literal meaning is, "The crocodile of the
Nile:" the real import is Psammeticus, king of Egypt, taken prisoner by
Cambyses. The army of Nebuchadnezzar is compared to locusts (grasshoppers in
our version), Jeremiah 46:23 which is a common metaphor for numerous and
destructive armies, as the reader may see by comparing Isaiah 33:4. Judges 6:5;
Judges 7:12. It may therefore be presumed, that, under the metaphor of locusts,
Joel describes the army of the Chaldeans; and this presumption is moreover
favoured by several circumstances in the description. The locusts were of four
kinds; and the enemies appointed over the Jews were of four kinds, Jeremiah
15:2-3. Jerome, with other interpreters, suppose the succession of these insects to
mean the four several attacks of the Chaldeans: that is to say, first, in the last
55

56. year of Nabopolassar, and third of Jehoiachim; secondly, when that king was
taken prisoner, in the eleventh year of his reign; thirdly, in the ninth of
Zedekiah; fourthly, about three years after, when Jerusalem was destroyed by
Nebuchadnezzar. To conclude, we may with Bishop Warburton regard this as a
double prophesy, and consider that Joel in his prediction of an approaching
ravage by locusts, foretels likewise, in the same word, a succeeding desolation by
the Assyrian army; for we are to observe, that this was God's method both in
warning and punishing a sinful people. Thus when the seven nations, for their
exceeding wickedness, were to be exterminated, God promises his chosen nation
to send hornets before them,&c. See Exodus 23:28 and Wisdom of Solomon 12:8,
&c. Now Joel, under one and the same prediction, contained in this and the
following chapter, foretels both these plagues; the locusts in the primary sense,
and the Assyrian army in the secondary. See Div. Leg. book 6: sect. 6 and the
note on chap. Joel 2:20.
ELLICOTT, “(6) A nation.—It was not uncommon with Hebrew writers to
apply the name people or folk to animals, as, “The ants are a people not strong;”
“The conies are but a feeble folk” (Proverbs 30:25-26); but the word used by Joel
is different from that in the Proverbs. He selected a word indicative of foreign
nations, suggestive of attack, including both the irrational invader and the
foreign conqueror. The surpassing strength of the nation is indicated by the
extraordinary power of the locust’s teeth, compared to that of the lion’s jaws.
The same comparison is made by St. John (Revelation 9:8): “Their teeth (the
locusts) were as the teeth of lions.”
PETT, " A Description of the Plague And Its Consequences (Joel 1:6-18).
The effects of the huge plagues of locusts which had arrived to devastate the land
are graphically described, and the consequences in the devastation of all
vegetation in the land, with the result that both the people and the priests and
servants of the Temple mourn and weep over what has happened, especially
because it means that the meal and drink offerings are no longer available in the
house of YHWH, and there are great shortages of food among the people. Joel
sees what has happened as a reminder of the imminence of the coming Day of
YHWH when God’s final purposes will be accomplished in both judgment and
blessing.
Analysis of Joel 1:6-18).
a For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, his teeth
are the teeth of a lion, and he has the jaw-teeth of a lioness (Joel 1:6).
b He has laid my vine waste, and de-barked my fig-tree, he has made it clean
bare, and cast it away, its branches are made white (Joel 1:7).
c Lament like a virgin (young woman) girded with sackcloth, for the husband of
her youth (Joel 1:8).
d The meal-offering and the drink-offering are cut off from the house of YHWH
56

57. (Joel 1:9 a).
e The priests, the ministers of YHWH, mourn (Joel 1:9 b).
f The field is laid waste, the land mourns, because the grain is destroyed. The
new wine is dried up, the oil languishes (Joel 1:10).
g Be confounded, O you husbandmen, wail, O you vinedressers, for the wheat
and for the barley, because the harvest of the field is perished (Joel 1:11).
f The vine is withered, and the fig-tree languishes, the pomegranate-tree, the
palm-tree also, and the apple-tree, even all the trees in the countryside are
withered, for joy is withered away from the sons of men (Joel 1:12).
e Gird yourselves with sackcloth, and lament, you priests, wail, you ministers of
the altar, come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God (Joel 1:13 a).
d For the meal-offering and the drink-offering are withheld from the house of
your God (Joel 1:13 b).
c Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the old men and all the
inhabitants of the land to the house of YHWH your God, and cry to YHWH,
“Alas for the day!” for the day of YHWH is at hand, and as destruction from the
Almighty will it come (Joel 1:14-15).
b Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our
God? The seeds rot under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are
broken down, for the grain is withered (Joel 1:16-17).
a How do the beasts groan, the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have
no pasture, yes, the flocks of sheep are made desolate (Joel 1:18).
Note how in ‘a’ reference is made to the arrival of the locusts as being like lions,
although ‘without number’, and in the parallel the cattle and sheep are
desolated. In ‘b’ vines and fig trees are devastated, and in the parallel joy and
gladness is cut off from the house of God, and the grain is useless. In ‘c’ they are
to lament like a young newly married woman mourning for a dead husband, and
in the parallel they are to lament because of the imminence of the day of YHWH.
In ‘d’ the meal-offering and the drink-offering are cut off from the house of
YHWH, and in the parallel the meal-offering and the drink-offering are
withheld from the house of your God. In ‘e’ the priests, the ministers of YHWH,
mourn, and in the parallel the priests and ministers are to cover themselves with
sackcloth. In ‘f’ the grain, wine and oil are greatly affected, and in the parallel
the fruit-bearing trees are withered. Centrally in ‘g’ the husbandmen and
vinedressers are confounded because the harvest of the countryside is perished
Joel 1:6
‘For a nation is come up upon my land,
57

58. Strong, and without number,
His teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And he has the jaw-teeth of a lioness.’
The initial arrival of the swarms of locusts is described in terms of a ‘nation’
(compare Proverbs 30:25-27 where a similar idea is expressed; and the use of
goyim in Zephaniah 2:14 of animals in their differing species) which was strong
and without number (compare Psalms 105:34 which speaks of ‘locusts -- without
number’), and had teeth like a lion or lioness. In other words teeth that could
gnaw and eat through anything.
7 It has laid waste my vines
and ruined my fig trees.
It has stripped off their bark
and thrown it away,
leaving their branches white.
BARNES, "He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree - This
describes an extremity of desolation. The locusts at first attack all which is green and
succulent; when this has been consumed, then they attack the bark of trees. : “When
they have devoured all other vegetables, they attack the trees, consuming first the
leaves, then the bark.” : “A day or two after one of these bodies were in motion,
others were already hatched to glean after them, gnawing off the young branches and
the very bark of such trees as had escaped before with the loss only of their fruit and
foliage.” : “They carried desolation wherever they passed. After having consumed
herbage, fruit, leaves of trees, they attacked even their young shoots and their bark.
Even the reeds, wherewith the huts were thatched, though quite dry, were not
spared.” : “Everything in the country was devoured; the bark of figs, pomegranates,
and oranges, bitter hard and corrosive, escaped not their voracity.” The effects of this
wasting last on for many years .
He hath made it clean bare - o: “It is sufficient, if these terrible columns stop
half an hour on a spot, for everything growing on it, vines, olive trees, and grain, to
be entirely destroyed. After they have passed, nothing remains but the large
branches, and the roots which, being under ground, have escaped their voracity.” :
“After eating up the corn, they fell upon the vines, the pulse, the willows and even the
58

59. hemp, notwithstanding its great bitterness.” : “They are particularly injurious to the
palm trees; these they strip of every leaf and green particle, the trees remaining like
skeletons with bare branches.” : “The bushes were eaten quite bare, though the
animals could not have been long on the spot. They sat by hundreds on a bush
gnawing the rind and the woody fibres.”
The branches thereof are made white - o: “The country did not seem to be
burnt, but to be much covered with snow, through the whiteness of the trees and the
dryness of the herbs. It pleased God that the fresh crops were already gathered in.”
The “vine” is the well-known symbol of God’s people Psa_80:8, Psa_80:14; Son_
2:13, Son_2:15; Hos_10:1; Isa_5:1-7; Isa_27:2; the fig too, by reason of its sweetness,
is an emblem of His Church and of each soul in her, bringing forth the fruit of grace
Hos_9:10; Mat_21:19; Luk_13:6-7. When then God says, “he hath laid My vine
waste,” He suggests to us, that He is not speaking chiefly of the visible tree, but of
that which it represents. The locusts, accordingly, are not chiefly the insects, which
bark the actual trees, but every enemy which wastes the heritage of God, which He
calls by those names. His vineyard, the Jewish people, was outwardly and repeatedly
desolated by the Chaldaens, Antiochus Epiphanes, and afterward by the Romans.
The vineyard, which the Jews had, was, (as Jesus foretold,) let out to other farmers
when they had killed Him; and, thenceforth, is the Christian Church, and,
subordinately each soul in her. : “Pagan and heretical Emperors and heresiarchs
wasted often the Church of Christ. antichrist shall waste it. They who have wasted
her are countless. For the Psalmist says, “They who hate me without a cause are more
than the hair’s of my head” Psa_69:4.
: “The nation which cometh up against the soul, are the princes of this world and of
darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion,
of whom the Apostle Peter saith, “Our adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh
about seeking whom he may devour” 1Pe_5:8. If we give way to this nation, so that
they should come up in us, immediately they will make our vineyard where we were
accustomed to make “wine to gladden the heart of man” Psa_104:15, a desert, and
bark or break our fig tree, that we should no more have in us those most sweet gifts
of the Holy Spirit. Nor is it enough for that nation to destroy the vineyard and break
the fig tree, unless it also destroy whatever there is of life in it, so that, its whole
freshness being consumed. the switches remain white and dead, and that be fulfilled
in us, “If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” Luk_
23:31. : “The Church, at least apart of it, is turned into a desert, deprived of spiritual
goods, when the faithful are led, by consent to sin, to forsake God. “The fig tree is
barked,” when the soul which once abounded with sweetest goods and fruits of the
Holy Spirit, hath those goods lessened or cut off. Such are they who, having “begun
in the Spirit” Gal_3:3, are perfected by the flesh.”
“ By spirits lying in wait, the vineyard of God is made a desert, when the soul,
replenished with fruits, is wasted with longing for the praise of people. That “people
barks” the “fig tree” of God, in that, carrying away the misguided soul to a thirst for
applause, in proportion as it draws her on to ostentation, it strips her of the covering
of humility. “Making it clean bare, it despoils it,” in that, so long as it lies hidden in
its goodness, it is, as it were, clothed with a covering of its own, which protects it. But
when the mind longs that which it has done should be seen by others, it is as though
“the fig tree despoiled” had lost the bark that covered it. And so, as it follows, “The
branches thereof are made white;” in that his works, displayed to the eyes of people,
have a bright show; a name for sanctity is gotten, when good actions are published.
But as, upon the bark being removed, the branches of the fig tree wither, so observe
that the deeds of the arrogant, paraded before human eyes, wither through the very
act of socking to please. Therefore the mind which is betrayed through boastfulness
59

60. is rightly called a fig tree barked, in that it is at once fair to the eye, as being seen, and
within a little of withering, as being bared of the covering of the bark. Within, then,
must our deeds be laid up, if we look to a reward of our deeds from Him who seeth
within.”
CLARKE, "He hath laid my vine waste - The locusts have eaten off both
leaves and bark. ‫חשפה‬ ‫חשף‬ chasoph chasaphah, he hath made it clean bare; ‫שדה‬ ‫שדד‬
suddad sadeh, the field is laid waste, Joe_1:10; and ‫משדי‬ ‫כשד‬ kesod mishshaddai, a
destruction from the Almighty, Joe_1:15; are all paronomasias in which this prophet
seems to delight.
GILL, "He hath laid my vine waste,.... That is, the locust, which spoiled the
vines in Judea, the singular being put for the plural, by gnawing the branches, biting
the tops of them, and devouring the leaves and the fruit; and so not only left them
bare and barren, but destroyed them: this may emblematically represent the
Assyrians or Babylonians wasting the land of Judea, the vine and vineyard of the
Lord of hosts; see Isa_5:1;
and barked my fig tree; gnawed off the bark of them; locusts are not only harmful
to vines, as is hinted by Theocritus (o), but to fig trees also: Pliny (p) speaks of fig
trees in Boeotia gnawn by locusts, which budded again; and mentions it as something
wonderful and miraculous that they should: and yet Sanctius observes, that these
words cannot be understood properly of the locusts, since fig trees cannot be harmed
by the bite or touch of them; which, besides their roughness, have an insipid bitter
juice, which preserves them from being gnawn by such creatures; and the like is
observed of the cypress by Vitruvius (q); but the passage out of Pliny shows the
contrary. Some interpret it of a from or scum they left upon the fig tree when they
gnawed it, such as Aben Ezra says is upon the face of the water; and something like
this is left by caterpillars on the leaves of trees, which destroy them;
he hath made it clean bare; stripped it of its leaves and fruit, and bark also:
and cast it away; having got out all the juice they could:
the branches thereof are made white; the bark being gnawed off, and all the
greenness and verdure of them dried up; so trees look, when this is their case: and
thus the Jews were stripped by the Chaldeans of all their wealth and treasure, and
were left bare and naked, and as the scum and offscouring of all things.
JAMISON, "barked — Bochart, with the Septuagint and Syriac, translates, from
an Arabic root, “hath broken,” namely, the topmost shoots, which locusts most feed
on. Calvin supports English Version.
my vine ... my fig tree — being in “My land,” that is, Jehovah’s (Joe_1:6). As to
the vine-abounding nature of ancient Palestine, see Num_13:23, Num_13:24.
cast it away — down to the ground.
branches ... white — both from the bark being stripped off (Gen_30:37), and
from the branches drying up through the trunk, both bark and wood being eaten up
below by the locusts.
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61. COFFMAN, ""He hath laid my vine waste, and hath barked my fig-tree: he hath
made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white."
"Barked" may also be translated "splintered"; and some commentators have
viewed this as hyperbole. "The locusts could not splinter the fig-tree";[20] but
such a view is due to a failure to take into consideration what would happen to a
soft and brittle branch of a fig-tree when overloaded with an incredibly large
swarm of locusts which would literally break it off. Certainly the devastation of
locusts is too widely known in the East to make possible any claim of
exaggeration on Joel's part, even for the sake of emphasis.
ellicott, “(7) My vine.—This expression might well captivate the Jewish ear. God
appropriates to Himself this land on which the trouble was, by His providence,
to fall, and in wrath remembers mercy. It is “my vine,” “my fig-tree,” the people
of God’s own choice, that were afflicted; and the affliction, however fully
deserved, was, to speak as a man, painful to the Lord, “who doth not afflict
willingly.” Yet the devastation was to be complete. God’s pleasant vine was
doomed, and the fig-tree was to be cut down.
WHEDON, “Joel 1:7 deals with the destruction wrought. Literally, He has made
my vine to waste, and my fig tree to splinter. The Hebrew for the last word
occurs only here; its meaning is, therefore, somewhat uncertain. The same word
in its masculine form is found in Hosea 10:7, where it is translated (in R.V.
margin) “twigs,” so here, “twigs” or “splinters.” The interpretation implied in
the rendering of A.V. is undoubtedly correct, for the prophet has in mind the
“gnawing and eating away” of the bark. The vine and the fig tree are the
principal fruit trees of Palestine, the pride of the land; their destruction would be
the greatest possible calamity.
Clean bare — Literally, making bare he has made it bare. Through constant
gnawing the locust has made the tree entirely bare; the blossoms, the foliage, the
bark, everything that can be gnawed off he has taken away. “It is sufficient if
these terrible columns stop half an hour on a spot for everything growing on it,
vines, olive trees, corn, to be entirely destroyed. After they have passed nothing
remains but the large branches and the roots, which, being underground, have
escaped their voracity.” (From an account of the devastation caused by locusts,
in Spain in 1841.) “The bushes were eaten quite bare, though the animals could
not have been long on the spot.… They sat by hundreds on a bush gnawing the
rind and the woody fibers” (Lichtenstein, Travels in South Africa, p. 251).
And cast it away — R.V. margin, “down” — to the ground. As the italics
indicate, there is in the original no pronominal suffix to indicate what is cast
down. Hardly the trees themselves (Keil); more probably, that “which is not
green and contains no sap, that which is uneatable”; it the locust flings away
with anger and contempt. And the branches thereof are made white —Literally,
they make white, show whiteness. Branches, as the etymology of the word,
something intertwined, indicates, are the branches of the vine only; through the
gnawing off of the bark the white of the vine becomes visible. “The country did
61

62. not seem to be burned, but to be covered with snow on account of the whiteness
of the trees” (Fr. Alvarez, das Indias, quoted by Pusey in loco). H. Ludolf, in
History of AEthiopia, speaking of locusts, says: “Neither herbs, nor shrubs, nor
trees remain unhurt. Whatever is either grassy or covered with leaves is injured
as if it had been burned with fire; even the bark of the trees is nibbled with their
teeth, so that the injury is not confined to one year alone” (Joel 2:25).
PETT, "Joel 1:7
‘He has laid my vine waste,
And de-barked (or ‘broken’) my fig-tree,
He has made it clean bare, and cast it away,
Its branches are made white.’
And with those teeth they had laid the vine waste, removed the bark from fig
trees, and stripped the trunks and branches bare, leaving the white branches
bare and visible, a very vivid picture of the activities of locusts well recognised by
those who have experienced such a visitation. This would be a very good
description of the activities of the ‘cutting or gnawing’ locusts (Joel 1:4).
8 Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth
grieving for the betrothed of her youth.
BARNES, "Lament like a virgin - The prophet addresses the congregation of
Israel, as one espoused to God ; “‘Lament thou,’ daughter of Zion,” or the like. He
bids her lament, with the bitterest of sorrows, as one who, in her virgin years, was
just knit into one with the husband of her youth, and then at once was, by God’s
judgment, on the very day of her espousal, ere yet she ceased to be a virgin, parted by
death. The mourning which God commands is not one of conventional or becoming
mourning, but that of one who has put away all joy from her, and takes the rough
garment of penitence, girding the haircloth upon her, enveloping and embracing, and
therewith, wearing the whole frame. The haircloth was a coarse, rough, formless,
garment, girt close round the waist, afflictive to the flesh, while it expressed the
sorrow of the soul. God regarded as a virgin, the people which He had made holy to
Himself Jer_2:2.
He so regards the soul which He has regenerated and sanctified. The people, by
their idolatry, lost Him who was a Husband to them; the soul, by inordinate
affections, is parted from its God. : “God Almighty was the Husband of the
62

63. synagogue, having espoused it to Himself in the patriarchs and at the giving of the
law. So long as she did not, through idolatry and other heavy sins, depart from God,
she was a spouse in the integrity of mind, in knowledge, in love and worship of the
true God.” : “The Church is a Virgin; Christ her Husband. By prevailing sins, the
order, condition, splendor, worship of the Church, are, through negligence,
concupiscence, avarice, irreverence, worsened, deformed, obscured.” “The soul is a
virgin by its creation in nature; a virgin by privilege of grace; a virgin also by hope of
glory. Inordinate desire maketh the soul a harlot; manly penitence restoreth to her
chastity; wise innocence, virginity. For the soul recovereth a sort of chastity, when
through thirst for righteousness, she undertakes the pain and fear of penitence; still
she is not as yet raised to the eminence of innocence. - In the first state she is exposed
to concupiscence; in the second, she doth works of repentance; in the third,
bewailing her Husband, she is filled with the longing for righteousness; in the fourth,
she is gladdened by virgin embraces and the kiss of Wisdom. For Christ is the
Husband of her youth, the Betrother of her virginity. But since she parted from Him
to evil concupiscence, she is monished to return to Him by sorrow and the works and
garb of repentance.” : “So should every Christian weep who has lost Baptismal grace,
or has fallen back after repentance, and, deprived of the pure embrace of the
heavenly Bridegroom, embraced instead these earthly things which are as dunghills
Lam_4:5, having been brought up in scarlet, and being in honor, had no
understanding Psa_49:12, Psa_49:20. Whence it is written, “let tears run down like a
river day and night; give thyself no rest” Lam_2:18. Such was he who said; rivers of
waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not Thy law” Psa_119:136.
CLARKE, "Lament like a virgin - for the husband of her youth - Virgin is
a very improper version here. The original is ‫בתולה‬ bethulah, which signifies a young
woman or bride not a virgin, the proper Hebrew for which is ‫עלמה‬ almah. See the
notes on Isa_7:14 (note), and Mat_1:23 (note).
GILL, "Lament like a virgin,.... This is not the continuation of the prophet's
speech to the drunkards; but, as Aben Ezra observes, he either speaks to himself, or
to the land the Targum supplies it, O congregation of Israel; the more religious and
godly part of the people are here addressed; who were concerned for the pure
worship of God, and were as a chaste virgin espoused to Christ, though not yet come,
and for whom they were waiting; these are called upon to lament the calamities of the
times in doleful strains, like a virgin:
girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth; either as one that had
been betrothed to a young man, but not married, he dying after the espousals, and
before marriage; which must be greatly distressing to one that passionately loved
him; and therefore, instead of her nuptial robes, prepared to meet him and be
married in, girds herself with sackcloth; a coarse hairy sort of cloth, as was usual, in
the eastern countries, to put on in token of mourning: or as one lately married to a
young man she dearly loved, and was excessively fond of, and lived extremely happy
with; but, being suddenly snatched away from her by death, puts on her widow's
garments, and mourns not in show only, but in reality; having lost in her youth her
young husband, she had the strongest affection for: this is used to express the great
lamentation the people are called unto in this time of their distress.
63

64. HENRY, "The judgment is here described as very lamentable, and such as all
sorts of people should share in; it shall not only rob the drunkards of their pleasure
(if that were the worst of it, it might be the better borne), but it shall deprive others
of their necessary subsistence, who are therefore called to lament (Joe_1:8), as a
virgin laments the death of her lover to whom she was espoused, but not completely
married, yet so that he was in effect her husband, or as a young woman lately
married, from whom the husband of her youth, her young husband, or the husband
to whom she was married when she was young, is suddenly taken away by death.
Between a new-married couple that are young, that married for love, and that are
every way amiable and agreeable to each other, there is great fondness, and
consequently great grief if either be taken away. Such lamentation shall there be for
the loss of their corn and wine. Note, The more we are wedded to our creature-
comforts that harder it is to part with them. See that parallel place, Isa_32:10-12.
Two sorts of people are here brought in, as concerned to lament this devastation,
countrymen and clergymen.
JAMISON, "Lament — O “my land” (Joe_1:6; Isa_24:4).
virgin ... for the husband — A virgin betrothed was regarded as married (Deu_
22:23; Mat_1:19). The Hebrew for “husband” is “lord” or “possessor,” the husband
being considered the master of the wife in the East.
of her youth — when the affections are strongest and when sorrow at
bereavement is consequently keenest. Suggesting the thought of what Zion’s grief
ought to be for her separation from Jehovah, the betrothed husband of her early days
(Jer_2:2; Eze_16:8; Hos_2:7; compare Pro_2:17; Jer_3:4).
BENSON, "Joel 1:8. Lament, &c. — The prophet here calls upon the inhabitants
of Judea to deprecate this grievous judgment, by humiliation and unfeigned
sorrow for their sins; like a virgin for the husband of her youth — That is,
bitterly, and from the very heart; for the grief of a woman is generally very
poignant and sincere for the loss of her first husband, to whom she was married
in her youth. The expression is still stronger, if we suppose it spoken of a virgin
betrothed to a man she loves, and whom she loses before they come together as
man and wife.
COFFMAN, ""Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of
her youth."
"Like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth ..." This refers
to the mourning of a virgin espoused to her husband whose life ended before the
consummation of the marriage, a grief that was considered to be particularly
anguished by the Hebrews. It is, of course, the Jewish ancient customs regarding
marriage that appear in such a reference as this. It will be remembered that
Joseph, the husband of Mary, was troubled by what he at first thought to be a
reflection upon the chastity of his wife during their espousal, and before the
marriage had really begun (Matthew 1:18-24).
Also, there is a reminder here that the chosen people themselves, the nation of
Israel, were frequently compared to a beautiful virgin. "The real subject here is
the congregation or people of Judah, as suggested in the Chaldee."[21
64

65. COKE, “Joel 1:8. Lament like a virgin— A young woman. Houbigant. These
words are an apostrophe to the land of Judah; the prophet puts her in mind, that
she ought to be deeply affected with the heavy strokes of divine vengeance, and
express her inward sense of these calamities, with the same external marks of
mourning as a wife who had lost the husband of her youth. See AEneid 4: ver.
1:28 and Calmet.
ELLICOTT, “(8) For the husband of her youth.—The land is addressed as a
virgin betrothed, but not yet married, and forfeiting her marriage by unworthy
conduct. Such was the relation of Israel to the Lord: He was faithful, but Israel
unfaithful. Now let her mourn the penalty.
WHEDON, “With Joel 1:8 begins a new paragraph. The prophet turns from the
winebibbers to the entire community (Joel 1:8-10), urging it to bewail the
devastation of the land, as a virgin would mourn the death of the beloved of her
youth. All prospects for the future are blighted; want stares them in the face. The
most serious aspect of the calamity, however, is the fact that the means to
maintain the legal worship have become or are about to become exhausted.
Verse 8
8. Lament — Hebrews ‘alah; only here, but the meaning is clear from the
Aramaic and Syriac. The form is feminine; this and the comparison with the
bereaved virgin indicate that a feminine is addressed, perhaps “my land” (Joel
1:6); at any rate, the whole community.
Like a virgin — Heb, bethulah; literally, one who is separated, that is, one who is
separated from all others to cleave to one, and also one who has not “been known
by any man” (Genesis 24:16); always a virgin in the strictest sense of the term.
Girded with sackcloth — Sackcloth is a coarse material woven from goats’ and
camels’ hair, used for sacks, tent covers, etc. The wearing of this cloth around the
loins was one of the symbols of mourning, both in cases of private bereavement
(Genesis 37:34; 2 Samuel 3:31) and in lamentations over public calamities (Amos
8:10; Jeremiah 48:37). What the origin of the custom and what the form of the
garment worn is uncertain. (See article “Sackcloth,” Hastings’s Dictionary of the
Bible.)
The husband of her youth — The word rendered “husband” means literally
possessor, owner (Exodus 21:28; Isaiah 1:3), so also the verb connected with the
noun (Isaiah 26:13; 1 Chronicles 4:22); but it is used very frequently in the sense
of husband, the usage being due undoubtedly to the earlier conception of the
marriage relation, when the wife was considered the property of the husband.
But, since bethulah is apparently always used of a young woman who has not yet
entered into actual marital relations, the word ba’al is used here in all
probability in the sense of “betrothed” (ag. Nowack and Wellhausen whose
explanations do not remove the difficulty but simply transfer it to bethulah); and
in the light of the marriage customs of the ancient Hebrews such a use of the
word is perfectly legitimate. The first important step in the betrothal procedure
was the settlement of the amount of the mohar, the so-called dowry, and the
65

66. payment or part payment of the same. The mohar was not a dowry in the
modern sense of that term, that is, a portion brought by the bride into the
husband’s family, but a price or ransom paid to the father or brother of the
bride. (See article “Marriage,” Hastings’s Dictionary of the Bible; W.R. Smith,
Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia; Tristram, Eastern Customs.) “After the
betrothal the bride was under the same restrictions as a wife. If unfaithful, she
ranked and was punished as an adulteress (Deuteronomy 22:23-24); on the other
hand, the bridegroom, if he wished to break the contract, had the same
privileges, and also had to observe the same formalities, as in the case of divorce.
The situation is illustrated in the history of Joseph and Mary, who were on the
footing of betrothal (Matthew 1:19).” The grief of the community is to be like the
intense, bitter grief of one whose brightest hopes and most joyful anticipations
have been shattered by the death of her loved one before she was ever led to his
home. The comparison of the land with a virgin was especially appropriate, since
in Hebrew the land, or city, or their inhabitants, are often personified as
daughter, or, virgin (Amos 5:2; Isaiah 1:8; Lamentations 1:1).
PETT, "Joel 1:8
‘Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth,
For the husband of her youth.’
Judah were therefore to lament like a newly married woman (bethulah) who had
been recently bereaved while still young, a most dreadful situation in those days,
not only because her provider was dead, but also because it would affect her
position in Judah. (Compare Isaiah 54:6 where in context such a woman had not
borne children). The thought is that the lamentation should go very deep and be
almost despairing.
The word translated ‘virgin’ (bethulah) clearly cannot mean literally a woman
who has never known a man, for here she was a married woman and would
therefore have had relations with her husband on the night of the marriage. But
in fact in early Hebrew ‘bethulah’ did not refer to a pure virgin. This is evident
from its use at Ugarit of the fertility goddess who was anything other than a
genuine virgin, and its use of ‘the virgin daughter of Babylon’, who in Isaiah
47:9 was seen as a widow with children. Compare how the word had to be
qualified by ‘and had not known a man’ in Genesis 24:16. It clearly meant a
young woman whether married or unmarried, in contrast with ‘alma which
indicated a young unmarried woman, and therefore truly a virgin.
9 Grain offerings and drink offerings
66

67. are cut off from the house of the Lord.
The priests are in mourning,
those who minister before the Lord.
BARNES, "The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off - The meat
offering and drink offering were part of every sacrifice. If the materials for these, the
grain and wine, ceased, through locusts or drought or the wastings of war, the
sacrifice must become mangled and imperfect. The priests were to mourn for the
defects of the sacrifice; they lost also their own subsistence, since the altar was, to
them, in place of all other inheritance. The meat and drink offerings were emblems of
the materials of the holy eucharist, by which Malachi foretold that, when God had
rejected the offering of the Jews, there should be a “pure offering” among the pagan
Joe_1:11. When then holy communions become rare, the meat and drink offering are
literally cut off from the house of the Lord, and those who are indeed priests, the
ministers of the Lord, should mourn. Joel foretells that, however love should wax
cold, there should ever be such. He forsees and foretells at once, the failure, and the
grief of the priests. Nor is it an idle regret which he foretells, but a mourning unto
their God. : “Both meat offering and drink offering hath perished from the house of
God, not in actual substance but as to reverence, because, amid the prevailing
iniquity there is scarcely found in the Church, who should duly celebrate, or receive
the sacraments.”
CLARKE, "The meat-offering and the drink-offering is cut off - The
crops and the vines being destroyed by the locusts, thee total devastation in plants,
trees, corn, etc., is referred to and described with a striking variety of expression in
this and the following verses.
GILL, "The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house
of the Lord,.... The meat offering was made of fine flour, oil, and frankincense; and
the drink offering was of wine; and, because of the want of corn and wine, these were
not brought to the temple as usual; and which was matter of great grief to religious
persons, and especially to the priests, as follows:
the priests, the Lord's ministers, mourn; partly because they had no work to
do, and could not answer to their character, the ministers of the Lord, in ministering
about holy things, and bringing the sacrifices and offerings of the people to him; and
partly because of their want of food, their livelihood greatly depending on the
offerings brought, part of which belonged to them, and on which they and their
families lived.
JAMISON, "The greatest sorrow to the mind of a religious Jew, and what ought
to impress the whole nation with a sense of God’s displeasure, is the cessation of the
usual temple-worship.
meat offering — Hebrew, mincha; “meat” not in the English sense “flesh,” but the
67

68. unbloody offering made of flour, oil, and frankincense. As it and the drink offering or
libation poured out accompanied every sacrificial flesh offering, the latter is included,
though not specified, as being also “cut off,” owing to there being no food left for man
or beast.
priests ... mourn — not for their own loss of sacrificial perquisites (Num_
18:8-15), but because they can no longer offer the appointed offerings to Jehovah, to
whom they minister.
BENSON, "Joel 1:9-10. The meat-offering and the drink-offering — These
offerings always accompanied the daily sacrifice: see Numbers 28:4; Numbers
28:7. The word here and elsewhere translated meat-offering, properly signifies
the bread- offering, which was made of flour. It is here foretold, that these daily
sacrifices could not be offered as they were wont to be, on account of the scarcity
of corn and wine. The field is wasted, &c. — The fields and the whole land have
a mournful appearance, being altogether bare, and destitute of fruit for the food
of either man or beast. The oil languisheth —
The olive-tree fadeth and produceth no fruit.
COFFMAN, ""The meal-offering and the drink-offering are cut off from the
house of Jehovah; the priests, Jehovah's ministers, mourn."
Naturally, with the total destruction of all crops and vegetation, the usual
sacrifices in the temple were curtailed and eliminated. Joel's speaking of the
priests here in the third person is taken to indicate that he was not of their
number. It is incorrect to make Joel's concern for this interruption of the
sacrifices as the basis of postulating a late post-exilic date when the congregation
in Judah was very small; because the total devastation inflicted by the locusts
would have produced a similar effect whenever it might have occurred. The
seriousness of this cessation of the daily offerings was inherent in the people's
conviction that by the means of those sacrifices their fellowship with God was
perpetuated and maintained. "Without those offerings, the people felt loss of
contact with the Lord; and the priests, who understood their significance,
mourned."[22] In spite of the reluctance of the people to cut off the supplies
necessary to the faithful observances of the sacrifices, however, "there was no
food left for man or beast[23] No wonder that the priests mourned, for their very
livelihood depended upon the offerings out of which they lived.
ELLICOTT, “(9) The meat offering and the drink offering—i.e., all the outward and
visible signs of communion with God are cut off. The means are lost through this
visitation. There is a total cessation of “the creatures of bread and wine.” The
immediate significance of this fact is naturally appreciated first by “the priests, the
Lord’s ministers.”
WHEDON, "Joel 1:9 gives the justification for the call to universal lamentation.
The meal offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of Jehovah.
These offerings must of necessity cease, as a result of the general devastation
described in Joel 1:10.
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69. Meat offering — Better, R.V., “meal offering”; Hebrews minhah; literally, gift,
present; therefore, perhaps, the oldest word for offerings in general. It is used in
the Old Testament to designate the cereal or meal offerings, consisting of fine
meal or of unleavened bread, cakes, wafers, or of ears of roasted grain, always
with salt and, except in the sin offering, with olive oil (Leviticus 2:1; Leviticus
2:4; Leviticus 2:13-14; Leviticus 5:11). The meal offering might be offered by
itself; if so, part might be offered upon the altar while the rest would go to the
priests, or the whole might be consumed on the altar, as in the case of the burnt
offering. The meal offering might also be an accompaniment of other offerings;
then again it might be either wholly consumed, or part might be burned and the
rest be given to the priests (Amos 5:22).
Drink offering — Heb, nesekh. Not an independent offering; a libation made
with the meal offering usually accompanying a burnt offering (Numbers 15:5;
Numbers 28:7-8). Wine was the common material used; sometimes oil was
substituted (Genesis 35:14), in a case of necessity perhaps even water (1 Samuel
7:6; 2 Samuel 23:16). In this verse the reference is undoubtedly to the meal
offering which, according to Exodus 29:38-41; Numbers 28:3-8, accompanied the
daily morning and evening burnt offerings.
The house of Jehovah — The temple. According to Joel it is the only place where
Jehovah is worshiped. Whether the bringing of the offerings had already ceased
or was only threatened we cannot say; even the possibility of such serious
calamity might call for loudest lamentation, for these daily offerings were a bond
between heaven and earth; to discontinue them would be a breaking of the bond,
a severing of the covenant relation between Jehovah and his people, and so
would mark the utter rejection of the people by their God. This symbolic
meaning of the daily sacrifice accounts for the determination of the priests,
during the siege of Jerusalem by Pompey, to continue the daily sacrifice at all
costs: “And anyone may hence learn how very great piety we exercise toward
God,… since the priests were not at all hindered from their sacred
ministrations,… but did still twice each day… offer their sacrifices on the altar;
nor did they omit those sacrifices if any melancholy accident happened by the
stones that were thrown among them; for although the city was taken… and the
enemy then fell upon them, and cut the throats of them that were in the temple,
yet could not those that offered the sacrifices be compelled to run away, neither
by the fear they were in of their own lives, nor by the number that were already
slain, as thinking it better to suffer whatever came upon them, at their very
altars, than to omit anything that their laws required of them” (Josephus,
Antiquities, xiv, 4:3). The terror of the Jews at the interruption of the daily
sacrifice during the siege of the city by Titus is also described by Josephus (Wars
of the Jews, vi, 2:1.)
The priests — The priests received a part of the meal offerings as a means of
support; their grief might be due to the fear that their income would be cut off
(Wuensche); but the additional thought seems to be in the mind of the prophet,
that as the religious leaders they would feel more intensely the disaster and
understand more fully its significance.
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70. Jehovah’s ministers — Not the ordinary word for servant, but meshareth, the
word commonly used in later times for a minister at the sanctuary; in New
Hebrew the term for priestly service is derived from the same root. The ancient
translations of this verse differ from the Hebrew, the Septuagint reads “the
servants of the altar,” and one manuscript (B) adds, “of Jehovah.” It also takes
the first two words of Joel 1:10 to Joel 1:9, connecting them with what precedes
by “because.” The Arabic reads, “Grieve, ye priests, who minister at the altar,
for it (the altar) is in need”; the Syriac, “the kings and princes sit in sorrow.”
PETT, "Joel 1:9
‘The meal-offering and the drink-offering are cut off from the house of YHWH,
The priests, the ministers of YHWH, mourn.’
Because of the ravages of the locusts no grain and wine would be produced, and this
apparently in the whole of Judah, and therefore there would be no firstfruits, and no
grain or wine offerings. No wonder then that the priests and Temple servants
mourned. There are no good grounds for denying that these types of offerings were
offered in pre-exilic times, and they are in fact called for in the Law of Moses.
The lack of grain would affect the daily offerings which were seen as an essential part
of the maintenance of the covenant, and the blow thus went very deep, although
presumably there was grain in storage that could be used until it ran out or unless the
locusts had got to it.
10 The fields are ruined,
the ground is dried up;
the grain is destroyed,
the new wine is dried up,
the olive oil fails.
BARNES, "The field is wasted, the land mourneth - As, when God pours
out His blessings of nature, all nature seems to smile and be glad, and as the Psalmist
says, “to shout for joy and sing” Psa_65:13, so when He withholds them, it seems to
mourn, and, by its mourning, to reproach the insensibility of man. Oil is the emblem
of the abundant graces and gifts of the Holy Spirit, and of the light and devotion of
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71. soul given by Him, and spiritual gladness, and overflowing, all-mantling charity.
GILL, "The field is wasted,.... By the locust, that eat up all green things, the grass
and herbs, the fruit and leaves of trees; and also by the Chaldeans trampling on it
with their horses, and the increase of which became fodder for them:
the land mourneth; being destitute, nothing growing upon it, and so looked
dismally, and of a horrid aspect; or the inhabitants of it, for want of provision:
for the corn is wasted; by the locusts, and so by the Assyrian or Chaldean army,
before it came to perfection:
the new wine is dried up: in the grape, through the drought after mentioned: or,
"is ashamed" (r); not answering the expectations of men, who saw it in the cluster,
promising much, but failed:
the oil languisheth; or "sickens" (s); the olive trees withered; the olives fell off, as
the Targum, and so the oil failed: the corn, wine, and oil, are particularly mentioned,
not only as being the chief support of human life, as Kimchi observes, and so the loss
of them must be matter of lamentation to the people in general; but because of these
the meat and drink offerings were, and therefore the priests in particular had reason
to mourn.
JAMISON, "field ... land — differing in that “field” means the open, unenclosed
country; “land,” the rich red soil (from a root “to be red”) fit for cultivation. Thus, “a
man of the field,” in Hebrew, is a “hunter”; a “man of the ground” or “land,” an
“agriculturist” (Gen_25:27). “Field” and “land” are here personified.
new wine — from a Hebrew root implying that it takes possession of the brain, so
that a man is not master of himself. So the Arabic term is from a root “to hold
captive.” It is already fermented, and so intoxicating, unlike the sweet fresh wine, in
Joe_1:5, called also “new wine,” though a different Hebrew word. It and “the oil”
stand for the vine and the olive tree, from which the “wine” and “oil” are obtained
(Joe_1:12).
dried up — not “ashamed,” as Margin, as is proved by the parallelism to
“languisheth,” that is, droopeth.
COFFMAN, ""The field is laid waste, the land mourneth; for the grain is
destroyed, the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. Be confounded, O ye
husbandmen. Wail, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; for the
harvest of the field is perished. The vine is withered, and the fig-tree languisheth;
the pomegranate-tree, the palm-tree also, and the apple-tree, even all the trees of
the field are withered: for joy is withered away from the sons of men."
This paragraph depicting the devastation of the locust scourge is as moving and
dramatic a presentation as can be imagined. There is no need of help of any kind
in understanding the full meaning of such a description; it is a classic. Something
in it reminds us of that sorrowful and heart-moving speech delivered by Sir
Winston Churchill at a low water mark of Great Britain's struggle against Hitler
in World War II: "Singapore has fallen. The Prince of Wales is lost. The Repulse
is at the bottom of the sea!" There is something of that same epic tragedy in
Joel's wonderful words here. As Deane commented:
71

72. "The field is wasted; the ground mourns; the corn is wasted; the new wine is
spoiled; the oil decays!" - What a scene of desolation! yet how briefly and
forcibly depicted! We see it all; we want nothing more to present it to our eyes.
Pictures taken after a locust plague in 1915 show branches of trees completely
devoid of bark and glistening white in the heat of the sun.[25]
A marvelous description of the locust plague is given in the National Geographic
Magazine for August, 1969, under the title, "The Teeth of the Wind." A heavy
locust flight actually darkens the sun and brings utter devastation in its wake.
ELLICOTT, “(10) The new wine.—The necessaries and delights of life are all
gone: “the wine that maketh glad the heart of man, the oil that makes his face to
shine, the bread that strengthened man’s heart” (Psalms 104:15).
WHEDON, "Joel 1:10 explains why the daily offerings must be discontinued.
The fields are wasted, the prospects for harvest gone. The real force of the
original cannot be brought out in a translation; “Joel loads his clauses with the
most leaden letters he can find, and drops them in quick succession, repeating
the same heavy word again and again, as if he would stun the careless people into
some sense of the bare, brutal weight of the calamity which has befallen them.”
G.A. Smith translates the verse: —
The fields are blasted, the ground is in grief,
Blasted is the corn, abashed is the new wine, the oil pines away.
The field is wasted — A play upon words in the original.
The land mourneth — Land and field are practically synonymous, but when
used together a distinction may be noted: sadheh, “field,” is in a narrower sense
the cornfield, as distinguished from orchards and vineyards; ‘adhamah “land,”
all cultivated land, be it corn-fields, or orchards, or vineyards. The land is
endowed with powers of personality (Jeremiah 12:4; Jeremiah 12:11; Jeremiah
23:10; Isaiah 33:9; in a similar way, Psalms 65:13, “The valleys… shout for joy,
they also sing”). The calamity is so great that even the lifeless ground is touched
by it and participates in the lamentation. The loss is complete.
Corn… new wine… oil — The three principal products of Palestine, frequently
mentioned as blessings from Jehovah which he may withdraw as a punishment
(Numbers 18:12; Deuteronomy 7:13; Deuteronomy 11:14; Hosea 2:8). “The
words, though they may be used with reference to the corn in the ears, and the
juice in the grapes and in the olives, denote more particularly these products
after they have been adapted partially for the food or use of man.” Corn
(Hebrews daghan) signifies the grain of wheat after it has been threshed; new
wine (Hebrews tirosh), the grape juice after it has passed the stage of ‘asis (Joel
1:5) and has become partly fermented (see Driver, Joel and Amos, p. 79); oil
(Hebrews yishar), the freshly made juice of the olive. Along with corn and wine,
oil may be regarded as one of the indispensable necessities of life to the Oriental.
Oil was used for illumination (Exodus 25:6; Matthew 25:3), for food (Ezekiel
16:13), for baking (1 Kings 17:12; Leviticus 2:1-7), for medicinal purposes
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73. (Isaiah 1:6), for anointing the body, especially after a bath (2 Samuel 14:2), for
the anointing of the king (1 Samuel 10:1). (See, further, Van Lennep, Bible
Lands, pp. 124ff.; Nowack, Archaeologie, pp. 237ff.)
Dried up — Margin, “ashamed.” It is not quite certain whether the verb is from
a root “to be ashamed,” or from one “to dry up”; as far as the form is concerned,
either is possible. The latter is the meaning adopted by the ancient versions, but
the former is more probable in the sense of “be frustrated,” “fail.” The verb
taken with the first word of Joel 1:11 may indicate an intentional play upon
words.
Languisheth — Used of plants in the sense of “to wither” (Joel 1:12; Isaiah 16:8;
Isaiah 24:7); in a secondary sense of a city (Jeremiah 14:2); of a childless woman
(1 Samuel 2:5; compare Jeremiah 15:9); of persons disappointed in their hopes
(Isaiah 19:8; compare Hosea 4:3). The sense of the verse is clear: the locusts have
wasted the grain, so that there will be no harvest; the vineyards, so that they can
bear no grapes; and the olive orchards, so that they can bear no olives for oil.
PETT, "Joel 1:10
‘The field is laid waste, the land mourns,
For the grain is destroyed,
The new wine is dried up,
The oil languishes.’
We now have the explanation for the lack of meal and wine offerings. It was
because the fields had been laid waste, the grain was destroyed, the wine was
dried up and the olive oil was no longer being produced. The locusts had
apparently devastated the total harvest. The result was that even the land was
seen as in mourning because it could produce no fruit. Or alternatively the idea
of ‘the land’ is the people of the land, for the people were also left bereft.
11 Despair, you farmers,
wail, you vine growers;
grieve for the wheat and the barley,
because the harvest of the field is destroyed.
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74. BARNES, "Be ye ashamed, O ye farmers - The prophet dwells on and
expands the description of the troubles which he had foretold, setting before their
eyes the picture of one universal dessolation. For the details of sorrow most touch the
heart, and he wished to move them to repentance. He pictures them to themselves;
some standing aghast and ashamed of the fruitlessness of their toil others giving way
to bursts of sorrow, and all things around waste and dried. Nothing was exempt.
Wheat and barley, widespread as they were (and the barley in those countries, “more
fertile” than the wheat,) perished utterly. The rich juice of the vine, the luscious
sweetness of the fig the succulence of the ever-green pomegranate, the majesty of the
palm tree, the fragrance of the eastern apple, exempted them not. All, fruitbearing or
barren, were dried up, for joy itself, and every source of joy was dried up from the
sons of men.
All these suggest a spiritual meaning. For we know of a spiritual harvest, souls
born to God, and a spiritual vineyard, the Church of God; and spiritual farmers and
vinedressers, those whom God sends. The trees, with their various fruits were
emblems of the faithful, adorned with the various gifts and graces of the Spirit. All
well-nigh were dried up. Wasted without, in act and deed, the sap of the Spirit ceased
within; the true laborers, those who were jealous for the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
were ashamed and grieved. : “Husbandmen” and “vinedressers,” are priests and
preachers; “farmers” as instructors in morals, “vinedressers” for that joy in things
eternal, which they infuse into the minds of the bearers. “Husbandmen,” as
instructing the soul to deeds of righteousness; vinedressers, as exciting the minds of
hearers to the love of wisdom. Or, “farmers,” in that by their doctrine they uproot
earthly deeds and desires; “vinedressers,” as holding forth spiritual gifts.” “The vine
is the richness of divine knowledge; the fig the sweetness of contemplation and the
joyousness in things eternal.” The pomegranate, with its manifold grains contained
under its one bark, may designate the variety and harmony of graces, disposed in
their beautiful order. “The palm, rising above the world.” : “Well is the life of the
righteous likened to a palm, in that the palm below is rough to the touch, and in a
manner enveloped in dry bark, but above it is adorned with fruit, fair even to the eye;
below it is compressed by the enfoldings of its bark; above, it is spread nut in
amplitude of beautiful greenness. For so is the life of the elect, despised below,
beautiful above. Down below, it is, as it were, enfolded in many barks, in that it is
straitened by innumerable afflictions. But on high it is expanded into a foliage, as it
were, of beautiful greenness by the amplitude of the rewarding.”
GILL, "Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen,.... Tillers of the land, who have took
a great deal of pains in cultivating the earth, dunging, ploughing, and sowing it;
confusion may cover you, because of your disappointment, the increase not
answering to your expectations and labours:
howl, O ye vinedressers; that worked in the vineyards, set the vines, watered and
pruned them, and, when they had done all they could to them, were dried up with the
drought, or devoured by the locusts, as they were destroyed by the Assyrians or
Chaldeans; and therefore had reason to howl and lament, all their labour being lost:
for the wheat and for the barley: because the harvest of the field is
perished; this belongs to the husbandmen, is a reason for their shame and
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75. blushing, because the wheat and barley were destroyed before they were ripe; and so
they had neither wheat nor barley harvest. The words, by a transposition, would read
better, and the sense be clearer, "thus, be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen, for the
wheat and for the barley: because the harvest", &c. "howl, O ye vine dressers"; for
what follows:
HENRY, " Let the husbandmen and vine-dressers lament, Joe_1:11. Let them be
ashamed of the care and pains they have taken about their vineyards, for it will be all
labour lost, and they shall gain no advantage by it; they shall see the fruit of their
labour eaten up before their eyes, and shall not be able to save any of it. Note, Those
who labour only for the meat that perishes will, sooner or later, be ashamed of their
labour. The vine-dressers will then express their extreme grief by howling, when they
see their vineyards stripped of leaves and fruit, and the vines withered, so that
nothing is to be had or hoped for from them, wherewith they might pay their rent
and maintain their families. The destruction is particularly described here: The field
is laid waste (Joe_1:10); all is consumed that is produced; the land mourns; the
ground has a melancholy aspect, and looks ruefully; all the inhabitants of the land are
in tears for what they have lost, are in fear of perishing for want, Isa_24:4; Jer_4:28.
“The corn, the bread-corn, which is the staff of life, is wasted; the new wine, which
should be brought into the cellars for a supply when the old is drunk, is dried up, is
ashamed of having promised so fair what it is not now able to perform; the oil
languishes, or is diminished, because (as the Chaldee renders it) the olives have
fallen off.” The people were not thankful to God as they should have been for the
bread that strengthens man's heart, the wine that makes glad the heart, and the oil
that makes the face to shine (Psa_104:14, Psa_104:15); and therefore they are justly
brought to lament the loss and want of them, of all the products of the earth, which
God had given either for necessity or for delight (this is repeated, Joe_1:11, Joe_
1:12) - the wheat and barley, the two principal grains bread was then made of, wheat
for the rich and barley for the poor, so that the rich and poor meet together in the
calamity. The trees are destroyed, not only the vine and the fig-tree (as before, Joe_
1:7), which were more useful and necessary, but other trees also that were for
delight - the pomegranate, palm-tree, and apple-tree, yea, all the trees of the field, as
well as those of the orchard, timber-trees as well as fruit-trees. In short, all the
harvest of the field has perished, Joe_1:11. And by this means joy has withered away
from the children of men (Joe_1:11); the joy of harvest, which is used to express
great and general joy, has come to nothing, is turned into shame, is turned into
lamentation. Note, The perishing of the harvest is the withering of the joy of the
children of men. Those that place their happiness in the delights of the sense, when
they are deprived of them, or in any way disturbed in the enjoyment of them, lose all
their joy; whereas the children of God, who look upon the pleasures of sense with
holy indifference and contempt, and know what it is to make God their hearts'
delight, can rejoice in him as the God of their salvation even when the fig-tree does
not blossom; spiritual joy is so far from withering then, that it flourishes more than
ever, Hab_3:17, Hab_3:18. Let us see here, 1. What perishing uncertain things all our
creature-comforts are. We can never be sure of the continuance of them. Here the
heavens had given their rains in due season, the earth had yielded her strength, and,
when the appointed weeks of harvest were at hand, they saw no reason to doubt but
that they should have a very plentiful crop; yet then they are invaded by these
unthought-of enemies, that lay all waste, and not by fire and sword. It is our wisdom
not to lay up our treasure in those things which are liable to so many untoward
accidents. 2. See what need we have to live in continual dependence upon God and
his providence, for our own hands are not sufficient for us. When we see the full corn
in the ear, and think we are sure of it - nay, when we have brought it home, if he blow
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76. upon it, nay, if he do not bless it, we are not likely to have any good of it. 3. See what
ruinous work sin makes. A paradise is turned into a wilderness, a fruitful land, the
most fruitful land upon earth, into barrenness, for the iniquity of those that dwelt
therein.
JAMISON, "Be ... ashamed — that is, Ye shall have the shame of
disappointment on account of the failure of “the wheat” and “barley ... harvest.”
howl ... vine dressers — The semicolon should follow, as it is the “husbandmen”
who are to be “ashamed ... for the wheat.” The reason for the “vine dressers” being
called to “howl” does not come till Joe_1:12, “The vine is dried up.”
BENSON, "Joel 1:11-12. Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen — Be struck with
confusion to see all your hopes disappointed, and no fruit arising from your
labour; to find nothing of that which you had made yourselves sure of. Howl, O
ye vine-dressers — This is to be referred to what is said in the next verse, and not
to the words immediately following, which belong to the husbandmen, as the
subject for their lamentation; as the vine, being dried up, was the cause of the
sorrow of the vine-dressers. Because joy is withered away from the sons of
men — Through want of food and wine. Or, he refers to the joy they used to
show at the gathering in of the fruits of the earth.
WHEDON, "Verse 11-12
11, 12. Call to the plowmen and to the vinedressers. They too have ground for
lamentation, since their prospects are completely ruined. It is better to regard
Joel 1:11 as an appeal and not as a declaratory sentence. The special appeal in
Joel 1:5 advances to the general in Joel 1:8, then returns to the special in Joel
1:11.
Be ye ashamed — The Hebrew verb is used also in the sense of “to be
disappointed” (Isaiah 1:29; Isaiah 20:5); it expresses intense disappointment,
which manifests itself in the terrified look, the change of color; we might render,
with Keil, “turn pale.” The cause for terror is stated in the latter part of the
verse, “for the wheat and for the barley, because the harvest of the field is
perished.” The locusts have devastated everything.
Howl, O ye vinedressers — Since the destruction of various trees (Joel 1:12)
seems to be the cause for the lamentation of the “vinedressers,” it is necessary to
seek a more comprehensive term; kerem means “vineyard,” but also “garden” or
“orchard” (Judges 15:5); the korem is therefore the keeper of the orchard, the
gardener as well as the vinedresser.
The fig tree — Native in Western Asia; very plentiful in Palestine. It was highly
prized, and is often mentioned along with the vine (Deuteronomy 8:8; Jeremiah
5:17). To “sit under one’s vine and fig tree” is a symbol of prosperity and
security (1 Kings 4:25; Micah 4:4). Figs were dried and pressed into cakes, and
they formed a staple article of food (1 Samuel 25:18); they were used also as a
poultice (2 Kings 20:7; Isaiah 38:21). Grapes and figs are called by Josephus
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77. (Wars, iii, 10:8) “the principal fruits of the land”; and it is said by travelers that
“many houses are entirely covered with vines and are hidden almost entirely
behind fig trees.”
Pomegranate tree — The Scripture references to the pomegranate are very
numerous (Numbers 13:23; Numbers 20:5; Deuteronomy 8:8; 1 Samuel 14:2;
Song of Solomon 4:3; Song of Solomon 4:13). It is a shrub or low tree, from ten
to fifteen feet high, with small dark green foliage; the fruit is about the size of an
orange, with a hard rind, yellowish or brownish, with a blush of red; it is filled
with numerous seeds, each enveloped in bright red pulp, whence the Latin and
English names grained apple. The fruit is of two varieties, the sweet and the acid.
The pulp is most refreshing to the taste; the juice of the acid kind is sweetened as
a beverage (Song of Solomon 8:2), and is also used in salads. The name “Gath-
rimmon” (Joshua 21:25) signifies winepress of the pomegranate, and implies that
the wine-presses of the city were used for the making of pomegranate wine. The
rind and bark and outer part of the root are valued for the tannin which they
contain. The pomegranate is highly prized and extensively cultivated even now.
(See Van Lennep, Bible Lands, 140f.; Thomson, The Land and the Book, 2:392).
Palm tree — The palm tree has existed “since prehistoric times over a vast area
in the dry warm zone which extends from Senegal to the basin of the Indus,
chiefly between the fifteenth to thirtieth degrees of latitude.” It is uncertain
where it was cultivated first, but there is sufficient evidence to show that it was
cultivated very early in Babylonia, Egypt, and Arabia. In Syria, including
Palestine, the tree seems to have been common; the name Phoenicia is thought by
some to be connected with its Greek name. The coin struck at Rome to
commemorate the capture of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. represented a weeping
woman, the symbol of the country, sitting under a palm tree, with the inscription
Judaea capta. At present palm trees are not found in great numbers in Syria
except in the plain of Philistia, in the neighborhood of Beirut, and near Jericho.
Tamar, the word used here, is the name of the date palm, a tree consisting of a
single stem or trunk fifty to sixty feet high, without a branch, and “crowned at
the summit by a cluster or tuft of leaves that droop and shape themselves
somewhat in the form of an umbrella.” The uses of the palm are numerous. The
leaves are useful for covering the roofs and sides of houses, for fences, mats, and
baskets. The palm yields “an excellent kind of honey, not much inferior in
sweetness to other honey” (Josephus, Wars, iv, 8:3). The fruit grows in large
clusters which hang from the trunk, and it constitutes an important article of
food. Even the stony seeds are ground and yield nourishment for the camels. Old
Testament references to the palm trees are frequent. (See Van Lennep, Bible
Lands, 146ff.; Tristram, Natural History of the Bible, 378ff.)
The apple tree — Heb, tappuah. Opinions vary as to the tree designated by this
name. It has been identified with the quince, the citron, the orange, the apricot,
and the apple. To decide the question we must examine the references to the tree
in the Old Testament, that we may see which one meets all the conditions.
According to Song of Solomon 2:3, it must be a majestic tree suitable to sit
under; according to Song of Solomon 8:5, its branches must expand sufficiently
to overshadow a tent or a house; according to Song of Solomon 2:3, its fruit must
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78. be pleasant to the taste; according to Song of Solomon 7:8, its smell must be
desirable; according to Song of Solomon 2:5, it must refresh the weary. Tristram
(pp. 334ff.) declares that it cannot be the apple, “for though that fruit is
cultivated with success in the higher parts of Lebanon, out of the boundaries of
the Holy Land, yet it barely exists in the country itself.…
The climate is far too hot for the apple tree. There is one fruit, however, that
meets all the requirements of the context, and the only one which does so — the
apricot.” Nevertheless, it is doubtful if the apricot would be mentioned as a fruit
of special fragrance; nor is it used above others to refresh the weary. The quince
cannot be meant, for its fruit is sour, never sweet. The citron was introduced into
Palestine probably later than Old Testament times; so also the orange.
Notwithstanding Tristram’s statement, there seems no serious objection to
identifying the tappuah with the apple, for, as G.E. Post says, “The apple fulfills
all the conditions perfectly; it is a fruit tree which often attains a large size, is
planted in orchards and near houses, and is a special favorite of the people in
Palestine and Syria. It is true that the fruit of the Syrian apple is far inferior to
that of Europe, and especially to that of America; nevertheless it is a favorite
with all the people, and in a few places fine varieties have been introduced and
thriven well.… They have the aroma of the better kinds, and it is for this quality
that they are most prized. It is very common, when visiting a friend, to have an
apple handed to you just to smell” (article “Apple,” Hastings’s Dictionary of the
Bible; Thomson, The Land and the Book, 2:328, 329). The trees mentioned by
name are the most precious, but they are not the only ones that have suffered; all
the trees of the field are withered — The verb might be used of the devastation
by the locusts; so Jerome, “All trees, whether fruit-bearing or not, are consumed
by the destructive locusts”; but, as Credner first suggested, it may have reference
to the effects of a drought accompanying the plague of locusts (Joel 1:17-20).
The last clause of Joel 1:12 is rendered better, “yea, joy is vanished from the sons
of men.” It emphasizes at once the effect of the general destruction and the cause
of the universal lamentation. The joy is the rejoicing in anticipation of the
harvest and of the vintage, and at those seasons of the year (Hosea 9:1). There
will be neither harvest nor vintage.
Is withered — Or, is vanished. The same verb is translated in Joel 1:10, “dried
up”; in Joel 1:11, “be ashamed”; in Joel 1:12, “dried up”: a play upon words
throughout. Literally, showeth shame. As a person whose nature it is to be
running over with gladness is ashamed of his hilarity in the presence of grief and
withdraws, so rejoicing, out of place in the midst of this calamity, vanishes.
PETT, Joel 1:11
‘Be confounded, O you husbandmen,
Wail, O you vinedressers,
For the wheat and for the barley,
78

79. For the harvest of the field is perished.’
The farmers and vinedressers could only look on helplessly at the devastation of
their crops, and wail at what was happening. Nothing could be done about
locusts which arrived in such vast numbers and would soon chew their way
through the vegetation. Under their very eyes they saw their grain being
consumed, and their harvest disappearing. Dr Thomson states from his own
experience, ‘I saw under my own eyes not only a large vineyard loaded with
young grapes, but whole fields of corn disappear as if by magic, and the hope of
the husbandman vanish like smoke’.
BI 11-12, "The harvest of the field is perished.
The destructive nature of sin
The prophet still lingers on the theme of his solemn and faithful discourses and urges
all classes to attend to him that their sin and sorrow may be removed. He did not
seek new or pleasing themes on which to address the nation. He was anxious to
produce a deep and lasting conviction, and hence dwelt long on the subject which he
felt to be of the greatest importance.
I. It is destructive of human labour. “Because the harvest of the field is perished.”
The tillers of Judah had taken a great deal of pains in cultivating their soil; they had
ploughed and sowed it, and certainly expected as the result a rich and golden harvest.
Also the vine dressers had worked hard in the vineyards in watering and pruning the
vines, and anticipated their reward. But the wheat and barley were destroyed before
they were ripe; and the vines were withered. Thus we see how sin destroys the
products of human labour and industry; how it utterly wastes those things which are
designed by God to supply the wants of man, and to be remunerative of his energy.
1. Sin is destructive by incapacitating man for industrious labour. There are many
men so enfeebled by sin that they are really unable to go into the fields and attend
to advancing harvests, they are unable to look after the growth of the vines and
the pomegranate tree. They are divested of their vital energy and of their
muscular power by a continued habit of transgression against the laws of purity
and temperance.
2. Sin is destructive by rendering men prodigal of the time which should be
occupied by industrious labour. There are men who will only work three or four
days in a week; the rest they spend in idleness. Thus fields are untilled, the vines
are neglected, while indolent pleasures are pursued.
3. Sin is destructive by diminishing the ultimate utility of industrious labour. The
fields and the vines may be productive of crops and fruits, but if man were a saint
instead of a sinner he would enhance their value by putting them to the best and
highest use. Sin makes the labour of men tess useful than otherwise it would be.
II. It is destructive of the good and beauteous things of the material universe.
1. Sin destroys the beautiful things of the material universe. We can well imagine
the desolated condition of the land of Judah robbed of all its harvests and fruits.
The corn stricken. The vines withered. The trees peeled of their bark. Nature,
divested of her beautiful vesture of green and gay life, a complete wreck. The
difference between Eden and the world as we now see it is entirely occasioned by
sin. How lovely would this universe appear were all sin removed from amidst its
fields and vines!
79

80. 2. Sin destroys the valuable things of the material universe. It destroys the things
which are appointed to sustain the very life of man, and failing which the grave is
immediately sure. It does not merely destroy the little superfluities of the
universe, but its most essential and strongest things.
III. It is destructive of that joy which is the destined heritage of man. “Because joy is
withered away from the sons of men.”
1. It is certain that God designed that man should experience enjoyment in a wise
use of the things around him. God does not wish man to be miserable in the
universe which He has made for his welfare. But the use of His creatures must be
wise. They must not he abused by excess or ingratitude, or they will be
withdrawn, and the joy they should give will be turned into mourning. Let us not
rest in the creature, but in the Creator, and seek all our joy in Him, then it shall
never fail.
2. Sin is destructive of those things which should inspire joy in the soul of man. It
destroys the harvests to which he had looked forward as the reward of earnest
toil. It brings him into great need and destitution. It hushes the joy of a nation.
Lessons—
1. That sin is destructive of human toil.
2. That sin divests the world of its beauty.
3. That sin is incompatible with true joy. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The advantages of a bad harvest
A harvest may be called bad as compared with expectation or as compared with crops
of former years; or as compared with the harvests of other lands. Under God’s benign
providence a bad harvest is an instrument for good to men. Like all chastisement, it
becomes a blessing to such as are “exercised thereby.”
I. It recalls us to a sense of our dependence upon God. In these days law is
everything. There is a tendency to exclude God from nature. What is law but His will?
Adversity helps to cure this sore evil. Do what men will, they cannot make sure of
results. There are causes beyond their ken. There are influences at work which they
cannot control.
II. It awakens us to a deeper peeling of the evil of sin. Calamity witnesses for God
against sin. Things are out of course. Every pain, every sorrow, every disaster is a call
to repentance. Calamity that affects a whole people is as the ringing of the great bell
of providence, summoning a whole nation to repent;
III. It serves as a time of discipline for the improvement of character and the
promotion of the general good. Calamity is fitted to humble us. It teaches patience. It
stimulates thrift and economy. It quickens the inventive faculties. It moves the heart
to a truer sympathy with the struggling and the poor. It develops trade and
commerce and civilisation. And commerce becomes a pioneer of the Gospel.
IV. It impresses the soul with a sense of its higher needs and duties. This great lesson
is always needful, and never more than in this grossly material age.
V. It invites us to draw nearer to God, and to regard him as the only true and
supreme God. If we believe on Christ we should be brave and hopeful. Let the worst
come to the worst, our highest interests are safe. In the most desperate straits we
may rejoice in God. (William Forsyth, M.A.)
80

81. The shame of the husbandman
The husbandmen and vine-dressers should be ashamed, and disappointed of their
expectations, through the barrenness of land and trees.
1. Albeit men are bound to labour for their daily bread, yet except God bless, their
labour will be in vain, and their expectations by it end in sad disappointments.
2. Sin doth procure great desolation, and doth provoke God to destroy
whatsoever is pleasant or profitable to the sinner, and leave him under confusion
and sorrow. So much is imported in the first reason of their shame and howling.
3. Albeit men ordinarily count little of the mercy of their daily bread, and of the
increase of their labours, yet the want of it would soon be felt as a sad stroke, and
will overturn much of their joy and cheerfulness.
4. The matter of men’s joy is God’s gift, to give or take it away as He pleaseth; and
whatever joy, warranted or unlawful, men have about anything beneath God, it is
but uncertain and fading, and ought to be looked on as such; for here, when God
pleaseth, He maketh joy to “wither away.” (George Hutcheson.)
All the trees of the field are withered.
The voice in withered leaves
I. We have a reminder of man’s mortality. “We all do fade as a leaf.” On festive
occasions the ancients had a curious custom to remind them of their mortality. Just
before the feast a skeleton was carried about in the presence of the assembled guests.
The value of human life does not depend upon its length so much as upon its fulness.
II. We have a reminder of the perishing nature of all earthly things. The picture of
withered nature in our text is of blight in summer—death just when life is most
expected. It is used by Joel as an illustration of the material decay of Israel, living in
sin, and exposed to the inroads of enemies without the favour and protection of God.
Material blessings are provided for us by the Giver of all good, but we must
remember that transitory and uncertain are the things that appear most stable. Men
forget this, and reap bitter disappointments in life.
III. We have a reminder of the resurrection. The leaves are falling, but the trees are
not dying. In the very decay of autumn we have the promise and hope of spring. And
this is the hope of the Christian in view of decay and death. At every stage of life we
suffer loss and decay, but every stage brings also fresh gain and new experience. And
when we come to the last stage it will be so in richer measure. Our flesh shall rest in
hope. (James Menzies.)
Because Joy is withered away from the sons of men.—
Sin destroys joy
A brittle thing is our earthly happiness—brittle as some thin vase of Venetian glass;
and yet neither anxiety, nor sorrow, nor the dart of death, which is mightier than the
oak-cleaving thunderbolt, can shatter a thing even so brittle as the earthly happiness
of our poor little homes if we place that happiness under the care of God. But though
neither anguish nor death can break it with all their violence, sin can break it at a
81

82. touch; and selfishness can shatter it, just as there are acids which will shiver the
Venetian glass. Sin and selfishness—God’s balm does not heal in this world the
ravages which they cause! (Dean Farrar.)
12 The vine is dried up
and the fig tree is withered;
the pomegranate, the palm and the apple[b]
tree—
all the trees of the field—are dried up.
Surely the people’s joy
is withered away.
BARNES, "Because joy is withered away - o: “There are four sorts of joy, a joy
in iniquity, a joy in vanity, a joy of charity, a joy of felicity. Of the first we read, “Who
rejoice to do evil, and delight in the forwardness of the wicked Pro_2:14. Of the
second, “They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ” Job_
21:12. Of the third, “Let the saints be joyful in glory” Psa_149:5. Of the fourth,
“Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house; they will be still praising Thee” Psa_84:4.
The joy of charity and the joy of felicity “wither from the sons of men,” when the
virtues aforesaid failing, there being neither knowledge of the truth nor love of virtue,
no reward succeedeth, either in this life or that to come.”
Having thus pictured the coming woe, he calls all to repentance and mourning, and
those first, who were to call others. God Himself appointed these afflictive means,
and here He “gives to the priest a model for penitence and a way of entreating
mercy.” : “He invites the priests first to repentance through whose negligence chiefly
the practice of holiness, the strictness of discipline, the form of doctrine, the whole
aspect of the Church was sunk in irreverence. Whence the people also perished,
hurrying along the various haunts of sin. Whence Jeremiah says, “The kings of the
earth and all the inhabitants of the world would not have believed that the adversary
and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem. For the sins of her
prophets and the iniquities of her priests that have shed the blood of the just in the
midst of her, they have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted
themselves with blood Lam_4:13-14.
CLARKE, "The vine is dried up - Dr. Shaw observes that in Barbary, in the
month of June, the locusts collect themselves into compact bodies a furlong or more
82

83. square, and march on, eating up every thing that is green or juicy, and letting nothing
escape them, whether vegetables or trees.
They destroy the pomegranate, the palm, the apple, (‫תפוח‬ tappuach, the citron
tree), the vine, the fig, and every tree of the field. See the note on Joe_2:2 (note).
GILL, "The vine is dried up,.... Withered away, stripped of its leaves and fruits,
and its sap and moisture gone: or, "is ashamed" (t); to see itself in this condition, and
not answer the expectation of its proprietor and dresser:
and the fig tree languisheth; sickens and dies, through the bite of the locusts:
the pomegranate tree: whose fruit is delicious, and of which wine was made: the
palm tree also; which bears dates:
and the apple tree; that looks so beautiful, when either in bloom, or laden with
fruit, and whose fruit is very grateful to the palate; so that both what were for
common use and necessary food, and what were for delight and pleasure, were
destroyed by these noisome creatures:
even all the trees of the field are withered; for locusts not only devour the
leaves and fruits of trees, but hurt the trees themselves; burn them up by touching
them, and cause them to wither away and die, both by the saliva and dung, which
they leave upon them, as Bochart, from various authors, has proved:
because joy is withered away from the sons of men; this is not given as a
reason of the above trees dried up and withered, but of the lamentation of the
vinedressers and husbandmen: or else the particle ‫כי‬ is merely expletive, or may be
rendered, "therefore", or "truly", or "surely" (u), "joy is withered", or "ashamed"; it
blushes to appear, as it used to do at the time of harvest; but now there was no
harvest, and so no joy expressed, as usually was at such times; see Isa_9:3.
JAMISON, “pomegranate — a tree straight in the stem growing twenty feet
high; the fruit is of the size of an orange, with blood-red colored pulp.
palm tree — The dates of Palestine were famous. The palm is the symbol of Judea
on coins under the Roman emperor Vespasian. It often grows a hundred feet high.
apple tree — The Hebrew is generic, including the orange, lemon, and pear tree.
joy is withered away — such as is felt in the harvest and the vintage seasons
(Psa_4:7; Isa_9:3).
COKE, “Joel 1:12. The vine is dried up— In Barbary, in the month of June, the
locusts collect themselves into compact bodies, a furlong or more square; and
afterwards, marching directly on toward the sea, let nothing escape them; eating
up every thing that is green or juicy, not only of the lesser kind of vegetables, but
also the trees mentioned in this verse. The author of the
Observations is of opinion, that apple-tree cannot be a proper translation in this
place; for the apples which the Arabs of Judea eat at this day, are of foreign
growth, and at the same time very indifferent. He is therefore of opinion that the
citron-tree is meant. See Observations, p. 199 and Dr. Shaw's Travels.
83

84. ELLICOTT, “(12) The vine is dried up.—The ravages produced by the locusts
and the drought are universal. There seems to be a method in the enumeration of
the trees. The vine is the favourite term for the chosen people; the fig-tree has its
life prolonged at the intercession of the “dresser of the vineyard,” in our Lord’s
parable (Luke 13:8); the tall and stately pomegranate is of such importance as to
give its name to the idol Rimmon; yea, and the palm-tree, even that is gone; the
apple also, including the lemon, citron, &c.—all joy is vanished.
PETT, "Joel 1:12
‘The vine is withered, and the fig-tree languishes,
The pomegranate-tree, the palm-tree also, and the apple-tree,
Even all the trees of the field are withered,
For joy is withered away from the sons of men.’
And the locusts ate everything. The trees withered because their leaves had been
consumed and they had even had their bark removed. And the consequence of all
this withering was that men’s joy also withered. They no longer had anything to
be joyful about. All their labours had been spent in vain.
A Call to Lamentation
13 Put on sackcloth, you priests, and mourn;
wail, you who minister before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
you who minister before my God;
for the grain offerings and drink offerings
are withheld from the house of your God.
BARNES, "Gird yourselves - that is, with haircloth, as is elsewhere expressed
Isa_22:12; Jer_4:8; Jer_6:26. The outward affliction is an expression of the inward
84

85. grief, and itself excites to further grief. This their garment of affliction and penitence,
they were not to put off day and night. Their wonted duty was to “offer up sacrifice
for their own sins and the sins of the people” Heb_7:27, and to entreat God for them.
This their office the prophet calls them to discharge day and night; to “come” into the
court of the temple, and there, where God showed Himself in majesty and mercy, “lie
all night” prostrate before God, not at ease, but in sackcloth. He calls to them in the
Name of his God, “Ye ministers of my God;” of Him, to whom, whosoever forsook
Him, he himself was faithful. : “The prophets called the God of all, their own God,
being united to Him by singular love and reverential obedience, so that they could
say, “God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” Psa_73:26. He calls
Him, further, “their” God, (your God) in order to remind them of His special favor to
them, and their duty to Him who allowed them to call Him “their” God.
GILL, "Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests,.... Prepare and be ready to
raise up lamentation and mourning; or gird yourselves with sackcloth, and mourn in
that, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi supply the words; see Jer_4:8;
howl, ye ministers of the altar; who served there, by laying on and burning the
sacrifices, or offering incense:
come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God; that is, come into
the house of the Lord, as Kimchi; into the court of the priests, and there lie all night,
in the sackcloth girded with; putting up prayers to God, with weeping and
lamentations, that he would avert the judgments that were come or were coming
upon theme:
for the meat offering and the drink offering are withholden from the
house of your God; See Gill on Joe_1:9.
HENRY, "Let the priests, the Lord's ministers, lament, for they share deeply in
the calamity: Gird yourselves with sackcloth (Joe_1:13); nay, they do mourn, Joe_
1:9. Observe, The priests are called the ministers of the altar, for on that they
attended, and the ministers of the Lord (of my God, says the prophet), for in
attending on the altar they served him, did is work, and did him honour. Note, Those
that are employed in holy things are therein God's ministers, and on him they attend.
The ministers of the altar used to rejoice before the Lord, and to spend their time
very much in singing; but now they must lament and howl, for the meat-offering and
drink-offering were cut off from the house of the Lord (Joe_1:9), and the same again
(Joe_1:13), from the house of your God. “He is your God in a particular manner; you
are in a nearer relation to him than other Israelites are; and therefore it is expected
that you should be more concerned than others for that which is a hindrance to the
service of his sanctuary.” It is intimated, 1. That the people, as long as they had the
fruits of the earth brought in in their season, presented to the Lord his dues out of
them, and brought the offerings to the altar and tithes to those that served at the
altar. Note, A people may be filling up the measure of their iniquity apace, and yet
may keep up a course of external performances in religion. 2. That, when the meat
and drink failed, the meat-offering and drink-offering failed of course; and this was
the sorest instance of the calamity. Note, As far as any public trouble is an
obstruction to the course of religion it is to be upon that account, more than any
other, sadly lamented, especially by the priests, the Lord's ministers. As far as
poverty occasions the decay of piety and the neglect of divine offices, and starves the
cause of religion among a people, it is indeed a sore judgment. When the famine
85

86. prevailed God could not have his sacrifices, nor could the priests have their
maintenance; and therefore let the Lord's ministers mourn.
JAMISON, "Gird yourselves — namely, with sackcloth; as in Isa_32:11, the
ellipsis is supplied (compare Jer_4:8).
lament, ye priests — as it is your duty to set the example to others; also as the
guilt was greater, and a greater scandal was occasioned, by your sin to the cause of
God.
come — the Septuagint, “enter” the house of God (compare Joe_1:14).
lie all night in sackcloth — so Ahab (1Ki_21:27).
ministers of my God — (1Co_9:13). Joel claims authority for his doctrine; it is
in God’s name and by His mission I speak to you.
K&D, "The affliction is not removed by mourning and lamentation, but only
through repentance and supplication to the Lord, who can turn away all evil. The
prophet therefore proceeds to call upon the priests to offer to the Lord penitential
supplication day and night in the temple, and to call the elders and all the people to
observe a day of fasting, penitence, and prayer; and then offers supplication himself
to the Lord to have compassion upon them (Joe_1:19). From the motive assigned for
this appeal, we may also see that a terrible drought had been associated with the
devastation by the locusts, from which both man and beast had endured the most
bitter suffering, and that Joel regarded this terrible calamity as a sign of the coming
of the day of the Lord. Joe_1:13. “Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests; howl, ye
servants of the altar; come, pass the night in sackcloth, ye servants of my God: for
the meat-offering and drink-offering are withdrawn from the house of your God.
Joe_1:14. Sanctify a fast, call out an assembly, assemble the elders, all ye
inhabitants of the land, at the house of Jehovah your God, and cry to Jehovah.”
From what follows we must supply bassaqqım (with sackcloth) to chigrū (gird
yourselves). Gird yourselves with mourning apparel, i.e., put it on (see Joe_1:8). In
this they are to pass the night, to offer supplication day and night, or incessantly,
standing between the altar and the porch (Joe_2:17). “Servants of my God,” i.e., of
the God whose prophet I am, and from whom I can promise you a hearing. The
reason assigned for this appeal is the same as for the lamentation in Joe_1:9. But it is
not the priests only who are to pray incessantly to the Lord; the elders and all the
people are to do the same. ‫צוֹם‬ ‫שׁ‬ ֵ ִ‫,ק‬ to sanctify a fast, i.e., to appoint a holy fast, a
divine service of prayer connected with fasting. To this end the priests are to call an
‛ătsârâh, i.e., a meeting of the congregation for religious worship. ‛Atsârâh, or ‛ătsereth,
πανήγυρις, is synonymous with ‫שׁ‬ ֶ‫קוֹד‬ ‫א‬ ָ‫ר‬ ְ‫ק‬ ִ‫מ‬ in Lev_23:36 (see the exposition of that
passage). In what follows, ‫ה‬ ‫י‬ ֵ‫ב‬ ְ‫ּשׁ‬‫י‬‫ל־‬ ָⅴ is attached ᅊσυνδέτως to ‫ים‬ִ‫נ‬ ֵ‫ק‬ְ‫;ז‬ and the latter is not
a vocative, but an accusative of the object. On the other hand, ‫ה‬ָ‫ּו‬‫ה‬ְ‫י‬ ‫ית‬ ֵ is an accus.
loci, and dependent upon ‫פוּ‬ ְ‫ס‬ ִ‫.א‬ ‫ק‬ ַ‫ע‬ָ‫,ז‬ to cry, used of loud and importunate prayer. It is
only by this that destruction can still be averted.
BENSON, "Joel 1:13. Gird yourselves — Namely, with sackcloth; and lament, ye
priests — Because the meat-offerings and drink-offerings were cut off: see Joel
86

87. 1:9. Lie all night in sackcloth — Let those priests, whose turn it is to keep the
night-watches in the temple, cover themselves with sackcloth, as is usual in times
of the greatest calamity; and let them not put it off when they betake themselves
to rest, but sleep in sackcloth instead of their ordinary garments.
COFFMAN, “"Gird yourselves with sackcloth, and lament, ye priests; wail, ye
ministers of' the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God:
for the meal-offering and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of
your God. Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the old men and all the
inhabitants of the land unto the house of Jehovah your God, and cry unto
Jehovah."
This appeal for the priests of God's religion to bestir themselves upon behalf of
arousing the nation to repentance, prayer, and fasting indicates that it had been
the wickedness of the people which had precipitated the onset of the plague. This
interpretation of great natural calamities and disasters is not superstitious, at all,
but Biblical. God is still concerned with the behavior of his human creation; and,
beginning with the primeval curse upon the ground for Adam's sake (Genesis
3:17-19), the Lord has continually ordered the affairs of his world in such a
manner as to prevent man's becoming too complacent and comfortable in his
earthly environment. It is this basic fact which underlies this appeal to the
priests to stir up the people in the direction of righteousness and more whole-
hearted observance of their religious duties.
The calling of a solemn public assembly, the proclamation of a fast, and the
public and private prayers offered to God for the alleviation of their distress
were an entirely appropriate response to the threat of starvation and death
which had come upon them in the locust plague. What other response should
sinful, fallible and helpless men make to a situation which is totally beyond their
control? It was a very similar thing which the Ninevites did under the threat of
the preaching of Jonah. This is the way that Jehoshaphat responded to the
impending attack by the allied armies of Moab, Ammon, and Edom; and this is
exactly what Jehoiakim and Ezra did in the face of dangers which, without the
help of God, they knew would destroy them. Modern men sometimes imagine
that they are able to deal with everything that may happen, feeling no need for
prayers and supplications to God; but this is an erroneous and short-sighted
blindness, which, historically, God has repeatedly moved to correct; and one may
feel sure that he will do so again.
The priests and leaders of the people were called upon to lead the way in this
national response to the threat of death and destruction; and this was probably
done for two reasons. First, the priests and national leaders were sinners in
exactly the same way as the rest of the nation; and secondly, their example was
sorely needed in order to arouse as nearly unanimous response as possible.
The reference to meal-offering and drink-offering in this verse has been alleged
to indicate a post-exilic date; but one should be very wary of such allegations.
Scholars, in their enthusiasm to maintain their postulations, sometimes go
overboard in making deductions from totally insufficient premises. Regarding
87

88. this, Robertson wrote:
"The only ritual references (in Joel) are to the meal-offering and the drink-
offering, and these were characteristically not post-exiUan. Indeed, they may be
regarded as primitive forms of offerings!"[26
ELLICOTT, “(13) Gird yourselves, and lament.—The priests are exhorted to
commence preparations for a national humiliation, beginning with themselves;
for the visitation touches them in a vital part: they have no sacrifices to offer to
the Lord.
WHEDON, "Verse 13-14
13, 14. The affliction is not removed by lamentation and mourning; on the
contrary, in the prophet’s mind it is but beginning. To him it is a sign of the
approaching day of Jehovah, a day of terror to Israel because of the people’s
rebellion against God. There is but one means to drive away the present calamity
and to avert the one still in the future, namely, repentance and supplication. The
prophet, therefore, proceeds to call upon the priests and the people to institute a
day of fasting and prayer; in 13, 14 the weeping priests (Joel 1:9) are exhorted to
put off their festal garments and clothe themselves in the garment of
mourning — sackcloth — and, as the spiritual leaders, to gather the people to a
solemn assembly, for prayer and penitence (compare Isaiah 32:12).
Gird yourselves — With sackcloth (8). The wearing of sackcloth by the priests,
dressed ordinarily in their peculiar festal garments, would add solemnity to the
occasion.
Lament — Not the common Hebrew word (8), but the verb used elsewhere
especially of mourning for the dead; therefore expressive of intense grief. LXX.,
“smite yourselves” (Isaiah 32:12) — that is, upon the breast. Among the ancients
external expressions of grief were much more common than among more highly
civilized peoples, though their grief was not necessarily more real or intense.
Ordinarily grief was expressed by the tearing of the outer garment (Joel 2:13),
the smiting of the breast, the wringing of the hands, deep sighs and loud wailing.
Certainly to the prophet these external expressions were only to symbolize the
heart-sorrow (Joel 2:13).
Ministers of the altar — Parallel to “Jehovah’s ministers” (Joel 1:9; compare
Ezekiel 45:4). Wearing the sackcloth the priests are to come to the temple and
there lie all night — The verb means not necessarily “lie,” but also simply
“remain.” That seems to be the thought here; the prophets are to wear the
sackcloth and offer supplications, without interruption day or night, as long as
the condition of the land calls for such service (Joel 2:17; compare 1 Kings 21:27;
2 Kings 19:1).
Ministers (or, servants) of my God — The God whom I serve, in whose name I
speak, and “from whom I can promise you a hearing.” The reason for this
appeal is the same as that for the lamentation in Joel 1:9 — the cessation of the
daily sacrifice, which is regarded as the greatest calamity. To this personal
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89. appeal is added an earnest exhortation that the priests should arrange for a
public day of penitence and prayer in order that the people might be impressed
more strongly with the belief that the national calamity was a punishment from
God, and that a return to him in sincerity of heart was the only means of turning
it aside.
Sanctify — In the use of the verb qaddesh in this connection appears the
primary meaning of the verb, to set apart, that is, from that which is profane;
hence, appoint.
A fast — Fasting in a religious sense is the voluntary abstinence from food,
expressive of sorrow and penitence. The origin of the custom is not quite clear
from the Old Testament, though it was very widespread. It was practiced during
the period of mourning (1 Samuel 31:13; 2 Samuel 1:12), especially on the
occasion of great calamities (Judges 20:26; 1 Samuel 7:6; 2 Samuel 12:16); for it
was thought that in this manner the divine favor could be secured. Fasting was to
symbolize a spiritual condition, the earnest yearning, of the heart which finds
expression in right doing (Joel 2:13; Isaiah 58). In the later period this inner,
spiritual significance was lost sight of, and it was thought that the painstaking
observance of the form was sufficient to secure the desired ends. It is this
overemphasis of the external which accounts for passages such as Matthew
11:18-19; Matthew 15:11; Matthew 17:21.
Call a solemn assembly — Extend the call to a public religious gathering, an
hour of prayer. It is interesting to compare with this passage Isaiah 1:13; Amos
5:21. Everyone is to participate in these solemn exercises. Elders [“old men”] —
Since a distinction is made between old men and all the inhabitants of the land, it
is probable, if not certain, that the old men are the elders in an official sense
(Genesis 50:7; Joshua 9:11, etc.; not so in Joel 1:2; Joel 2:16). The elders, while
holding official positions, were in religious matters subject to the priests.
Kuenen, Merx, and others give a different meaning to the passage; they regard
elders as a vocative, inhabitants as the object: the elders are to gather the
inhabitants. But the first interpretation is to be preferred. The purpose of it all is
to cry to Jehovah from the depths of the heart, that he may have mercy, remove
the present calamity, and withhold the further blow.
PETT, "Joel 1:13
‘Gird yourselves with sackcloth, and lament, you priests,
Wail, you ministers of the altar,
Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God,
For the meal-offering and the drink-offering are withheld from the house of your
God.’
And so the call goes up from Joel for the priests and Temple servants who served
at the altar to clothe themselves with sackcloth and mourn in repentance for
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90. their failures. Indeed they were to lie in sackcloth all night, because the meal and
drink offerings were being withheld from the house of their God because of
Judah’s sins.
BI 13-14, "Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar.
Ministerial duty in the time of dire national calamity
The prophet now directs his message to the priests of Judah, and intimates that the
calamity which had befallen their nation had a deep moral significance to which they
should give earnest heed, and which should awaken them to immediate activity.
I. That in times of national calamity the ministerial office becomes of the highest
importance. It is evident that Joel regarded the office of the priest as of the highest
importance in these times of dread calamity. He had called the drunkards from their
slumber, but they could do nothing to avert the immediate danger. He had made
known to the husbandmen the extent of their loss, but they could not render much
aid in the terrible crisis; but now he turns to the priests, and urges upon them the
duty of initiating and guiding the nation to a reformed life. He knew that they would
be more likely than any other class of men to help him in this arduous work. And
why?
1. Because the ministerial office wields a great social influence, and is therefore
competent to initiate moral reformation.
2. Because the ministerial office is supposed to seek the general good of men, and
will therefore be credited with lofty motive in seeking moral reformation.
3. Because the ministerial office touches the springs of the inner life of a nation,
and can therefore infuse healing remedy.
II. That in time of national calamity the ministerial office should be repentant in its
inmost soul. “Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar:
come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God.”
1. Then the ministerial office should be characterised by quick energy. The priests
of Judah were to gird themselves. They were to hasten at once to the duty
required by the circumstances of the nation and by the retribution of God. This
was no time for indifference or sloth; their best energies were required.
2. Then the ministerial office should be characterised by deep sorrow. The priests
of Judah were to lament and put on tokens of deep grief; they were to robe
themselves in sackcloth. Their outward attire was to be indicative of their inward
feeling of repentance before God.
3. Then the ministerial office should be characterised by untiring watchfulness.
The priests of Judah were to lie all night in sackcloth and give themselves to
prayer; their tears of repentance were not to be wiped away by the gentle hand of
sleep.
4. Then the ministerial office should be characterised by true humility. We can
readily imagine that the priests of Judah would experience a sense of humiliation
as they gazed upon the neglected temple worship, and they would bow in
abasement before the Lord of the temple.
III. That in times of national calamity the ministerial office must endeavour to
awaken the people to the initial acts of reformation. “Sanctify ye a fast,” etc.
1. They proclaim a fast. The priests of Judah were to proclaim a fast, and they
were also to sanctify it. A mere abstinence from food is of little service before God
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91. unless it be accompanied by those thoughts and devotions of the soul which alone
can hallow it.
2. They call an assembly. The prophet commands that all the nation should be
called and gathered into the temple, that public prayer might be added to private
abstinence. It appears that fasting was always connected with a solemn
convocation; the confession and humiliation of men must be unanimous and
open. Humiliation for sin must not be confined to secrecy and solitude, but must
be made in the great congregation, that the law which has been openly broken
may be openly honoured, and that the ways of God may be justified before men.
3. They urge to supplication. The putting on of sackcloth by the priests, the
abstaining from food by the people, the coming into the temple, would avail
nothing unless it all were joined with earnest supplication; hence the assembled
worshippers are urged to cry unto the Lord.
Lessons:—
1. That the ministerial office should exert its best energy to prevent moral
apostasy in the nation.
2. That in times of such apostasy it must give an example of true repentance.
3. That in such times it should initiate the necessary worship in order to avert the
Divine displeasure. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Sanctify ye a fast.—
On fast day
Fasting has, in all ages and among all nations, been an exercise much in use in times
of mourning and affliction. There is no example of fasting before the time of Moses.
And he enjoins only one fast, on the solemn day of expiation. After the time of Moses
examples of fasting were very common among the Jews. It does not appear from the
practice of our Saviour and His disciples that He instituted any particular fast, or
enjoined any to be kept out of pure devotion. Fasting has, in itself, this peculiar good,
that it provokes attention, by interrupting ordinary habits; the flow of business and
pleasure is on a sudden stopt; the world is thrown into gloom, and a certain
solemnity of thought obtruded upon those whose outward senses must be influenced
before their inward hearts can be moved. The object, then, of this day is to confess
our sins, and to repent of them. The object of the ministers of the Gospel is, to state
what those sins are, what are their consequences, and how they may be avoided. Sins
may be considered under a twofold division. Those which individuals always commit,
which are the consequence of our fallen state, and inseparable from our fallen nature.
Those which are the result of any particular depravity, existing in a greater degree at
this time than at any other, or in this country than among any other people. As to the
first class of sins, it is right to remind mankind of those imperfections, inherent in
their nature, lest they should relax from the exertions of which they are really
capable. Coming to that part of our conduct which is variable, to that small and
contracted sphere in which it is allotted to us to do better or to do worse, begin with
the subject of religion. Here may be noticed that prodigious increase of sectaries, of
all ranks and descriptions, which are daily springing up in this kingdom. These men
seem to think that the spirit of religion consists in a certain fervid irritability of mind.
They are always straining at gnats, always suspecting happiness, degrading the
majesty of the Gospel. The moment fanatical men hear anything plain and practical
introduced into religion, then they say this is secular, this is worldly, this is moral,
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92. this is not of Christ. But the only way to know Christ is not to make our notions His
notions, or to substitute any conjectures of our own as to what religion ought to be
for an humble and faithful inquiry of what it is. There is a contrary excess in matters
of religion not less fatal than fanaticism, and still more common. That languor and
indifference upon serious subjects which characterises so great a part of mankind;
not speculative disbelief, not profligate scoffing against religion, not incompliance
with the ceremonies it enjoins; but no penetration of Christianity into the real
character, little influence of the Gospel upon the daily conduct; a cold, careless,
unfruitful belief. Lot it be our care to steer between these opposite extremes; to be
serious without being enthusiastic; to be reasonable without being cold. Alike to curb
the excesses of those who have zeal without discretion, and to stimulate the feelings
of others who have conformity without zeal; remembering always that every thing
intended to endure must be regulated by moderation, discretion, and knowledge. (J.
Smith, M. A.)
An extraordinary fast
It must have been in the kingdom of Judah what the drought of Ahab’s reign had
been in the kingdom of Israel. It was a day of Divine judgment, a day of darkness and
of gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. The harsh blast of the consecrated
ram’s horn called an assembly for an extraordinary fast. Not a soul was to be absent.
All were there stretched in front of the altar. The altar itself presented the dreariest of
all sights, a hearth without its sacred fire, a table spread without its sacred feast. The
priestly caste, instead of gathering as usual upon its steps and platform, were driven,
as it were, to the farther space; they turned their backs to the dead altar, and lay
prostrate, gazing towards the Invisible Presence within the sanctuary. Instead of the
hymns and music, which, since the time of David, had entered into their prayers,
there was nothing heard but the passionate sobs, and the loud dissonant howls such
as only an eastern hierarchy could utter. Instead of the mass of white mantles, which
they usually presented, they were wrapped in black goat’s hair sackcloth, twisted
round them; not with the brilliant sashes of the priestly attire, but with a rough girdle
of the same texture, which they never unbound night or day. What they wore of their
common dress was rent asunder or cast off. With bare breasts they waved their black
drapery towards the temple, and shrieked aloud, “Spare Thy people, O Lord!” (Dean
Stanley.)
The duty, object, and method of keeping a public fast
Unusual duties require unusual preparation.
I. The duty of keeping a public fast. It is enjoined on due occasions by God Himself.
In Joel’s time what was the occasion? It was a famine. How strikingly it is described.
The Word of God repeatedly declares that such a calamity is sent on nations as a
punishment for national sins. When God sends a famine in punishment for our sins
He Himself calls for humiliation and fasting. This duty has been recognised from
time to time. As in the days of Joshua, the Judges, Samuel, Jehoshaphat, Ezra, etc.
There is nothing in the New Testament to set the duty aside. We have no instance of a
Christian nation fasting, but we have no instance of a nation having become
Christian.
II. The object of a fast day. Not to provide opportunity for seeking our own pleasure.
Not substituting food equally or more pleasant, even by way of change. Some call it
fasting to deny themselves food in one form, to take it in another, with equal or
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93. greater zest. Fasting is not an end in itself, but a means conducive to an end. The
object is, humiliation for sin in order to pardon and justification. Therefore ministers
must aim to arouse the national conscience. There must be humiliation in order to
reflection; the deepest contrition of heart for sin, in order to turning wholly to God,
with faith in the revelation of Himself in the Gospel and in all His grace, mercy, long-
suffering, loving-kindness, and readiness to forgive and save, through Jesus Christ.
And we must determine on reformation. A fast is worthless without that desirable
end.
III. The method of keeping a public fast. No formal rules can be laid down. The
rights of conscience and private judgment must be respected.
1. Sanctify the day. Set it apart from all common uses. And seek grace to sanctify
it aright.
2. Attend in a right spirit on public worship, joining in public humiliation and
united confession.
3. There should be special and appropriate prayer, both at home, and at church.
4. Make special gifts to the poor.
5. Specially honour Christ as Mediator. He can feel for the hungry, the famishing,
the dying. He can pity poor perishing sinners. Let Him come between, and
intercede with His own effectual intercession, and the famine shall cease. (John
Hambleton, M. A.)
Public fasting
The priests are commanded to appoint a solemn and public fast, that so all ranks of
persons, both rulers and people, being called to the Temple, may solemnly pour out
their prayers before God.
1. Private mourning and humiliation is not enough under public calamities, but
there ought also to be general humiliation, by the solemn convening of all ranks,
to mourn in a public way.
2. Fasts and humiliations, especially such as are public, should not be rashly gone
about, but with due preparation and upstirring for so solemn a service.
3. For the right discharge of such a duty it is requisite that men be sensible of
their former abuse of mercies.
4. Exercises of humiliation will not be acceptable to God unless they be seasoned
and managed with faith and affection to God. (George Hutcheson.)
The great fast
We have observed abundance of tears shed for the destruction of the fruits of the
earth by the locusts, now here we have those tears turned into the right channel, that
of repentance and humiliation before God. The judgment was very heavy, and here
they are directed to own the hand of God in it, His mighty hand, and to humble
themselves under it.
I. A proclamation issued out for a general fast. The priests are ordered to appoint
one; they must not only mourn themselves, but they must call upon others to mourn
too. Under public judgments there ought to be public humiliations. With all the
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94. marks of sorrow and shame sin must be confessed and bewailed, the righteousness of
God must be acknowledged and His favour implored. Observe what is to be done by a
nation at such a time.
1. A day is to be appointed for this purpose, a day of restraint (marg.), a day in
which people must be restrained from their other ordinary business, and from all
bodily refreshments.
2. It must be a fast, a religious abstaining from meat and drink, further than is of
absolute necessity. Hereby we own ourselves unworthy of our necessary food, and
that we have forfeited it, and deserve to be wholly deprived of it; we punish
ourselves and mortify the body, which has been the occasion of sin; we keep it in
a frame fit to serve the soul in serving God, and, by the appetite’s craving food,
the desires of the soul towards that which is better than life, and all the supports
of it, are excited.
3. There must be a solemn assembly. All had contributed to the national guilt, all
shared in the national calamity, and therefore they must all join in the
professions of repentance.
4. They must come together in the temple, because that was the house of prayer,
and there they might hope to meet with God.
5. They must sanctify” this fast, must observe it, in a religious manner, with
sincere devotion.
6. They must “cry unto the Lord.” To Him they must make their complaint and
offer up their supplication.
II. Some considerations suggested to induce them to proclaim this fast, and to
observe it strictly.
1. God was beginning a controversy with them. It is time to “cry unto the Lord,.
for the day of the Lord is at hand.” Either they mean the continuance and
consequences of this present judgment which they now saw but breaking in upon
them, or some greater judgments which this was but a preface to. Therefore “cry
to God,” for—
(1) The day of His judgment is very near.
(2). It will be very terrible.
2. They saw themselves already under the tokens of His dis: pleasure.
(1) Let them look into their own houses, and there was no plenty there, as
there used to be.
(2) Let them look into God’s house, and see the effects of the judgment there.
3. The prophet returns to describe the grievousness of the calamity, in some
particulars of it.
(1) The caterpillars have devoured the corn.
(2) The cattle, too, perish for want of grass.
III. The prophet stirs them up to cry to God, with the consideration of the examples
given them for it.
1. His own example. “O Lord! to Thee will I cry.”
2. The example of the inferior creatures. When they groan by reason of their
calamity, He is pleased to interpret it as if they cried to Him; much more will He
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95. put a favourable construction upon the groanings of His own children, though
sometimes so feeble that they cannot be uttered. (Matthew Henry.)
14 Declare a holy fast;
call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
and all who live in the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
BARNES, "Sanctify ye a fast - He does not say only, “proclaim,” or “appoint a
fast,” but “sanctify it.” Hallow the act of abstinence, seasoning it with devotion and
with acts meet for repentance. For fasting is not accepted by God, unless done in
charity and obedience to His commands. : “Sanctify” it, i. e., make it an offering to
God, and as it were a sacrifice, a holy and blameless fast.” : “To sanctify a fast is to
exhibit abstinence of the flesh, meet toward God, with other good. Let anger cease,
strife be lulled. For in vain is the flesh worn, if the mind is not held in from evil
passions, inasmuch as the Lord saith by the prophet, “Lo! in the day of your fast you
find your pleasures” Isa_58:3. The fast which the Lord approveth, is that which
lifteth up to Him hands full of almsdeeds, which is passed with brotherly love, which
is seasoned by piety. What thou substractest from thyself, bestow on another, that
thy needy neighbor’s flesh may be recruited by means of that which thou deniest to
thine own.”
Call a solemn assembly - Fasting without devotion is an image of famine. At
other times “the solemn assembly” was for festival-joy. Such was the last day of the
feast of the Passover Deu_16:8 and of tabernacles Lev_23:36; Num_29:35; 2Ch_7:9;
Neh_8:18. No servile work was to be done thereon. It was then to be consecrated to
thanksgving, but now to sorrow and supplication. : “The prophet commands that all
should be called and gathered into the Temple, that so the prayer might be the rather
heard, the more they were who offered it. Wherefore the Apostle besought his
disciples to pray for him, that so what was asked might be obtained the more readily
through the intercession of many.”
Gather the elders - Age was, by God’s appointment Lev_19:32, held in great
reverence among the Hebrews. When first God sent Moses and Aaron to His people
in Egypt, He bade them collect the elders of the people (Exo_3:16; Exo_4:29,
compare Deu_31:28) to declare to them their own mission from God; through them
He conveyed the ordinance of the Passover to the whole congregation Exo_12:3,
Exo_12:21; in their presence was the first miracle of bringing water from the rock
performed (Exo_17:5, add Exo_18:12); then He commanded Moses to choose
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96. seventy of them, to appear before Him before He gave the law Exo_24:1, Exo_24:9;
then to bear Moses’ own burden in hearing the causes of the people, bestowing His
spirit upon them (Num_11:16 ff). The elders of each city were clothed with judicial
authority Deu_19:12; Deu_22:15; Deu_25:7. In the expiation of an uncertain
murder, the elders of the city represented the whole city Deu_21:3-6; in the offerings
for the congregation, the elders of the congregation represented the whole Lev_4:15;
Lev_9:1.
So then, here also, they are summoned, chief of all, that “the authority and
example of their grey hairs might move the young to repentance.” : “Their age, near
to death and ripened in grace, makes them more apt for the fear and worship of
God.” All however, “priests, elders,” and the “inhabitants,” or “people of the land”
Jer_1:18, were to form one band, and were, with one heart and voice, to cry unto
God; and that “in the house of God.” For so Solomon had prayed, that God would “in
heaven His dwelling place, hear whatever prayer and supplication” might there be
“made by any man or by all His people Israel” 1Ki_8:39; and God had promised in
turn, “I have hallowed this house which thou hast built, to put My name there for
ever, and Mine eyes and Mine heart shall be there perpetually” 1Ki_9:3. God has
given to united prayer a power over Himself, and “prayer overcometh God” . The
prophet calls God “your” God, showing how ready He was to hear; but he adds, “cry
unto the Lord;” for it is not a listless prayer, but a loud earnest cry, which reacheth to
the throne of God.
CLARKE, "Call a solemn assembly - ‫עצרה‬ atsarah signifies a time of restraint,
as the margin has it. The clause should be translated - consecrate a fast, proclaim a
time of restraint; that is, of total abstinence from food, and from all secular
employment. All the elders of the land and the representatives of the people were to
be collected at the temple to cry unto the Lord, to confess their sins, and pray for
mercy. The temple was not yet destroyed. This prophecy was delivered before the
captivity of Judah.
GILL, "Sanctify yea a fast,.... This is spoken to the priests, whose business it was
to appoint a fast, as the Targum renders it; or to set apart a time for such religious
service, as the word signifies; and to keep it holy themselves, and see that it was so
kept by others: Kimchi interprets it, prepare the people for a fast; give them notice of
it, that they may be prepared for it:
call a solemn assembly; of all the people of the land later mentioned: or,
"proclaim a restraint" (w); a time of ceasing, as a fast day should be from all servile
work, that attendance may be given to the duties of it, prayer and humiliation:
gather the elders: meaning not those in age, but in office:
and all the inhabitants of the land; not the magistrates only, though first and
principally, as examples, who had been deeply concerned in guilt; but the common
people also, even all of them:
into the house of the Lord your God; the temple, the court of the Israelites,
where they were to go and supplicate the Lord, when such a calamity as this of
locusts and caterpillars were upon them; and where they might hope the Lord would
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97. hear them, and remove his judgments from them, 1Ki_8:37;
and cry unto the Lord; in prayer, with vehemence and earnestness of soul.
HENRY, "We have observed abundance of tears shed for the destruction of the
fruits of the earth by the locusts; now here we have those tears turned into the right
channel, that of repentance and humiliation before God. The judgment was very
heavy, and here they are directed to own the hand of God in it, his mighty hand, and
to humble themselves under it. Here is,
I. A proclamation issued out for a general fast. The priests are ordered to appoint
one; they must not only mourn themselves, but they must call upon others to mourn
too: “Sanctify a fast; let some time be set apart from all worldly business to be spent
in the exercises of religion, in the expressions of repentance and other extraordinary
instances of devotion.” Note, Under public judgments there ought to be public
humiliations; for by them the Lord God calls to weeping and mourning. With all the
marks of sorrow and shame sin must be confessed and bewailed, the righteous of
God must be acknowledged, and his favour implored. Observe what is to be done by a
nation at such a time. 1. A day is to be appointed for this purpose, a day of restraint
(so the margin reads it), a day in which people must be restrained from their other
ordinary business (that they may more closely attend God's service), and from all
bodily refreshments; for, 2. It must be a fast, a religious abstaining from meat and
drink, further than is of absolute necessity. The king of Nineveh appointed a fast, in
which they were to taste nothing, Jon_3:7. Hereby we own ourselves unworthy of
our necessary food, and that we have forfeited it and deserve to be wholly deprived of
it, we punish ourselves and mortify the body, which has been the occasion of sin, we
keep it in a frame fit to serve the soul in serving God, and, by the appetite's craving
food, the desires of the soul towards that which is better than life, and all the
supports of it, are excited. This was in a special manner seasonable now that God was
depriving them of their meat and drink; for hereby they accommodated themselves
to the affliction they were under. When God says, You shall fast, it is time to say, We
will fast. 3. There must be a solemn assembly. The elders and the people, magistrates
and subjects, must be gathered together, even all the inhabitants of the land, that
God might be honoured by their public humiliations, that they might thereby take
the more shame to themselves, and that they might excite and stir up one another to
the religious duties of the day. All had contributed to the national guilt, all shared in
the national calamity, and therefore they must all join in the professions of
repentance. 4. They must come together in the temple, the house of the Lord their
God, because that was the house of prayer, and there they might be hope to meet
with God because it was the place which he had chosen to put his name there, there
they might hope to speed because it was a type of Christ and his mediation. Thus they
interested themselves in Solomon's prayer for the acceptance of all the requests that
should be put up in or towards this house, in which their present case was
particularly mentioned. 1Ki_7:37, If there be locust, if there be caterpillar. 5. They
must sanctify this fast, must observe it in a religious manner, with sincere devotion.
What is a fast worth if it be not sanctified? 6. They must cry unto the Lord. To him
they must make their complaint and offer up their supplication. When we cry in our
affliction we must cry to the Lord; this is fasting to him, Zec_7:5.
JAMISON, "Sanctify ... a fast — Appoint a solemn fast.
solemn assembly — literally, a “day of restraint” or cessation from work, so that
all might give themselves to supplication (Joe_2:15, Joe_2:16; 1Sa_7:5, 1Sa_7:6;
2Ch_20:3-13).
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98. elders — The contrast to “children” (Joe_2:16) requires age to be intended,
though probably elders in office are included. Being the people’s leaders in guilt, they
ought to be their leaders also in repentance.
BENSON, "Joel 1:14. Sanctify ye a fast, &c. — In order to avert God’s wrath
and deprecate his judgments. Gather the elders, &c., into the house of the
Lord — The house where God hath placed his name, and where he hath
promised to hear the prayers which are addressed to him by his people, when
they are afflicted with judgments of this kind: see 1 Kings 8:37.
ELLICOTT, “(14) A solemn assembly.—The Hebrew word strictly means a
festival day, on which the people gathered themselves together, being relieved
from work. Here they are summoned for a fast. The word may also be translated,
as in the margin, “a day of restraint,” its root signifying to shut, to hold back.
PETT, "Joel 1:14-15
‘Sanctify a fast,
Call a solemn assembly,
Gather the old men and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of YHWH
your God,
And cry to YHWH, “Alas for the day!”
For the day of YHWH is at hand,
And as destruction from the Almighty will it come.’
And they were to go further. They were to summon together all the men of
Judah to a solemn assembly in the house of YHWH, including all the old men
and all those who lived in the land, and they were to cry to YHWH, ‘Alas for the
day’. And this was because the sad devastation that they had gone through was
to be seen as a portent of the coming of YHWH’s final day, the Day of YHWH,
the Day which would come imminently (at any time) as destruction from the
Almighty, and for which they had to prepare themselves. That Day is described
in some detail in Isaiah 24. It was a day to be dreaded by all who were not
faithfully waiting on God.
15 Alas for that day!
98

99. For the day of the Lord is near;
it will come like destruction from the
Almighty.
BARNES, "Alas for the day! for the Day of the Lord is at hand - The
judgment of God, then, which they were to deprecate, was still to come. : “All times
and all days are God’s. Yet they are said to be our days, in which God leaves us to our
own freedom, to do as we will,” and which we may use to repent and turn to Him.
“Whence Christ saith, ‘O Jerusalem - if thou hadst known in this thy day the things
which belong unto thy peace’ Luk_19:42. That time, on the contrary, is said to be
God’s Day, in which He doth any new, rare, or special thing, such as is the Day of
Judgment or vengeance.” All judgment in time is an image of the Judgment for
eternity. “The Day of the Lord” is, then, each “day of vengeance in which God doth to
man according to His will and just judgment, inflicting the punishment which he
deserves, as man did to Him in his day, manifoldly dishonoring Him, according to his
own perverse will.” That Day “is at hand;” suddenly to come. Speed then must be
used to prevent it. Prevented it may be by speedy repentance before it comes; but
when it does come, there will be no avoiding it, for
As a destruction from the Almighty shall it come - The name “the
Almighty” or “God Almighty” is but seldom used in Holy Scripture. God revealed
Himself by this Name to Abraham, when renewing to him the promise which was
beyond nature, that he should be a father of many nations, when he and Sarah were
old and well stricken in age. He said, I am God Almighty; walk before Me and be thou
perfect Gen_17:1-6, Gen_17:16-21; Gen_18:10-14; Rom_4:17-21. God Almighty uses
it again of Himself in renewing the blessing to Jacob Gen_35:11; and Isaac and Jacob
use it in blessing in His Name Gen_28:3; Gen_43:14; Gen_48:3; Gen_49:25. It is
not used as a mere name of God, but always in reference to His might, as in the book
of Job which treats chiefly of His power . In His days of judgment God manifests
Himself as the All-mighty and All-just. Hence, in the New Testament, it occurs
almost exclusively in the Revelations, which reveal His judgments to come . Here the
words form a sort of terrible proverb, from where they are adopted from Joel by the
prophet Isaiah Isa_13:6. The word “destruction, ‫שׁד‬ shôd,” is formed from the same
root as “Almighty, ‫שׁדי‬ shadday. It shall come as might from the Mighty.” Only, the
word “might” is always used of “might” put forth to destroy, a “mighty destruction.”
He says then, in fact, that that Day shall come, like might put forth by the Almighty
Himself; to destroy His enemies, irresistible, inevitable, unendurable, overwhelming
the sinner.
CLARKE, "Alas for the day! - The Syriac repeats this, the Vulgate, Septuagint,
and Arabic, thrice: “Alas, alas, alas, for the day!”
As a destruction from the Almighty - The destruction that is now coming is
no ordinary calamity; it is as a signal judgment immediately inflicted by the
Almighty.
99

100. GILL, "Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand,.... A time of
severer and heavier judgments than these of the locusts, caterpillars, &c. which were
a presage and emblem of greater ones, even of the total destruction of their city,
temple, and nation, either by the Chaldeans, or by the Romans, or both:
and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come; unawares, suddenly,
and irresistibly: there is in the Hebrew text an elegant play on words, which may be
rendered, as "wasting from the waster", or "destruction from the destroyer, shall it
come" (x); even from the almighty God, who is able to save and destroy, and none
can deliver out of his hands; see Isa_13:6; the word signifies one powerful and
victorious, as Aben Ezra observes; and so it does in the Arabic language.
HENRY, "Some considerations suggested to induce them to proclaim this fast
and to observe it strictly.
1. God was beginning a controversy with them. It is time to cry unto the Lord, for
the day of the Lord is at hand, Joe_1:15. Either they mean the continuance and
consequences of this present judgment which they now saw but breaking in upon
them, or some greater judgments which this was but a preface to. However it be, this
they are taught to make the matter of their lamentation: Alas, for the day! for the
day of the Lord is at hand. Therefore cry to God. For, (1.) “The day of his judgment is
very near, it is at hand; it will not slumber, and therefore you should not. It is time to
fast and pray, for you have but a little time to turn yourselves in.” (2.) It will be very
terrible; there is no escaping it, no resisting it: As a destruction from the Almighty
shall it come. See Isa_13:6. It is not a correction, but a destruction; and it comes
from the hand, not of a weak creature, but of the Almighty; and who knows (nay,
who does not know) the power of his anger? Whither should we go with our cries but
to him from whom the judgment we dread comes? There is no fleeing from him but
by fleeing to him, no escaping destruction from the Almighty but by making our
submission and supplication to the Almighty; this is taking hold on his strength, that
we may make peace, Isa_27:5.
JAMISON, "day of the Lord — (Joe_2:1, Joe_2:11); that is, the day of His anger
(Isa_13:9; Oba_1:15; Zep_1:7, Zep_1:15). It will be a foretaste of the coming day of
the Lord as Judge of all men, whence it receives the same name. Here the transition
begins from the plague of locusts to the worse calamities (Joe_2:1-11) from invading
armies about to come on Judea, of which the locusts were the prelude.
K&D, "“Alas for the day! for the day of Jehovah is near, and it comes like
violence from the Almighty.” This verse does not contain words which the priests are
to speak, so that we should have to supply ‫ּר‬‫מ‬‫א‬ ֵ‫,ל‬ like the Syriac and others, but words
of the prophet himself, with which he justifies the appeal in Joe_1:13 and Joe_1:14.
‫וֹם‬ ַ‫ל‬ is the time of the judgment, which has fallen upon the land and people through
the devastation by the locusts. This “day” is the beginning of the approaching day of
Jehovah, which will come like a devastation from the Almighty. Yōm Ye
hōvâh is the
great day of judgment upon all ungodly powers, when God, as the almighty ruler of
the world, brings down and destroys everything that has exalted itself against Him;
thus making the history of the world, through His rule over all creatures in heaven
and earth, into a continuous judgment, which will conclude at the end of this course
100

101. of the world with a great and universal act of judgment, through which everything
that has been brought to eternity by the stream of time unjudged and unadjusted,
will be judged and adjusted once for all, to bring to an end the whole development of
the world in accordance with its divine appointment, and perfect the kingdom of God
by the annihilation of all its foes. (Compare the magnificent description of this day of
the Lord in Isa_2:12-21.) And accordingly this particular judgment - through which
Jehovah on the one hand chastises His people for their sins, and on the other hand
destroys the enemies of His kingdom - forms one element of the day of Jehovah; and
each of these separate judgment is a coming of that day, and a sign of His drawing
near. This day Joel saw in the judgment that came upon Judah in his time, ke
shōd
misshaddai, lit., like a devastation from the Almighty, - a play upon the words (since
shōd and shaddai both come from shâdad), which Rückert renders, though somewhat
too freely, by wie ein Graussen vom grossen Gott. ְ‫כ‬ is the so-called ‫כ‬ veritatis,
expressing a comparison between the individual and its genus or its idea. On the
relation between this verse and Isa_13:6, see the Introduction.
BENSON, "Joel 1:15-17. Alas for the day! — Wo to us! The time in which God
will inflict on us the punishments we have long deserved is now near; and if they
be not averted by our repentance, they will fall upon us in an irresistible manner,
and will end in our utter destruction, as coming from a God who is infinite in
power, and terrible in his judgments. Is not the meat cut off before our eyes —
Hebrew, before your eyes, namely, devoured by locusts or withered with
drought. Yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God — The dearth hath
obliged us to discontinue our daily offerings for want of corn and wine; and has
deprived us of those rejoicings, wherewith we used to keep our solemn feasts at
Jerusalem, and partake of the sacrifices there offered. It must be remembered,
that the prophet all along speaks of the calamity as present, although, most
probably, as was said before, this is a prophecy of what was to come. The seed is
rotten under the clods — The corn which is sown dies away and rots in the
ground, so that the barns and granaries become useless and desolate.
COFFMAN, “"Alas for the day! for the day of Jehovah is at hand, and as
destruction from the Almighty shall it come."
In this verse, Joel went a step beyond the terrible visitation of the locusts
threatening starvation and death to the whole nation; and he prophesied that
"the day of Jehovah is at hand!" The Biblical use of this expression is
enlightening; and we shall devote some space to a discussion of it.
"The day of the Lord" has two meanings in the prophetic use of the expression:
(1) It means any time of severe visitation inflicted upon either nations or upon all
mankind by the judgment of God upon human sin and unrighteousness. In his
famed Olivet discourse, the Lord Jesus clearly referred to the fall of Jerusalem
and the destruction of the Jewish temple as his "coming" in judgment upon
Israel, a summary judgment which followed as the direct result of their terminal
rebellion against God in the rejection and crucifixion of the Messiah. From this,
101

102. it is clearly seen that other great historical judgments upon such wicked cities as
Tyre, Sidon, Nineveh, Babylon, Sodom, and Gomorrah were exactly the same
type of visitation that fell upon Jerusalem.
(2) The ultimate meaning of "day of the Lord" identifies it with the final and
terminal destruction of the entire posterity of Adam and Eve upon the great
occasion of the eternal Judgment Day, when the dead shall be raised, the
righteous redeemed, and the wicked turned aside forever. These distinctively
different meanings were not always clear to the prophets who used the phrase
(which actually came from God); indeed, it is safe to assume that they might
never have known the full meaning of what they prophesied, as detailed by the
apostle Peter in 1 Peter 1:10-12. The holy prophets were not concerned with fully
understanding what the message from God might have been, but with delivering
it accurately to their fellow men.
The nature of the "day of the Lord," whatever the specific situation foretold, is
clearly given in this verse. "As destruction from the Almighty shall it come."
From this it is plain that the "day of the Lord" never referred to a benign and
peaceful event, but to "destruction." This is what it meant for the antediluvian
world which was destroyed from the face of the earth because of their
wickedness; and that is what it invariably meant in all the other instances of it
which have been cited. Furthermore, this is what it will ultimately mean at the
Final Judgment at the Second Coming of Christ. That will be the occasion when
the primeval sentence imposed upon the progenitors of the human race for their
rebellion in the Garden of Eden will be finally and irrevocably executed upon
them in the person of their total posterity, the unique exceptions to the universal
destruction of that Day being only those who have been redeemed through the
blood of Christ.
Thus, when one of the ancient prophets referred to "the day of Jehovah," it
always referred, not merely to the Final Arraignment and Punishment of
mankind, but to any lesser judgment that might be imposed upon specific sectors
of humanity (or even upon all of it) in the period intervening before that Final
Day. "For Joel, as for the other prophets, 'the day of the Lord' is always at
hand."[27] "Joel did not mean that the day of the Lord, in its full prophetic
sense, of the revelation of Christ ... was really to occur in their times."[28]
However, Joel did see in that terrible locust plague "a warning of 'the day of
Jehovah' which was to come."[29] Furthermore, it was a warning that other
occasions of 'the day of Jehovah' were in store for Israel. Historically, it was only
a little while before the Assyrians and the Babylonians would come and execute
"the day of Jehovah," not merely upon the northern kingdom, but upon the
southern kingdom of Israel as well. Thus Joel very accurately foretold future
judgments upon Israel, taking the locust disaster as an omen, or an earnest, of an
even greater judgment (or judgments) yet to come. Deane correctly discerned
this:
"The day of the Lord," first mentioned, it is said, by Joel, is the day when God
inflicts punishment upon sinners, as in the present instances; it may be a presage
102

103. of that judgment that brought ruin to their city, temple, and nation. It may be an
emblem of that judgment that wound up their nation by the destruction of their
capital, or even of the final judgment when God shall destroy the impenitent
sinners and deliver his saints.[30]
It is totally wrong to allege that Joel himself understood all that was indicated by
his prophecy here of "the day of the Lord"; nor is it possible to suppose that
even today students of the Holy Scriptures have any complete knowledge of all
that is meant.
In view of the unmistakable overtones associated with "the day of Jehovah," full
agreement is felt with Jamieson who noted that, "Here the transition begins from
the plague of locusts to the worse calamities (Joel 2) from invading armies about
to come on Judea, of which the locusts were the prelude."[31] As Barnes put it,
"All judgment in time is an image of the judgment for eternity."[32]
ELLICOTT, “(15) Alas.—The exclamation is repeated three times in the LXX.
and Vulg., thus giving occasion to Jeremy Taylor’s comment: “When the prophet
Joel was describing the formidable accidents in the day of the Lord’s judgment,
and the fearful sentence of an angry judge, he was not able to express it, but
stammered like a child, or an amazed imperfect person, A. A. A. diei, quia prope
est Dies Domini” (“Christ’s Adv. to Judgment,” Serm. iii., pt. 3).
Almighty.—Shaddai. A title signifying the omnipotence of God, especially with
reference, as here, to His power to destroy. The Hebrew preserves the
alliteration, Shod Mishaddai, destruction from the destroyer. The Almighty was
the general title of God. “I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob
by the name of God ALMIGHTY, but by My name JEHOVAH was I not known
unto them.” (See Note on Genesis 17)
WHEDON, "Verses 15-20
15-20. Not a petition which the prophet puts into the mouths of the priests, but
the prophet’s own words, explaining the seriousness of the calamity and thus
presenting the reason for the appeal in 13, 14. The wail turns into a supplication
in Joel 1:19. The terror of the prophet is increased, because he sees in the present
calamity the forerunner of the day of Jehovah — Among the Hebrews, as
frequently among the Arabs, the word day is sometimes used in the definite sense
day of battle (Isaiah 9:4). This is the sense of the word in the common Old
Testament phrase, day of Jehovah (Amos 5:18; Isaiah 2:12-21; Zephaniah 1:7,
etc.). We first meet the expression in Amos 5:18, where the prophet condemns
the popular conception of it. The day of Jehovah is essentially a day of battle, on
which Jehovah will manifest himself in the destruction of his foes and the
exaltation of his friends; but there are differences in the statements concerning
the extent of the conflict and concerning the persons who constitute the enemies
of Jehovah. At the time of Amos the popular mind identified the enemies of
Israel with the enemies of Jehovah; while the day of Jehovah would mark the
destruction of these, to Israel it would be a day of glory and triumph. This
misapprehension the prophet seeks to remove. He points out that the day would
not necessarily be a day of triumph for Israel; its character would depend
103

104. entirely upon their moral condition, for on his day Jehovah would vindicate his
righteousness against sin, whether among foreign nations or among his own
people. Sometimes Jehovah is thought of as employing human agents to strike
the decisive blow, at other times he strikes the blow himself (Schultz, Old
Testament Theology, 2:354ff.; Encyclopaedia Biblica, article “Eschatology,”
34ff.; Hastings’s Dictionary of the Bible, 1:735ff.). The day does not bring final
destruction to all; it is followed by a period of permanent felicity for the pious; it
is therefore the threshold of the Messianic age. In this verse we have the same
thought that we find in Amos, that the chosen people are not necessarily
excluded from the terrors of the day; they will be spared only on condition of
repentance. At hand — See Joel 2:1; Joel 3:14; compare Zephaniah 1:7;
Zephaniah 1:14; Obadiah 1:15; Isaiah 13:6; Ezekiel 30:3. The near approach of
the great judgment was often suggested by a great political crisis; the onward
sweep of the Scythians (Zephaniah 1:7), the struggles around Babylon (Isaiah
13:6), the operations of Nebuchadrezzar (Ezekiel 30:3). To Joel the suggestion
came from the plague of locusts, but he does not identify this plague with the day
itself.
As a destruction from the Almighty — In the original a very effective play upon
words: shodh, destruction, shadday, almighty. Driver seeks to retain the play by
rendering “overpowering from the overpowerer”; Rueckert gives a somewhat
free rendering in German: “Graussen vom grossen Gott.”
As a destruction — Not a comparison such as is marked ordinarily by as; it is
here the so-called kaph veritatis, used where the comparison is to be emphasized;
equivalent to in every respect like (G.-K., 118x). The day of Jehovah will be in
every respect like a blow from the Almighty, in suddenness, strength, and effect.
Almighty — A translation of the Greek παντω κρατωρ, supposed to be a
translation of the Hebrew shadday, used here purposely because of its similarity
in sound with shodh. The etymology of the Hebrew word is obscure. Some think
that it comes from the verb shadhah, overpower, treat with violence, destroy; if
so, the name would represent God as powerful, or as the destroyer. There are
several other explanations; the one sure to become popular connects the word
with the Assyrian shadu, mountain, and renders el shadday, “God, my
mountain” (Delitzsch), or “God of the two mountains” — that is, heaven and
earth (Radau). Isaiah 13:6, is almost identical with this verse, which may be
dependent upon the former, or the expression may have been a popular saying, a
proverb, used by both authors independently.
In justification of his fear the prophet points in Joel 1:16 ff. to the awful
condition of the country. Joel 1:16 expresses two thoughts, one touching the
physical, the other the religious life. Physical life is threatened because the fields
are devastated, so that there can be no harvest.
Before our eyes — We have to watch the process of destruction and can do
nothing to prevent it. Helplessness on the part of the observer seems always
implied in the Hebrew expression (Isaiah 1:7; Deuteronomy 28:31; Psalms 23:5).
The calamity has a more serious aspect because of its effect upon the religious
104

105. cult: the communion between the people and Jehovah is broken; therefore he
also cannot help (9).
Joy and gladness — The joy of the religious gatherings and of the presentation of
the first fruits. These were to be offered at the temple with rejoicing
(Deuteronomy 26:1-11). The more plentiful the harvest the greater the rejoicing;
the freewill offerings can no longer be presented, and the joyful feasts
accompanying them can no longer be held; the rejoicing of the feast of weeks and
of the feast of tabernacles (Deuteronomy 16:9-15) is made impossible; all is
sadness and lamentation.
The interpretation of Joel 1:17 is made difficult by the presence of at least four
uncommon words and the disagreement among the ancient versions; the general
thought, however, is clear. Evidently there is reference to a drought
accompanying the plague of locusts.
Is rotten — Better, shriveled. The Hebrew verb is found only here in the Old
Testament. The translation of A.V. is adopted from mediaeval Jewish
commentators, who compared the verb with a similar one in Arabic; but rot
would presuppose excessive moisture, which is contrary to the context; another
similar Arabic verb suggests the meaning to contract (the forehead), wrinkle,
which would correctly describe the effects of drought upon the seed. It shrivels,
and thus loses its germinating power. The Hebrew words for “seed” and “clods”
also occur only here. About the meaning of the former there can be no doubt,
and through comparison with the Arabic the translation “clod” seems well
established, though the rendering “shovel” (Driver) is not without justification.
A calamity of this character would destroy the harvest for a second year (Joel
2:25). Merx, who takes exception to all these uncommon words in a single verse,
after careful consideration (pp. 101ff.) suggests the following translation of Joel
1:17 and the first clause of Joel 1:18 : “The cattle stamp at their cribs; the
garners are laid desolate, the winepresses are broken down, for the grain is not,
grapes and olives are lost. What should we place in them?” There does not seem
to be sufficient justification for these radical emendations.
Garners — The places where the grain is stored.
Are laid desolate — Because all that has been stored there has been used, and
since the grain is shriveled in the ground there will be no harvest the following
year; therefore the garners are allowed to go to ruin.
Barns — The Hebrew word is used only here; a similar one meaning barn is in
Haggai 2:19; probably a synonym to “garner.” Whether separate sections for the
preservation of various kinds of grain or fruit are intended (Credner) is not
certain.
The corn [“grain”] is withered — This gives the reason for the condition of the
garners; the same word as in Joel 1:11.
NISBET, "A DAY OF JUDGMENT
105

106. ‘The day of the Lord is at hand.’
Joel 1:15
In the first two chapters Joel foretells, under the figure of an army, a most
terrible plague of locusts. The palmer-worm, locust, cankerworm, and caterpillar
are believed to have been locusts in four different stages, rather than different
insects. ‘Though the primary reference be to literal insects, the Holy Spirit
doubtless had in view the successive empires which assailed Judea, each worse
than its predecessor, Rome being the worst.’ Note these lessons in the first
chapter.
I. See God in all things—even in life’s plagues.—Either He sends them, or He
permits them. ‘Shall there be evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it?’
(Amos 3:6). This very plague had been foretold (Deuteronomy 28:38-39;
Deuteronomy 28:43). And is there ever any trouble in our lives that He has not
either sent or permitted? We talk of ‘chance’: the Bible never does. It speaks of
God; always of Him.
II. Seek God specially in the time of trouble (Deuteronomy 28:14).—This is the
one thing to do first of all, and yet how often is it our last resort, if it is even that!
Trouble comes either as chastisement or as chastening—as chastisement to
correct; or as chastening to strengthen, educate, and beautify the obedient. In
either case, the great end may be lost if we do not run to God in our sorrow, and
ask directly of Him all the questions that pertain to it; and what a loss is that—to
lose one’s affliction, to suffer all in vain! This is the one hope for us. We must
gather before God in confession and prayer. We must cry to God for ourselves,
and must plead with Him in intercession for others (Deuteronomy 28:14;
Deuteronomy 28:19). It will never do to continue as we are in the hopelessness of
despair, or in a fatuous surrender to our misfortunes.
Illustration
‘Israel was still a kingdom when Joel prophesied; and as with Hosea, so with
him, there are abundant allusions to the natural scenery and agricultural
processes of the Land of Promise. How much do the children of the city miss in
their aloofness from the illuminated missal of nature! Their speech is poorer for
lack of the simple but beautiful images which adorn the language of a student of
God’s oldest Bible.’
BI, "Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from
the Almighty shall it come.
The day of the Lord
The prophet intimates that the destruction caused by the flight of the locusts over the
land of Judah was but the commencement of calamity, and that it was a type of
judgments more awful in the future. And all the judgments which come upon men in
the present are indicative of the final judgment which is to come, and are warnings of
106

107. that awful event, so that we may not be unprepared to meet it.
I. That it will be Divinely distinguished from all the days which have preceded it.
“The day! for the day of the Lord.” This time of judgment is called the day of the
Lord.
1. Because on this day the Lord will give a splendid manifestation of Himself.
2. Because this day will be in sublime contrast, in relation to the unfolding of the
Divine purposes, to all others that have preceded it. In the days of Christ’s
incarnation He was rejected and despised of men; men saw no beauty in Him that
they should desire Him. In our own age there are multitudes who neglect and
treat Him with contempt, while many who profess to serve Him are cold in their
service. These are the days of men, in which they are free to pursue an evil
method of life, and in which they are left to accomplish their work, waiting for the
return of the Great Master; but these days are soon to give place to the Day of the
Lord, in the which He will give to every man according to the quality of his work.
Then the Lord will exert His sovereign power.
II. That it is near in its approach and will come suddenly upon mankind. “The day of
the Lord is at hand.”
1. This day is certain in its advent. There may be many who contemptuously ask,
“Where is the promise of His coming?” (2Pe_3:4.)
2. This day will be sudden in its advent. The day of the Lord will come as a thief
in the night, and will cause a sudden fear to come upon many.
3. This day is near in its advent (2Pe_3:8).
III. That it will be accompanied by the most awful destruction ever witnessed by
mankind. “And as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.” Lessons—
1. This revelation concerning the day of the Lord should make us careful in the
ordering of our individual life.
2. This revelation concerning the day of the Lord should lead us to put forth our
best activities to save men from its impending doom.
3. In this revelation concerning the day of the Lord see the mercy of heaven in
giving us full warning of the coming peril. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
16 Has not the food been cut off
before our very eyes—
joy and gladness
from the house of our God?
107

108. BARNES, "Is not the meat cut off before our eyes? - The prophet exhibits
the immediate judgment, as if it were already fullilled in act. He sets it in detail
before their eyes. “When the fruits of the earth were now ripe, the grain now calling
for the reaper, and the grapes fully ripe and desiring to be pressed out, they were
taken away, when set before their eyes for them to enjoy.” Yea, “joy and gladness
from the house of our God.” The joy in the abundance of the harvest was expressed in
one universal thanksgiving to God, by fathers of families, sons, daughters,
menservants, maidservants, with the priest and Levite. All this was to be cut off
together. The courts of God’s house were to be desolate and silent, or joy and
gladness were to be turned into sorrow and wailing.
: “So it befell those who rejected and insulted Christ. “The Bread of life Which
came down from heaven and gave life to the world Joh_6:48, Joh_6:51, the grain of
wheat, which fell into the ground and died, and brought forth much fruit” Joh_12:24,
that spiritual “wine” which knoweth how to “gladden the heart of man,” was already
in a manner before their eyes. But when they ceased not to insult Him in unbelief,
He, as it were, disappeared from their eyes, and they lost all spiritual sustenance. All
share in all good is gone from them. “Joy and gladness” have also gone “from the
House” which they had. For they are given up to desolation, and “abide without king
or prince or sacrifice” Hos_3:4. Again, the Lord said, “Man, shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word which cometh forth out of the Mouth of God” Mat_4:4. The
word of God then is food. This hath been taken away from the Jews, for they
understood not the writings of Moses, but “to this day the veil is upon their heart”
2Co_3:15. For they hate the oracles of Christ. All spiritual food is perished, not in
itself but to “them.” To them, it is as though it were not. But the Lord Himself
imparts to these who believe in Him a right to all exuberance of joy in the good tilings
from above. For it is written, “The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to
famish; but He thrusts away the desire of the wicked” Pro_10:3.
GILL, "Is not the meat cut off before our eyes?.... Such an interrogation most
strongly affirms; it was a matter out of all question, they could not but see it with
their eyes; it was a plain case, and not to be denied, that every eatable thing, or that
of which food was wont to be made, was cut off by the locusts, or the drought, or by
the Assyrian or Chaldean army:
yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God; the harvest being perished,
there were no firstfruits brought to the temple, which used to be attended with great
joy; and the corn and vines being wasted, no meat offerings made of fine flour, nor
drink offerings of wine, were offered, which used to make glad God and man; nor any
other sacrifices, on which the priests and their families lived, and were matter of joy
to them; and these they ate of in the temple, or in courts adjoining to it. So Philo (y)
the Jew says of the ancient Jews, that
"having prayed and offered sacrifices, and appeased the Deity, they washed their
bodies and souls; the one in lavers, the other in the streams of the laws, and right
instruction; and being cheerful, turned themselves to their food, not going home
oftentimes, but remaining in the holy places where they sacrificed; and as mindful of
the sacrifices, and reverencing the place, they kept a feast truly holy, not shining
either in word or deed.''
HENRY, "They saw themselves already under the tokens of his displeasure. It is
time to fast and pray, for their distress is very great, Joe_1:16. (1.) Let them look into
108

109. their own houses, and was no plenty there, as used to be. Those who kept a good
table were now obliged to retrench: Is not the meat cut off before our eyes? If, when
God's hand is lifted up, men will not see, when his hand is laid on they shall see. Is
not the meat many a time cut off before our eyes? Let us then labour for that spiritual
meat which is not before our eyes, and which cannot be cut off. (2.) Let them look
into God's house, and see the effects of the judgment there; joy and gladness were cut
off from the house of God. Note, The house of our God is the proper place of joy and
gladness; when David goes to the altar of God, it is to God my exceeding joy; but
when joy and gladness are cut off from God's house, either by corruption of holy
things or the persecution of holy persons, when serious godly decays and love waxes
cold, then it time to cry to the Lord, time to cry, Alas!
JAMISON, "Compare Joe_1:9, and latter part of Joe_1:12.
joy — which prevailed at the annual feasts, as also in the ordinary sacrificial
offerings, of which the offerers ate before the Lord with gladness and thanksgivings
(Deu_12:6, Deu_12:7, Deu_12:12; Deu_16:11, Deu_16:14, Deu_16:15).
K&D, "“Is not the food destroyed before our eyes, joy and exulting from the
house of our God? Joe_1:17. The grains have mouldered under their clods, the
storehouses are desolate, the barns have fallen down; because the corn is destroyed.
Joe_1:18. How the cattle groan! the herds of oxen are bewildered, for no pasture
was left for them; even the flocks of sheep suffer.” As a proof that the day of the Lord
is coming like a devastation from the Almighty, the prophet points in Joe_1:16 to the
fact that the food is taken away before their eyes, and therewith all joy and exulting
from the house of God. “The food of the sinners perishes before their eyes, since the
crops they looked for are snatched away from their hands, and the locust anticipates
the reaper” (Jerome). ‫ל‬ ֶ‫ּכ‬‫א‬, food as the means of sustenance; according to Joe_1:19,
corn, new wine, and oil. The joy is thereby taken from the house of Jehovah,
inasmuch as, when the crops are destroyed, neither first-fruits nor thank-offerings
can be brought to the sanctuary to be eaten there at joyful meals (Deu_12:6-7; Deu_
16:10-11). And the calamity became all the more lamentable, from the fact that, in
consequence of a terrible drought, the seed perished in the earth, and consequently
the prospect of a crop the following year entirely disappeared. The prophet refers to
this in Joe_1:17, which has been rendered in extremely different ways by the lxx,
Chald., and Vulg., on account of the ʇαπ. λεγ. ‫שׁוּ‬ ְ‫ֽב‬ ָ‫,ע‬ ‫דוֹת‬ ֻ‫ר‬ ְ , and ‫פוֹת‬ ָ‫ר‬ְ‫ג‬ ֶ‫מ‬ (compare Pococke,
ad h. l.). ‫שׁ‬ ַ‫ב‬ ָ‫ע‬ signifies to moulder away, or, as the injury was caused by dryness and
heat, to dry up; it is used here of grains of corn which lose their germinating power,
from the Arabic ‛bs, to become dry or withered, and the Chaldee ‫,עפשׁ‬ to get mouldy.
Pe
rudōth, in Syriac, grains of corn sowed broadcast, probably from pârad, to scatter
about. Megrâphōth, according to Ab. Esr., clods of earth (compare Arab. jurf, gleba
terrai), from gâraph, to wash away (Jdg_5:21) a detached piece of earth. If the seed-
corn loses its germinating power beneath the clod, no corn-harvest can be looked for.
The storehouses ('ōtsârōth; cf. 2Ch_32:27) moulder away, and the barns (mamme
gurâh
with dag. dirim. = me
gūrâh in Hag_2:19) fall, tumble to pieces, because being useless
they are not kept in proper condition. The drought also deprives the cattle of their
pasture, so that the herds of oxen and flocks of sheep groan and suffer with the rest
from the calamity. ְ‫וּך‬ , niphal, to be bewildered with fear. 'Ashēm, to expiate, to suffer
109

110. the consequences of men's sin.
The fact, that even irrational creatures suffer along with men, impels the prophet
to pray for help to the Lord, who helps both man and beast (Psa_36:7). Joe_1:19. “To
Thee, O Jehovah, do I cry: for fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and
flame has consumed all the trees of the field. Joe_1:20. Even the beasts of the field
cry unto Thee; for the water-brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the
pastures of the wilderness.” Fire and flame are the terms used by the prophet to
denote the burning heat of the drought, which consumes the meadows, and even
scorches up the trees. This is very obvious from the drying up of the water-brooks (in
Joe_1:20). For Joe_1:20, compare Jer_14:5-6. In Jer_14:20 the address is
rhetorically rounded off by the repetition of ‫וגו‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫ל‬ ְ‫כ‬ ֽፎ ‫שׁ‬ ֵ‫א‬ְ‫ו‬ from Jer_14:19.
COFFMAN, “"Is not the food cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from
the house of God? The seeds rot under their clods; the garners are laid desolate,
the barns are broken down; for the grain is withered. How do the beasts groan!
the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of
sheep are made desolate."
This is a further emphasis upon the severity of the plague; and it is evident that
the scourge of the locusts has been compounded and multiplied by drought. The
situation appeared to be utterly hopeless. Without food or pasture, the herds of
sheep and cattle would soon die; a disaster of the greatest magnitude was upon
them.
What with the locusts devouring all that appeared above ground, and the
drought destroying the seeds sown under the surface, the havoc was complete;
famine and distress afflicted both man and beast.[33]
PETT, "Joel 1:16
Is not the food cut off before our eyes,
Joy and gladness from the house of our God?’
Joel 1:17
The seeds rot under their clods,
The garners are laid desolate,
The barns are broken down,
For the grain is withered.’
And this expectancy of coming judgment had been brought on by their food
disappearing before their very eyes (typical of what would happen when locusts
were on the march), the consequence being that there was no rejoicing and
gladness in the house of God (either the Temple or the people as a whole). For
110

111. what was left of the seeds was rotting, the garners had been desolated, and the
makeshift barns had been broken down because the grain was withered.
BI, "Is not the meat cut off before our eyes.
Sin a great deprivation
I. That sin deprives man of his cherished hope. “Is not the meat cut off before our
eyes?”
1. This deprivation was unexpected. The ripe crops were seen by the people of
Judah, who were rejoicing in the prospect of a safe harvest, when to their
astonishment all was destroyed. And sin deprives sinners of their expected
pleasures just when they are within sure reach, and turns in an unexpected
moment the fairest prospects into barren wastes, it is the way of God to
disappoint the evil-doer of his cherished anticipations.
2. This deprivation was calamitous. The people of Judah were dependent upon
the ripe crops for the supply of their temporal wants, and would not be able to
provide anything as a substitute for them. And sin does not merely deprive man
of those things which are for his luxury, but even those things which are essential
to his bare comfort.
3. This deprivation was righteous. The people of Judah might imagine that it was
very unjust thus to deprive them of the harvest for which they had laboured, and
that too at the very moment they were expecting to gather it in for use. They
would be unable to understand the equity and meaning of such a visitation. But it
is a righteous thing that sin should be punished, and in the manner most likely to
restrain it, and this is often done by the destruction of a cherished hope.
II. That sin deprives the sanctuary of its appropriate joy. “Is not the meat cut off
before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our Lord?”
1. That joy should ever be associated with the service of the sanctuary. Joy and
gladness always belonged to the ancient temple; thither the Jews went to give
thanks, and to acknowledge themselves the blessed of the Lord. But now they
could not rejoice in the presence of God, because of the calamities which were
upon them.
2. That sin deprives the sanctuary of the joy which should ever be associated with
it. The sins of the people of Judah rendered it impossible for them to participate
in their usual harvest festivals, and divested the Divine presence of its
accustomed joy. And sin will extinguish the bright lights of the sanctuary; it will
hush its sweet music, and stay the spring of joy which God has destined should
flow from the temple into human souls.
III. That sin deprives the seed of its necessary vitality. “The seed is rotten under the
clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is
withered.” Thus we see that sin perverts the natural order of God’s universe, it
renders the seed which is full of life destitute of all vitality. The seed is precious;
man’s sin makes it useless. God can plague man’s mercies in the germ or in the barn,
it is impossible to escape His retribution.
IV. That sin deprives the brute of its refreshing pasture. “How do the beasts groan!
the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture, yea, the flocks of
sheep are made desolate.” All the life and interests of the universe arc one, and one
part of it cannot suffer without involving the rest; hence the sin of man affects the
whole. Lessons—
111

112. 1. That men who imagine that they gain anything by sin are deceived.
2. That sin divests the most sacred places of their destined gladness.
3. That sin brings famine where God intended there should be plenty. (J. S. Exell,
M. A.)
The seed is rotten under their clods.
National calamities
The Supreme Ruler of the world is righteous and beneficent. What, then, is the cause
of national calamities? It is sin.
I. Some of the prevailing sins which have brought us into our present situation. The
vices which, on account of their enormity and uncommon spread, may be considered
as, in a certain degree, peculiar to the present age.
1. Ingratitude. No nation ever experienced more of the kindness of heaven. Our
climate is desirable; our minerals are varied and abundant; our situation favours
our independence; our form of government is just and efficient. Internal peace is
a blessing we have long enjoyed, Has our gratitude increased in proportion as our
blessings have been multiplied? Consider, too, our religious privileges. What
returns have we made to God for these mercies?
2. Pride. This has been called the universal passion. It is by no means peculiar to
our country and times. Yet it may be called one of the peculiar sins of our age.
Would to God that pride were confined to the State! Alas! its ravages have
extended to the Church.
3. Infidelity has of late been greatly increasing. There is public avowed
scepticism, by which revelation in general is censured and rejected.
4. Luxury and licentiousness of manners prevail to a most alarming degree. Was
there ever a period, not excepting the age of the second Charles, when profanity,
intemperance, seduction, and other vices were so common? Lewdness and
intemperance are not confined to the more wealthy. Our prosperity, it may be
said, is the cause of all these disorders. But shall we dare to palliate our vices by
that which aggravates them in an inconceivable degree?
5. The prevailing influence of a worldly spirit.
6. The spirit of irreligion. As seen in the practice of profane swearing, in the
omission of family duties, and in the neglect of Divinely instituted ordinances.
II. The means of deliverance. Consider those important duties without which there is
neither safety nor hope.
1. We must return to God in the exercise of faith.
2. The review of our sins ought to fill us with grief.
3. Our faith and contrition must be accompanied with a universal reformation of
our hearts and conduct. Exercise faith in God. Present to Him the sacrifices of a
broken spirit. Be concerned to mortify the whole body of sin. These are duties
beyond the strength of fallen humanity. The Spirit alone can enable us to perform
them. To Unwearied diligence let us add fervent supplication to the God of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that He would have mercy upon us, and cause His Spirit to
descend as a spirit of faith, of contrition, and of holiness. (Alex. Black.)
112

113. Potting seeds
This is the first new stroke of pathos which the poet adds to his previous description;
but mark how he multiplies stroke on stroke. As though it were not enough to lose all
mirth in the passing day, the heart of the people is torn with apprehension for the
future. The very grain in the earth has “rotted under the clods,” so that there is no
prospect of a crop in the coming year to compensate for the loss of this year’s
harvest. Smitten by the burning rays of the sun, denied the vivifying touch of dew or
rain, the germ has withered in the seed. The husbandmen, hopeless of any reward for
their toils, fold their hands in indolent despair; they suffer their garners to moulder
away, their “barns” to fall. Why should they repair barn and storehouse when the
“corn is withered,” even the seed-corn? (Samel Cox, D. D.)
God’s voice in things terrible
How does God utter His voice? In things terrible by terror, so that the feeling He
inspires finds utterance in voice of man. In nature, by objects which He creates. In
history, by results which He brings about. In calls to repentance, by the concurrence
of calamity with our sense of sin, whether an instinct trained or rather a sentiment
inbreathed by Divine communion. When such sentiments run through a people,
kindled by prophets or organised by priests, the national temples echo with them;
public religion embodies them; signs of joy are suspended, and prayers go up to the
unsearchable Dweller of eternity in words which are the words of men, seeking to
move the mind of God, yet breathing a life which God’s breath implanted. (Rowland
Williams, D. D.)
17 The seeds are shriveled
beneath the clods.[d]
The storehouses are in ruins,
the granaries have been broken down,
for the grain has dried up.
BARNES, "The seed is rotten under the clods - Not only was all to be cut off
for the present, but, with it, all hope for the future. The scattered seed, as it lay, each
under its clod known to God, was dried up, and so decayed. The garners lay desolate,
nay, were allowed to go to ruin, in hopelessness of any future harvest.
113

114. CLARKE, "The seed is rotten under their clods - When the sprout was cut
off as low as possible by the locusts, there was no farther germination. The seed
rotted away.
GILL, "The seed is rotten under their clods,.... Or "grains" (z) of wheat or
barley, which had been sown, and, for want of rain, putrefied and wasted away under
the clods of earth, through the great drought; so that what with locusts, which
cropped that that did bud forth, and with the drought, by reason of which much of
the seed sown came to nothing, an extreme famine ensued: the Targum is,
"casks of wine rotted under their coverings:''
the garners are desolate; the "treasuries" (a), or storehouses, having nothing in
them, and there being nothing to put into them; Jarchi makes these to be peculiar for
wine and oil, both which failed, Joe_1:10;
the barns are broken down; in which the wheat and barley had used to be laid
up; but this judgment of the locusts and drought continuing year after year, the walls
fell down, and, no care was taken to repair them, there being no, use for them; these
were the granaries, and, as Jarchi, for wheat particularly:
for the corn is withered; that which sprung up withered and dried away, through
the heat and drought: or was "ashamed" (b); not answering the expectation of the
sower.
HENRY, "3. The prophet returns to describe the grievousness of the calamity, in
some particulars of it. Corn and cattle are the husbandman's staple commodities;
now here he is deprived of both. (1.) The caterpillars have devoured the corn, Joe_
1:17. The garners, which they used to fill with corn, are laid desolate, and the barns
broken down, because the corn has withered, and the owners think it not worth
while to be at the charge of repairing them when they have nothing to put in them,
nor are likely to have any thing; for the seed it rotten under the clods, either through
too much rain or (which was the more common case in Canaan) for want of rain, or
perhaps some insects under ground ate it up. When one crop fails the husbandman
hopes the next may make it up; but here they despair of that, the seedness being as
bad as the harvest
JAMISON, “is rotten — “is dried up,” “vanishes away,” from an Arabic root
[Maurer]. “Seed,” literally, “grains.” The drought causes the seeds to lose all their
vitality and moisture.
garners — granaries; generally underground, and divided into separate
receptacles for the different kinds of grain.
COKE, “Joel 1:17. The seed is rotten, &c.— Rotted. Whoever considers the
authentic accounts given of the depredations of locusts in the year 1748 in our
own country, wherein they were found burrowing under ground, and
consequently destroyed the seeds under the clods, thereby rendering the gardens
desolate, must own that this part of the description is applicable to the locusts:
though Dr. Sharpe observes, "that these calamities are the natural consequence
114

115. of war, and not the work of locusts; and that the whole is a picture of a country,
not only pillaged and laid waste, but also deprived of its inhabitants; which was
the truth of the case, they having been carried into captivity." See his Second
Argument, p. 333.
ELLICOTT, “(17) The corn is withered.—The results of the terrible drought,
coincident with the ravages of the locusts, are now described. The ancient
versions present difficulty and variety in the exact rendering of this verse, owing
to several words occurring in it being not found elsewhere in Holy Scripture. On
the whole the English text seems correct and satisfactory.
18 How the cattle moan!
The herds mill about
because they have no pasture;
even the flocks of sheep are suffering.
BARNES, "How do the beasts groan! - There is something very pitiable in the
cry of the brute creation, even because they are innocent, yet bear man’s guilt. Their
groaning seems to the prophet to be beyond expression. How vehemently do they
“groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed,” as though, like man, they were endued
with reason, to debate where to find their food. Yea, not these only, but the flocks of
sheep, which might find pasture where the herds could not, these too shall bear the
punishment of guilt. They suffered by the guilt of man; and yet so stupid was man,
that he was not so sensible of his own win for which they suffered, as they of its
effect. The beasts cried to God, but even their cries did not awaken His own people.
The prophet cries for them;
CLARKE, "How do the beasts groan! - I really think that the neighing of
horses, or braying of asses, is wonderfully expressed by the sound of the original: ‫מה‬
‫בהמה‬ ‫נאנחה‬ mah Neenchah behemah, how do the horses neigh! how do the asses bray!
‫בהמה‬ behemah is a collective name for all domestic cattle, and those used in
husbandry.
Cattle are perplexed - They are looking everywhere, and wandering about to
find some grass, and know not which way to run.
115

116. GILL, "How do the beasts groan?.... For want of fodder, all green grass and
herbs being eaten up by the locusts; or devoured, or trampled upon, and destroyed,
by the Chaldeans; and also for want of water to quench their thirst:
the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; the larger
cattle, as oxen; these were in the utmost perplexity, not knowing where to go for food
or drink:
yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate; which have shepherds to lead and
direct them to pastures, and can feed on commons, where the grass is short, which
other cattle cannot; yet even these were in great distress, and wasted away, and were
consumed for want of nourishment.
HENRY, "The cattle perish too for want of grass (Joe_1:18): How do the beasts
groan! This the prophet takes notice of, that the people might be affected with it and
lay to heart the judgment. The groans of the cattle should soften their hard and
impenitent hearts. The herds of cattle, the large cattle (black cattle we call them), are
perplexed; nay, even the flocks of sheep, which will live upon a common and be
content with very short grass, are made desolate. See here the inferior creatures
suffering for our transgression, and groaning under the double burden of being
serviceable to the sin of man and subject to the curse of God for it. Cursed is the
ground for thy sake.
JAMISON, "cattle ... perplexed — implying the restless gestures of the dumb
beasts in their inability to find food. There is a tacit contrast between the sense of the
brute creation and the insensibility of the people.
yea, the ... sheep — Even the sheep, which are content with less rich pasturage,
cannot find food.
are made desolate — literally, “suffer punishment.” The innocent brute shares
the “punishment” of guilty man (Exo_12:29; Jon_3:7; Jon_4:11).
BENSON, "Joel 1:18. How do the beasts groan! — “How grievous will be the
distress of the beasts of the field! How sadly will they complain through the
vehemency of thirst! How will the herds of cattle be troubled and perplexed! For
their verdant pastures shall be all scorched up, and they will have none wherein
to feed. The flocks also shall be desolate, and ready to perish.” Scarce any thing
can be more strongly or more movingly descriptive of the effects of a dearth and
drought than this is.
COKE, “Joel 1:18. How do the beasts groan!— That is, "How grievous will be
the distress of the beasts of the field! How sadly will they complain, through the
vehemency of thirst! How will the herds of cattle be troubled and perplexed! for
their verdant pastures shall be all scorched up, and they will have none wherein
to feed. The flocks also shall be desolate, and ready to perish." See Jeremiah
14:1-6; Jeremiah 15:2. Instead of, The herds of cattle are perplexed, Houbigant
reads, How mournful are the lowings of the herds!
ELLICOTT, “(18) How do the beasts groan.—All creation is represented as
116

117. sharing in the dread perplexity; the beasts are involved in it, as also in Nineveh
the animals were united in the proclamation of the general fast by the king’s
decree, when he had heard of the preaching of Jonah.
WHEDON, "18. Even the irrational animal world cries out in agony.
How do the beasts groan! — Or, sob. Everyone knows that the cattle do not sob,
but in a style like that of Joel such highly poetic personification is perfectly
permissible. The fact that the verb is used nowhere else of animals is hardly
sufficient reason for doubting its genuineness; it serves its purpose well; we can
almost see the agony of the cattle and hear their sobs. The reading of the
Septuagint, “What shall we lay up in them?” — that is, the garners of Joel 1:17
(accepted as original by some scholars) — is a weak close of Joel 1:17, and rests
upon a misunderstanding of the Hebrew.
The herds of cattle are perplexed — They look in vain for food, perplexed they
huddle together, or go back and forth not knowing how to still their hunger,
since the drought has withered the pastures. For “are perplexed” LXX. reads
“weep,” which would make a good parallel to “sob.”
Yea, the flocks of sheep — Intended for a climax; the sheep do not require as
rich pasture as the cattle, yet even their limited wants cannot be supplied.
Are made desolate — Literally, suffer punishment, or, are held guilty. In poetic
style it may be permissible to speak of the animal world as suffering for sins
committed by men, but the expression is peculiar. The translators have felt the
difficulty, for they translate the Greek rather than the Hebrew, and most
commentators follow LXX.
Overcome by the awful sight, the prophet in 19, 20 sends up to God an agonizing
cry for deliverance. He seems to be prompted chiefly by the sufferings of the
irrational, therefore guiltless, brute creation; the people deserve the blow.
To thee — No one else can help, but Jehovah “preserveth man and beast”
(Psalms 36:6).
Will I cry — Better, do I cry.
Fire… flame — Might be two figures for the excessive heat of the sun: like fire
the rays consume the meadows and even scorch the trees; or simply a poetic
description of the ravages of the locusts (Joel 2:3). Modern travelers do compare
the ravages of the locusts to the destruction wrought by fire: “Whatever of herb
or leaf they gnaw is, as it were, scorched by fire.” “I myself have observed that
the places where they had browsed were as scorched as if the fire had passed
there.” “They covered a square mile so completely that it appeared, at a little
distance, to have been burned and strewed over with brown ashes.” (See also
Pusey, on Joel 2:3.) It is not impossible, however, that the prophet has in mind an
actual fire or conflagration, for these are not uncommon in Palestine during very
dry summers. “Throughout the summer the prairie and forest fires are not
117

118. uncommon; the grass and thistle of the desert will blaze for miles. (G.A. Smith,
Historical Geography of the Holy Land, 66).
Wilderness — The English word suggests ideas that are entirely foreign to the
Hebrew. The notion of a sandy waste must be banished. The Hebrew word
designates a tract of land to which herds are driven, an uncultivated region, but
one where pasturage, however scanty, may be found; usually without a settled
population, although in certain districts there may be cities and towns occupied
by nomads (Joshua 15:61-62; Isaiah 42:11). In Joel 1:18 the agony of the
domestic animals is described, in Joel 1:20 that of the wild animals.
The beasts of the field — They join the prophet in his petition, for they also are
about to perish.
Cry — Better, with R.V., “pant”; literally, ascend, with longing and desire, that
God may turn away the affliction so that they may satisfy their hunger and their
thirst. Even the wild beasts, though they can roam over a large territory, can
find nothing to satisfy them. As a result of the continued drought the rivers
(better, as R.V., “water brooks”) have run dry. The word really means channel,
and refers to the water bed rather than to the water. During the rainy season in
Palestine “every highland gorge, every lowland valley bed, is filled with a roaring
torrent,” but during the dry season most of these river beds run dry; only a few
of the streams are perennial. In the calamity described by Joel there are no
exceptions, all are dried up. The address is rhetorically rounded off by the
repetition of a clause from Joel 1:19.
PETT, "Joel 1:18
‘How do the beasts groan!
The herds of cattle are perplexed,
Because they have no pasture,
Yes, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.’
And not only the vegetation was affected. The animal world too suffered. The
herds of cattle could not understand why they had no pasture, the flocks of sheep
were bewildered and desolated. All that remained was the bare denuded earth,
and all that they could do was ‘groan’.
BI, "Is not the meat cut off before our eyes.
Sin a great deprivation
I. That sin deprives man of his cherished hope. “Is not the meat cut off before our
eyes?”
1. This deprivation was unexpected. The ripe crops were seen by the people of
Judah, who were rejoicing in the prospect of a safe harvest, when to their
astonishment all was destroyed. And sin deprives sinners of their expected
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119. pleasures just when they are within sure reach, and turns in an unexpected
moment the fairest prospects into barren wastes, it is the way of God to
disappoint the evil-doer of his cherished anticipations.
2. This deprivation was calamitous. The people of Judah were dependent upon
the ripe crops for the supply of their temporal wants, and would not be able to
provide anything as a substitute for them. And sin does not merely deprive man
of those things which are for his luxury, but even those things which are essential
to his bare comfort.
3. This deprivation was righteous. The people of Judah might imagine that it was
very unjust thus to deprive them of the harvest for which they had laboured, and
that too at the very moment they were expecting to gather it in for use. They
would be unable to understand the equity and meaning of such a visitation. But it
is a righteous thing that sin should be punished, and in the manner most likely to
restrain it, and this is often done by the destruction of a cherished hope.
II. That sin deprives the sanctuary of its appropriate joy. “Is not the meat cut off
before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our Lord?”
1. That joy should ever be associated with the service of the sanctuary. Joy and
gladness always belonged to the ancient temple; thither the Jews went to give
thanks, and to acknowledge themselves the blessed of the Lord. But now they
could not rejoice in the presence of God, because of the calamities which were
upon them.
2. That sin deprives the sanctuary of the joy which should ever be associated with
it. The sins of the people of Judah rendered it impossible for them to participate
in their usual harvest festivals, and divested the Divine presence of its
accustomed joy. And sin will extinguish the bright lights of the sanctuary; it will
hush its sweet music, and stay the spring of joy which God has destined should
flow from the temple into human souls.
III. That sin deprives the seed of its necessary vitality. “The seed is rotten under the
clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is
withered.” Thus we see that sin perverts the natural order of God’s universe, it
renders the seed which is full of life destitute of all vitality. The seed is precious;
man’s sin makes it useless. God can plague man’s mercies in the germ or in the barn,
it is impossible to escape His retribution.
IV. That sin deprives the brute of its refreshing pasture. “How do the beasts groan!
the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture, yea, the flocks of
sheep are made desolate.” All the life and interests of the universe arc one, and one
part of it cannot suffer without involving the rest; hence the sin of man affects the
whole. Lessons—
1. That men who imagine that they gain anything by sin are deceived.
2. That sin divests the most sacred places of their destined gladness.
3. That sin brings famine where God intended there should be plenty. (J. S. Exell,
M. A.)
The seed is rotten under their clods.
National calamities
The Supreme Ruler of the world is righteous and beneficent. What, then, is the cause
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120. of national calamities? It is sin.
I. Some of the prevailing sins which have brought us into our present situation. The
vices which, on account of their enormity and uncommon spread, may be considered
as, in a certain degree, peculiar to the present age.
1. Ingratitude. No nation ever experienced more of the kindness of heaven. Our
climate is desirable; our minerals are varied and abundant; our situation favours
our independence; our form of government is just and efficient. Internal peace is
a blessing we have long enjoyed, Has our gratitude increased in proportion as our
blessings have been multiplied? Consider, too, our religious privileges. What
returns have we made to God for these mercies?
2. Pride. This has been called the universal passion. It is by no means peculiar to
our country and times. Yet it may be called one of the peculiar sins of our age.
Would to God that pride were confined to the State! Alas! its ravages have
extended to the Church.
3. Infidelity has of late been greatly increasing. There is public avowed
scepticism, by which revelation in general is censured and rejected.
4. Luxury and licentiousness of manners prevail to a most alarming degree. Was
there ever a period, not excepting the age of the second Charles, when profanity,
intemperance, seduction, and other vices were so common? Lewdness and
intemperance are not confined to the more wealthy. Our prosperity, it may be
said, is the cause of all these disorders. But shall we dare to palliate our vices by
that which aggravates them in an inconceivable degree?
5. The prevailing influence of a worldly spirit.
6. The spirit of irreligion. As seen in the practice of profane swearing, in the
omission of family duties, and in the neglect of Divinely instituted ordinances.
II. The means of deliverance. Consider those important duties without which there is
neither safety nor hope.
1. We must return to God in the exercise of faith.
2. The review of our sins ought to fill us with grief.
3. Our faith and contrition must be accompanied with a universal reformation of
our hearts and conduct. Exercise faith in God. Present to Him the sacrifices of a
broken spirit. Be concerned to mortify the whole body of sin. These are duties
beyond the strength of fallen humanity. The Spirit alone can enable us to perform
them. To Unwearied diligence let us add fervent supplication to the God of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that He would have mercy upon us, and cause His Spirit to
descend as a spirit of faith, of contrition, and of holiness. (Alex. Black.)
Potting seeds
This is the first new stroke of pathos which the poet adds to his previous description;
but mark how he multiplies stroke on stroke. As though it were not enough to lose all
mirth in the passing day, the heart of the people is torn with apprehension for the
future. The very grain in the earth has “rotted under the clods,” so that there is no
prospect of a crop in the coming year to compensate for the loss of this year’s
harvest. Smitten by the burning rays of the sun, denied the vivifying touch of dew or
rain, the germ has withered in the seed. The husbandmen, hopeless of any reward for
their toils, fold their hands in indolent despair; they suffer their garners to moulder
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121. away, their “barns” to fall. Why should they repair barn and storehouse when the
“corn is withered,” even the seed-corn? (Samel Cox, D. D.)
God’s voice in things terrible
How does God utter His voice? In things terrible by terror, so that the feeling He
inspires finds utterance in voice of man. In nature, by objects which He creates. In
history, by results which He brings about. In calls to repentance, by the concurrence
of calamity with our sense of sin, whether an instinct trained or rather a sentiment
inbreathed by Divine communion. When such sentiments run through a people,
kindled by prophets or organised by priests, the national temples echo with them;
public religion embodies them; signs of joy are suspended, and prayers go up to the
unsearchable Dweller of eternity in words which are the words of men, seeking to
move the mind of God, yet breathing a life which God’s breath implanted. (Rowland
Williams, D. D.)
Joel 1:18
How do the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed.
The cattle plague
We have been called to make this a time of solemn humiliation and prayer, in the
presence of a grievous plague upon cattle. Let us seek that our prayers this day may
be the prevailing prayers of faith There is a rough way of regarding the afflictive
dispensations of God’s providence, which is founded on a principle more Jewish than
Christian, and regards them as “judgments” in the vulgar sense. We may say,
generally, that all suffering is the consequence of sin, but no man has any right to say
that a particular judgment follows a particular national or individual sin.
1. We are asked to acknowledge that this grievous plague has been sent by God in
His all-disposing and sovereign providence. And we are surely all agreed here.
Providential is an adjective that admits of no comparison. Nothing that happens
in this world is more or less appointed by God than all the rest. He ordains all
events. Mercy and judgment are alike providential: we take them both from God.
Mercy with thankful joy: judgment with thankful resignation. We are not driven
from our simple faith in God by anything that can be said of second causes
intervening between Him and us, or even of the intervention of human folly or
crime. Man’s mistakes and misdoings have doubtless contributed to the spread
and fatality of the cattle plague. Want of observance of obvious natural laws: want
of knowledge of such; want of simple precautions, etc. We are called to
acknowledge God’s hand in this sore calamity; to humble ourselves before Him
under it, and to turn from our sins by a true repentance. There is a discipline of
God’s appointment always around us which ought to lead us to repentance. God’s
goodness should do that; it ought not to need a cattle plague. God’s goodness
would be quite enough if we took our discipline rightly. Alas! God’s abounding
goodness often is found to harden. And we know that seasons of great sorrow and
bereavement are often times of spiritual awakening. As times of trouble have
been times of individual repentance and amendment, so doubtless have they been
of national. How shall we repent? We cannot just make up our mind to be sorry,
any more than to be joyful. All feeling must be founded in fact. The only way to be
sorry for our sins is to think of them, to set them before us, so shall we find good
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122. reason to be humble and penitent. To be truly penitent for anything you have
thought or done, you must see it to be wrong yourself. Then let us “take with us
words, and turn unto the Lord.” (A. K. H. Boyd, D. D.)
19 To you, Lord, I call,
for fire has devoured the pastures in the
wilderness
and flames have burned up all the trees of the
field.
BARNES, "O Lord, to Thee will I cry - This is the only hope left, and contains
all hopes. From the Lord was the infliction; in Him is the healing. The prophet
appeals to God by His own Name, the faithful Fulfiller of His promises, Him who Is,
and who had promised to hear all who call upon Him. Let others call to their idols, if
they would, or remain stupid and forgetful, the prophet would cry unto God, and that
earnestly.
For the fire hath devoured the pastures - The gnawing of locusts leaves things,
as though scorched by fire (see the note at Joe_2:3); the sun and the east wind
scorch up all green things, as though it had been the actual contact of fire.
Spontaneous combustion frequently follows. The Chaldees wasted all before them O
Lord, to thee will I cry,.... Or pray, as the Targum; with great vehemency and
earnestness, commiserating the case of man and beast: these are the words of the
prophet, resolving to use his interest at the through of grace in this time of distress,
whatever others did:
for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness; or, "of the plain"
(c) though in the wildernesses of Judea, there were pastures for cattle: Kimchi
interprets them of the shepherds' tents or cotes, as the word (d) is sometimes used;
which were will not to be pitched where there were pastures for their flocks: and so
the Targum renders it, "the habitations of the wilderness"; these, whether pastures or
habitations, or both, were destroyed by fire, the pastures by the locusts, as Kimchi;
which, as Pliny (e) says, by touching burn the trees, herbs, and fruits of the earth; see
Joe_2:3; or by the Assyrians or Chaldeans, who by fire and sword consumed all in
their way; or by a dry burning blasting wind, as Lyra; and so the Targum interprets it
of a strong east wind like fire: it seems rather to design extreme heat and excessive
drought, which burn up all the produce of the earth:
and the flame hath burnt all the trees of the field; which may be understood
of flashes of lightning, which are common in times of great heat and drought; see
Psa_83:14.
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123. with fire and sword. All these and the like calamities are included under “the fire,”
whose desolating is without remedy. What has been scorched by fire never recovers .
“The famine,” it is said of Mosul, “was generally caused by fire spreading in dry
weather over pastures, grass lands, and grain lands, many miles in extent. It burnt
night and day often for a week and sometimes embraced the whole horizon.”
CLARKE, "O Lord, to thee will I cry - Let this calamity come as it may, we
have sinned, and should humble ourselves before God; and it is such a calamity as
God alone can remove, therefore unto him must we cry.
The fire hath devoured the pastures - This may either refer to a drought, or
to the effects of the locusts; as the ground, after they have passed over it, everywhere
appears as if a sheet of flame had not only scorched, but consumed every thing.
GILL, "O Lord, to thee will I cry,.... Or pray, as the Targum; with great
vehemency and earnestness, commiserating the case of man and beast: these are the
words of the prophet, resolving to use his interest at the through of grace in this time
of distress, whatever others did:
for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness; or, "of the plain"
(c) though in the wildernesses of Judea, there were pastures for cattle: Kimchi
interprets them of the shepherds' tents or cotes, as the word (d) is sometimes used;
which were will not to be pitched where there were pastures for their flocks: and so
the Targum renders it, "the habitations of the wilderness"; these, whether pastures or
habitations, or both, were destroyed by fire, the pastures by the locusts, as Kimchi;
which, as Pliny (e) says, by touching burn the trees, herbs, and fruits of the earth; see
Joe_2:3; or by the Assyrians or Chaldeans, who by fire and sword consumed all in
their way; or by a dry burning blasting wind, as Lyra; and so the Targum interprets it
of a strong east wind like fire: it seems rather to design extreme heat and excessive
drought, which burn up all the produce of the earth:
and the flame hath burnt all the trees of the field; which may be understood
of flashes of lightning, which are common in times of great heat and drought; see
Psa_83:14.
HENRY, " The prophet stirs them up to cry to God, with the consideration of the
examples given them for it.
1. His own example (Joe_1:19): O Lord! to thee will I cry. He would not put them
upon doing that which he would not resolve to do himself; nay, whether they would
do it or no, he would. Note, If God's ministers cannot prevail to affect others with the
discoveries of divine wrath, yet they ought to be themselves affected with them; if
they cannot bring others to cry to God, yet they themselves be much in prayer. In
time of trouble we must not only pray, but cry, must be fervent and importunate in
prayer; and to God, from whom both the destruction is and the salvation must be,
ought our cry to be always directed. That which engaged him to cry to God was, not
so much any personal affliction, as the national calamity: The fire has devoured the
pastures of the wilderness, which seems to be meant of some parching scorching
heat of the sun, which was as fire to the fruits of the earth; it consumed them all.
Note, When God calls to contend by fire it concerns those that have any interest in
heaven to cry mightily to him for relief. See Num_11:2; Amo_7:4, Amo_7:5.
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124. JAMISON, "to thee will I cry — Joel here interposes, As this people is
insensible to shame or fear and will not hear, I will leave them and address myself
directly to Thee (compare Isa_15:5; Jer_23:9).
fire — that is, the parching heat.
pastures — “grassy places”; from a Hebrew root “to be pleasant.” Such places
would be selected for “habitations” (Margin). But the English Version rendering is
better than Margin.
BENSON, "Joel 1:19-20. O Lord, to thee will I cry — The prophet carries on the
beautiful hypotyposis, (or description of the calamity, painted in such strong and
bright colours as rendered it, as it were, present before the eyes of the people,) by
representing himself as a sharer in the calamity. And by crying to God himself,
he endeavours to stir up the people to cry to him. For the fire hath devoured the
pastures of the wilderness — The fiery drought hath burned up all the pasture-
grounds. The wilderness is sometimes opposed to the hills and mountains, and
then it signifies the plains and places for pasture. Or, if the expression be here
understood of deserts, it must be observed, that there were spots in them where
flocks and herds might feed. The beasts of the field also cry unto thee — Even
the cattle and wild beasts utter their complaints, and express their want of food
by the mournful noise which they make, as it were beseeching thee to have pity
on them and relieve their wants. Even they have a voice to cry, as well as an eye
to look to God. The rivers of water are dried up — The drought drying up the
springs, the rivers have failed, and have little or no water in them. Thus,
throughout the chapter, the prophet foretels a drought, as well as a plague of
locusts; and these two calamities often go together, a great increase of locusts,
according to Pliny and Bochart, being occasioned by heat.
COFFMAN, “"O Jehovah, to thee do I cry; for the fire hath devoured the
pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
Yea, the beasts of the field pant unto thee; for the water brooks are dried up, and
the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness."
We do not see any need whatever to understand "fire" and "flame" in these
verses as a metaphorical reference to the locusts and the drought; the danger of
fire increases in direct proportion to the dryness of the vegetation and the
atmosphere, as any forest ranger knows; and with the extended devastation and
drought already described, the breakout of terribly destructive fires would have
been certain. If nothing else was available to set them off, a stroke of lightning
would have been sufficient. For that reason, we feel it necessary to disagree with
Keil, who wrote:
"Fire and flame are the terms used by the prophet to denote the burning heat of
the drought, which consumes the meadows and even scorches the trees. This is
very obvious from the drying up of the water brooks.[34]
Summarizing what the chapter reveals about the cataclysmic disaster: it resulted
from wave after wave of devouring locusts who ate up every green thing, and
was made more complete by the ravages of a drought so severe that the very
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125. watercourses became dry, and then was climaxed by forest and dry-grass fires
which raged out of control in the super-dry "trees of the field" and the "pastures
of the wilderness." No greater calamity could be imagined in a society
predominantly agricultural and pastoral.
"O Jehovah, to thee do I cry ..." In the last analysis, there is none other, except
God, to whom the helpless and the hopeless may appeal. Even the rabbit cries
out in the clutches of the hawk! Man instinctively cries to his Creator in the face
of death and destruction.
ELLICOTT, “(19) The fire hath devoured.—This may be explained as produced
by the scorching heat bringing about spontaneous combustion, or by the efforts
of the people to exterminate the locusts by burning the trees, or by the mark, as
of fire, left upon all vegetation after the locusts had finished their work of
devastation.
PETT, "Verse 19
The Young Locusts Appear As A Judgment From God Despite All Efforts To
Prevent Them (Joel 1:19 to Joel 2:3).
It may well be that after describing the initial locust invasions in chapter 1 Joel
now goes on to deal with the next stage of the invasions when the locust eggs
hatch out and become voracious grubs and then small grasshoppers.
Locusts tend to swarm when the weather is very hot, so that the opening words
of this passage may refer to fires caused by a hot, dry summer. This would
explain why the water brooks had dried up. But equally well it may apply to fires
started by farmers desperate to save some of their crops and fruit trees from the
advancing locusts. Or indeed both may be in mind. Fires were, in fact, the only
way in which the desperate farmers could set up a barrier against the advancing
young locust hordes, even if it often failed in its purpose. It was felt to be better
than doing nothing, and as the farmers got more desperate the fires would
become larger.
Joel appears speaking in Jerusalem where news has come in of the locust
invasion and its effects, which he interprets as a Day of YHWH, a day when
YHWH is exercising His judgment. And he calls on the priests to blow the ram’s
horns to sound the alarm before the hopping locusts arrive in Jerusalem. He also
calls all the people to tremble at the fearsome nature of what is happening, and
then describes the sight of the approach of the yellow-winged swarming locusts
out of the morning sun in terms of the dawn spreading on the mountains. And so
great are the different swarms of locusts that he describes them as being unlike
anything seen before, in terms similar to those used of the swarm of locusts in
Exodus 10:14, compare also Exodus 10:6.
He then reiterates his description of the burning fields, possibly set on fire to
battle against the locusts, and also with it describes the effects of the passing of
the young locusts on the vegetation of the land, turning the land from fruitful
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126. land into a barren wilderness.
Analysis of Joel 1:19 to Joel 2:3.
a O YHWH, to you do I cry, because the fire has devoured the pastures of
the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the countryside. Yes, the
beasts of the field pant to you, because the water brooks are dried up, and the
fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness (Joel 1:19).
b Blow you the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain, let all
the inhabitants of the land tremble (Joel 2:1 a)
c For the day of YHWH has come, because a day of darkness and gloominess is
near, a day of clouds and thick darkness (Joel 2:2 a).
b As the dawn spreads on the mountains, a great people and a strong, there has
not ever been the like, nor will be any more after them, even to the years of many
generations (Joel 2:2 b).
a A fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns, the land is as
the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness, yes, and
none has escaped them (Joel 2:3).
Note that in ‘a’ the fire burn throughout the land, and in the parallel the same
occurs. In ‘b’ the alarm is sounded and the people tremble, and in parallel is
what they tremble at, the huge invasion of young locusts streaming over the land.
Centrally in ‘c’ it is the day of YHWH, a day of gloom and darkness.
HAWKWR, "Verse 19-20
Here comes in to our relief the blessedness of that gospel, which under the
conviction of sin, and a total inability to help ourselves, leads to Christ. For I
hope, I need not point out to the Reader, what the whole of this Chapter; namely,
that the eye of sin and sorrow loudly proclaims the necessity of salvation by the
Lord Jesus Christ. The Prophet opens with sorrow, which is the effect of sin and
closes the Chapter with what only becomes the relief for it. When a soul is
convinced of sin, and feels the awful consequence of it, there is nothing that can
give consolation to the wounded spirit, but the blood of Christ. 0 Lord, to thee do
I cry! is the language of every heart taught by God the Holy Ghost. And the cry
that is thus awakened by grace, is sure to be answered in mercy.
BI, "O Lord, to Thee will I cry.
Adding prayers to complaints
Turn thy complaint into prayer, or else it is but a murmuring against God. It is by
prayer we make our sorrowful hearts known to God. The reasons of this doctrine
are—
1. Because God forgetteth not the complaints of the poor; i.e., of those that pray
unto Him. Otherwise He remembereth no more the poor man’s envy than the
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127. rich man’s quarrel. Therefore let this stir us up to make our complaint in prayer.
2. When men do only complain of this or that want without prayer they tempt
God; therefore if we will obtain anything at the Lord’s hand for our good, let us
ask by prayer.
3. Let us learn to ask of God without murmuring or grudging at our own estate,
or the Lord’s hand; for the Lord will complain as fast on us as we complained to
Him.
4. Another use is this,—that if complainers without praying be odious in the
Lord’s sight, although the cause be indifferent, then much more are those that
never pray but for unlawful and filthy things, that they may bestow them on their
lusts, as the apostle saith. (Edw. Topsell.)
Prayer to God against terrible judgments
The prophet now turns from the people of Judah, with whom he could prevail but
little, and cries to God as he stands in the midst, of the universal plague. It is often a
relief for Christian workers to leave the society of hardened men for communion with
Jehovah. Prayer is sometimes their only refuge and strength.
I. That this prayer was wisely directed to the only Giver of the true remedy. “O Lord,
to Thee will I cry.”
1. It was wisely directed. He sought unto God in this time of peril. He did not
pray unto any idols, but unto the true God, the Maker of the heaven and the
earth. Jehovah had sent the calamity, and He only could remove it. Sorrow
should send us to God.
2. It was earnestly presented. The prophet cried unto the Lord with all the energy
of his being. His was no languid petition. Sorrow should make men earnest in
devotion.
3. It was widely representative. The prophet did not merely pray on his own
behalf; he remembered the universal woe around him, and caught up the pain-cry
of nature and of the brute, and expressed it in his own prayer. He prayed as the
groaning herds could not. A good man is the priest of the universe, especially in
the hour of calamity.
II. That this prayer was prompted by a sad appre hension of the calamity it sought to
remove. “For the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame
hath burned all the trees of the field.” The prophet recognised the severity of the
calamity which had come upon the nation. And it is essential to prayer that we
should have a clear apprehension of the sorrow to be relieved, of the sin to be
removed, and of the want to be supplied; prayer should always include a good
knowledge of the conditions and circumstances under which it is presented and
which it hopes to ameliorate.
III. That in this prayer was united the inarticulate pleadings of suffering brutes. “The
beasts of the field cry also unto Thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up,” etc. We
are not to suppose that the cry of the brutes was one with the cry of the prophet; one
was the outcome of pious intelligence, the other was the outcome of blind instinct
(Psa_147:9; Job_30:41). Lessons—
1. That a sorrowful soul should pray to God for aid.
2. That the soul must feel its need before it can expect relief.
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128. 3. That man should consider the pain of the inferior creatures, and never render
himself liable to their rebuke. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The influence of national calamities on the minds of the good
It is a question whether the fire and flame are to be taken literally as burning the
grass, or whether they are used figuratively. Probably the reference is to the burning
heat in drought which consumes the meadows, scorches the trees, and dries up the
water-brooks. The effect of national calamity on Joel was to excite him to prayer, to
compel him to lay the case before the Lord. Having called the attention of all classes
of the community to the terrible judgments, he turns his soul in a devout
supplication to Almighty God.
I. This was right. Prayer is right.
1. God requires it.
2. Christ engaged in it. He is our example.
II. This was wise. Who else could remove the calamity and restore the ruin? None.
When all earthly resources fail, where else can we go but to Him who originates all
that is good, and controls all that is evil? True prayer is always wise, because—
1. It seeks the highest good.
2. By the best means.
III. This was natural. “The beasts of the field also cry unto Thee.” “What better,” says
an old author, “are they than beasts, who never cry to God but for corn and wine, and
complain of nothing but the wants of sense?” Conclusion. It is well when our trials
lead us in prayer to God. The greatest calamities are termed the greatest blessings
when they act thus. Hail the tempests, if they drive our bark into the quiet haven of
prayer! (Homilist.).
20 Even the wild animals pant for you;
the streams of water have dried up
and fire has devoured the pastures in the
wilderness.
BARNES, "The beasts of the field cry also unto Thee - o: “There is an order
in these distresses. First he points out the insensate things wasted; then those
afflicted, which have sense only; then those endowed with reason; so that to the
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129. order of calamity there may be consorted an order of pity, sparing first the creature,
then the things sentient, then things rational. The Creator spares the creature; the
Ordainer, things sentient; the Saviour, the rational.” Irrational creatures joined with
the prophet in his cry. The beasts of the field cry to God, though they know it not; it is
a cry to God, who compassionates all which suffers. God makes them, in act, a
picture of dependence upon His Providence, “seeking to It for a removal of their
sufferings, and supply of their needs.” So He saith, “the young lions roar after their
prey, and seek their meat from God” Psa_104:21, and, “He giveth to the beast his
food and to the young ravens that cry” Psa_147:9, and, “Who provideth for the raven
his food? when his young ones cry unto God” Job_38:41. If the people would not
take instruction from him, he “bids them learn from the beasts of the field how to
behave amid these calamities, that they should cry aloud to God to remove them.”
CLARKE, "The beasts of the field cry also unto thee - Even the cattle, wild
and tame, are represented as supplicating God to have mercy upon them, and send
them provender! There is a similar affecting description of the effects of a drought in
Jeremiah, Jer_14:6.
The rivers of waters are dried up - There must have been a drought as well as
a host of locusts; as some of these expressions seem to apply to the effects of intense
heat.
For ‫המדבר‬ hammidbar, “the wilderness,” one of my oldest MSS. reads ‫מדבר‬ midbar,
“wilderness” simply, as in Jer_14:19. Eight or ten of Dr. Kennicott’s have the same
reading.
GILL, "The beasts of the field cry also unto thee,.... As well as the prophet, in
their way; which may be mentioned, both as a rebuke to such who had no sense of
the judgments upon them, and called not on the Lord; and to express the greatness of
the calamity, of which the brute creatures were sensible, and made piteous moans, as
for food, so for drink; panting thorough excessive heat and vehement thirst, as the
hart, after the water brooks, of which this word is only used, Psa_42:1; but in vain:
for the rivers of waters are dried up; not only springs, and rivulets and brooks
of water, but rivers, places where were large deep waters, as Aben Ezra explains it;
either by the Assyrian army, the like Sennacherib boasts Isa_37:25; and is said to be
done by the army of Xerxes, wherever it came; or rather by the excessive heat and
scorching beams of the sun, by which such effects are produced:
and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness; See Gill on Joe_
1:19; and whereas the word rendered pastures signifies both "them" and
"habitations" also; and, being repeated, it may be taken in one of the senses in Joe_
1:19; and in the other here: and so Kimchi who interprets it before of "tents", here
explains it of grassy places in the wilderness, dried up, as if the sun had consumed
them.
HENRY, " The example of the inferior creatures: “The beasts of the field do not
only groan, but cry unto thee, Joe_1:20. They appeal to thy pity, according to their
capacity, and as if, though they are not capable of a rational and revealed religion, yet
they had something of dependence upon God by natural instinct.” At least, when they
groan by reason of their calamity, he is pleased to interpret it as if they cried to him;
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130. much more will he put a favourable construction upon the groanings of his own
children, though sometimes so feeble that they cannot be uttered, Rom_8:26. The
beasts are here said to cry unto God, as from him the lions seek their meat (Psa_
104:21) and the young ravens, Job_38:41. The complaints of the brute-creatures
here are for want of water (The rivers are dried up, through the excessive heat), and
for want of grass, for the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness. And what
better are those than beasts who never cry to God but for corn and wine, and
complain of nothing but the want of delight of sense? Yet their crying to God in those
cases shames the stupidity of those who cry not to God in any case.
JAMISON, “beasts ... cry ... unto thee — that is, look up to heaven with heads
lifted up, as if their only expectation was from God (Job_38:41; Psa_104:21; Psa_
145:15; Psa_147:9; compare Psa_42:1). They tacitly reprove the deadness of the Jews
for not even now invoking God.
COKE, “Joel 1:20. The beasts, &c.—the pastures— Every one of the beasts cries,
&c.—the pleasant places.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, The prophet opens his discourse,
1. With an address to all the inhabitants of Judea, old and young, whose
attention he demands to the message that he was about to deliver: a message of
judgment, such as the oldest could not remember, nor the tradition of former
ages produce; and which ought to be handed down to the latest posterity, that,
warned by the sufferings of their forefathers, they may avoid their sins.
2. The judgment itself is an invasion from a terrible enemy; and is by many
applied to the Assyrians, who ravaged and desolated the country; but may
literally be better referred to the armies of locusts and other insects, which, in
swarms succeeding each other, devoured all the fruits of the earth, and left the
whole land barren as the scorched desert. Despicable as they might seem apart,
their multitudes made them formidable: not the ravages of the lions from the
forest could be more fatal: not only the vine-leaves are eaten up, but the very fig-
trees are barked and destroyed by them. Note; God never wants instruments of
vengeance: the most insignificant insect can in his hand be made the severest
scourge; and a locust terrible as a lion.
3. The drunkards are admonished to lament the judgment which their sins had
provoked, and by which they would be particularly affected, because the new
wine is cut off from their mouths. And justly does God punish those who abuse
his favours, by depriving them of their good things, and leaving them in want
and wretchedness to lament their baseness.
2nd, The whole nation, deeply affected with the calamity, is called upon to
mourn in sackcloth, as a virgin who is robbed of her betrothed spouse, on whom
her warmest affections were fixed, and whose loss fills her heart with bitterest
anguish. Note; They who are wedded to worldly comforts find it death to part
from them.
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131. The corn, wine, and oil, are perished; the trees stripped of leaves and fruit, and
withered away; the very earth looks dark, and mourneth over the desolations;
because joy is withered away from the sons of men; the songs of harvest and the
shouting of the vintage are silent, and nothing is heard but howling and groans.
Particularly,
1. The husbandmen and vine-dressers are called to bewail the dreadful
devastations: their labours are ruined, their hopes disappointed, themselves and
families left to pine in want, and perish by famine.
2. The priests of the sanctuary are commanded to join the general cry, and
mourn over the deserted altars, where no sacrifice smoked, no oblation was
presented. They are called ministers of the altar, as bound to a constant
attendance there; and ministers of my God, this being their distinguished
honour; and the motive to their indefatigable labour. They would now be
peculiar sufferers, and be destitute of that maintenance with which the altar used
to supply them; but a nobler concern must fill their minds, and grief to see God's
worship neglected must swallow up every other concern which is merely their
own. Note; A true minister of the Gospel has God's glory more at heart than
every other consideration: compared with this, he counts not even his own life
dear unto himself.
3rdly, To avert the heavy wrath upon them, the prophet points out to them the
properest means to be pursued. As their sufferings came from God's displeasure,
to remove this must be their first concern.
1. Let a solemn fast be proclaimed, a day of deep humiliation sanctified and set
apart; that with united supplications they might surround the throne of grace;
and while by a strict abstinence from meat and drink they acknowledged
themselves unworthy of every mercy, and, prostrate in the courts of the Lord's
house, confessed the justice of the judgments that he had inflicted, they might
with prayers and tears cry unto a pardoning God, that sin, the cause of their
calamity, being forgiven, their sufferings, the dire effects thereof, might be
removed, Note; (1.) National judgments call for national humiliation. (2.) When
we are found in God's appointed ways, we may humbly hope that he will meet us
in mercy. (3.) Affliction then answers the end for which it was sent, when it
brings us to our knees, and raises the cry of fervent importunate prayer.
2. Abundant reason there is for this humiliation.
[1.] What they suffered already was grievous. If they looked into their garners,
they were empty; if to God's house, no sacrifice or oblation was seen; if to the
country, desolate it mourned, the seed under the clod is rotten, and the very
beasts groan, perplexed for want of food, and pining away. Note; (1.) How
terrible is famine: how thankful ought we to be for the great plenty that we in
general enjoy; and how should we fear to provoke God, by our abuse of his
mercies to withhold them! (2.) The very earth mourns, the very beasts groan
under men's sins; and shall we ourselves be the only insensible beings in the
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132. whole creation?
[2.] What they feared was yet more terrible: for the day of the Lord is at hand.
What they felt was but the beginning of sorrows, and a foretaste of the greater
evil approaching; as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come; which may
refer to the ruin of the nation at first by the Chaldeans, or afterwards by the
Romans, sent to punish them for their iniquities by Jehovah, whose arm of
omnipotence is irresistible. And, more generally, this may be applied to every
sinner, whose judgment advances, whose damnation slumbereth not, whose
everlasting destruction is at the door; unless he repent without delay, he perishes
eternally. Well, therefore, may we cry, Alas for the day!
3. The prophet urges them hereunto by the examples before them.
[1.] His own. O Lord, to thee will I cry: as deeply affected with their sins and
their sufferings, he earnestly addresses his prayer to God; to him who wounds,
and alone is able to heal; the fire of whose wrath, whatever instruments were
employed, had almost consumed them; and He only, who had kindled, could
quench it. Note; They who call others to fasting and prayer, must themselves
lead the way.
[2.] Of the beasts. The beasts of the field cry also unto thee; with sounds
inarticulate indeed, but which the Lord can hear and pity. They are parched
with thirst and famished with hunger; for the rivers of water are dried up, and
the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, scorched up with the
excessive drought. Note; The very lowing of the oxen, yea, the ravens' cries, shall
rise up in judgment to reproach the stupidity of the sinner who restrains prayer
before God.
ELLICOTT, “(20) The beasts of the field cry also unto thee.—The prophet has
cried to God; the very beasts echo that cry, “looking up” to Him. As yet, man
seems dumb.
HAWKER, "Verse 20
REFLECTIONS
READER! mark in the instance of this Prophet to what all-the other Prophets of
God bear equal testimony; the process of grace in all ages is the same. Sin brings
forth sorrow, and godly sorrow through grace leads to Christ for salvation.
From, the first transgressor in the garden of Eden, to the last fallen son or
daughter of Adam to the end of the world, divine teachings invariably produce
the same effect. The fathers to the children may therefore make known the
Lord's truth, and the Lord's praise. Reader! it is most blessed to see, and yet
more blessed to experience, our own personal interest in those divine teachings. I
the Lord teacheth, thee to profit, may be discerned and read by every
enlightened eye as the title page of the whole of inspiration. And when, in the
corrections and visitations of the Lord, by the Lord's great army, we plainly
discover the Lord's hand; when in the locusts and palmer worms of the earth, we
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133. both hear the rod and who hath appointed it; when the fatherly reproofs of a
gracious God in Christ are sanctified to bring the heart to Christ: oh! how
blessed are the awakening judgments of our God, in rousing his people from the
sottish stupidity and indolence in which the world and its pursuits have
intoxicated the soul, and calling home the heart to Jesus and his salvation. Lord!
I pray thee put a cry in every heart of thy redeemed! Especially stir up the
ministers of my God in the present awful hour of Zion's languishing, to cry aloud
and spare not, for the Lord's deliverance of his people. Oh! for the Lord to be
very jealous for his Zion, and make her yet the praise and perfection of the whole
earth. Amen.
PETT, "Joel 1:19-20
O YHWH, to you do I cry,
Because the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
And the flame has burned all the trees of the countryside,
Yes, the beasts of the field pant to you,
Because the water brooks are dried up,
And the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.’
The passage commences with a heartfelt cry to YHWH as he learns of the way
that the fields are burning as a result of the farmers’ efforts to hold back the
army of young locusts. What the locusts had not eaten the fires were destroying.
And the consequence was that the wild animals could only call on YHWH
because water had become short, and the fires had devoured their pastures in the
wilderness.
The land may well also have been suffering under semi-drought conditions, the
type of hot summers that often brought out swarms of locusts in large numbers,
thus causing the water brooks to dry up, a process hastened by the fires now
partly out of control.
PETT, "Joel 2:1
‘Blow you the ram’s horn in Zion,
And sound an alarm in my holy mountain,
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
For the day of YHWH has come.
Observing what he did, and recognising that it came from the hand of YHWH,
Joel called on the priests to blow the ram’s horn, sounding the alarm from the
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134. holy mountain (probably the Temple mount) to all who were round about. And
he wanted it to shake up the inhabitants and make them tremble as they
recognised that the day of YHWH had come, the time of His judgment of Judah.
This was not, of course the final day of YHWH as he recognised, for he describes
that in chapter 3. Rather it was a localised ‘day of YHWH’ aimed at the present
generation.
Joel 2:2
For a day of darkness and gloominess is near,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
As the dawn spreads on the mountains,
A great people and a strong,
There has not ever been the like,
Nor will be any more after them,
Even to the years of many generations.’
He expands on what this day which has come near is like. It is a day of darkness
and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness (compare Amos 5:18-20;
Zephaniah 1:15), both to their spirits psychologically and to their eyes literally,
as the huge mass of flying locusts blotted out the sun. And as he does so he lifts
his eyes and sees the sun glinting on the yellow wings of the locusts, seeing them
as being like the dawn spreading on the mountains.
His description of them as ‘a great people and strong’ is reminiscent in its use of
people of Proverbs 30:25, ‘the ants are a people not strong’ where locusts are also
mentioned ‘having no king’ over them. The Jews therefore saw insects which
came together in large numbers as ‘peoples’. Compare also Joel 1:6. The
statement that ‘there has not ever been the like, nor will be any more after them,
even to the years of many generations’ is reminiscent of Exodus 10:14 where in
describing the plague of locusts in Egypt Moses says, ‘before them there were no
such locusts as they, nor after them will be such’. This demonstrates that both
statements were hyperbole, and that neither has in mind a final plague larger
than any other. Indeed ‘even to the years of many generations’ limits the
statement to a time in the not too distant future eschatologically speaking. It is
simply saying that it was not of the norm and was something that only happened
once, say, in a hundred years.
It is interesting, however, that God is often spoken of as being in darkness
(Psalms 18:11), and in clouds (Exodus 16:10 and often; Psalms 18:11-12) and
thick darkness (Exodus 20:21; Psalms 18:9), in order to shield His glory from His
creation, which is a reminder to us that even in the darkest hour God is with us.
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135. In the midst of the Day of YHWH He would still be watching over His own.
Joel 2:3
‘ A fire devours before them,
And behind them a flame burns,
The land is as the garden of Eden before them,
And behind them a desolate wilderness,
Yes, and none has escaped them.
Joel then draws attention to two aspects of the locust invasions, referring again
to the fires lit both to prevent them moving forward, and in order to prevent
them turning back, and to the effect of the voracious hordes on the land as they
turned what was virtually a Garden of Eden (land in full growth) into a desolate
wilderness denuded of all vegetation. The land was being doubly destroyed.
For the use of fire in driving back the locusts consider Dr Thomson’s words cited
in the introduction, and how he also described how he vainly attempted to save
his own garden from their depredations. ‘By the next morning the head of the
column had reached my garden, and hiring eight or ten people I resolved to
rescue at least my vegetables and flowers. During this day we succeeded by fire,
and by beating them off the walls with brushes and branches, in keeping our
little garden tolerably clear of them, but it was perfectly appalling to watch this
animated river as it flowed up the road and ascended the hill above my house. At
length, worn out with incessant skirmishing, I gave up the battle --- and
surrendered the remainder to the conquerors.’ We can therefore imagine the
position of farmers and vineyard owners who saw their whole livelihood being
destroyed.
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136. 136