The Title 1. _The word of_ JEHOVAH _that came unto_ so Hosea 1:1; Micah 1:1; Zephaniah 1:1. _came unto_ lit. _was_(ἐγένετο) _unto_, a very common expression in connexion with Jehovah's -word": 1 Samuel 15:10; 2 Samuel 7:4; 1 Kings 16:1; 1 Kings 16:7; Jeremiah 1:2;... [ Continue Reading ]
Introduction, characterizing the event which forms the occasion of Joel's prophecy: it is an unexampled one, of a kind which even the oldest of the prophet's contemporaries had neither witnessed themselves nor heard of from their fathers; its memory, therefore, deserves the more to be handed on to s... [ Continue Reading ]
Part I. Chap. Joel 1:2 to Joel 2:17 Description of the present calamity (ch. 1.). The terrible "Day of Jehovah," of which it is the harbinger (Joel 2:1-11), but which may yet be averted by the nation's timely repentance (Joel 2:12-17).... [ Continue Reading ]
RECOUNT CONCERNING _it to your children_ RECOUNT, a stronger word than _tell_, and implying some narrative of particulars. _to your children_, &c. comp. (also with _recount_) Exodus 10:2; Psalms 22:30 (R.V.), Psalms 48:13; Psalms 78:4; Psalms 78:6; and "our fathers have _recounted_to us," Judges 6:... [ Continue Reading ]
The calamity to which the prophet has thus emphatically directed his hearers" attention: a visitation of locusts, repeated for more years than one (Joel 2:25), and of unexampled severity; what had escaped the ravages of one swarm, had been speedily devoured by a succeeding one, till the crops were c... [ Continue Reading ]
All classes are to unite in lamenting this calamity, which has not only (1) deprived them of some of their most valued luxuries, Joel 1:5, but also (2) interrupted the public worship of God, Joel 1:8, and (3) even left them destitute of the means of subsistence, Joel 1:11. _Awake, ye drunkards_ viz... [ Continue Reading ]
By what agency this devastation has been wrought: an army of depredators has invaded Judah, countless in numbers and well equipped for their work; and vine and fig-tree have been left by them bare. _a nation_ cf. for the figure Proverbs 30:24-26: also Homer's expression ἔθνεα μελισσάων, μυιάων, &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
_He hath_ MADE _my vine_ INTO A WASTE, _and my fig-tree_ INTO SPLINTERS] The vine and the fig-tree are mentioned as the two principal and most representative fruit-trees of Palestine, the vine holding the first place (cf. Hosea 2:12; 1 Kings 4:25; 2 Kings 18:31). For _splinters_(lit. something _brok... [ Continue Reading ]
_Lament_ The verb is fem in the Hebrew, the community, personified as a woman, the "daughter of Judah," or "daughter of my people," being addressed. So often in the prophets: comp. on Amos 5:2. The word rendered _lament_(_"âlâh_) occurs only here in the O.T., though it is common in Aramaic. _like a... [ Continue Reading ]
Interruption of the public services of the Temple.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The_ MEAL _offering and the drink offering is cut off_, &c. the means of providing them having been destroyed by the locusts. The cessation of the daily sacrifices would be regarded as a national misfortune: even during the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, they were maintained as long as possible,... [ Continue Reading ]
_the_ GROUND _mourneth_ the country being personified, as Isaiah 33:9; Jeremiah 12:4; Jeremiah 12:11; Jeremiah 23:10; cf. on Amos 1:2. Conversely, at harvest time, when the fruits of the earth are abundant, "the vales shout for joy, and sing" (Psalms 65:13). _the corn … the new wine_(or MUST) … _the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Be ashamed_ more exactly SHEW SHAME, i.e. manifest, by overt signs, your disappointment. _To shew shame_(or _to be ashamed_) is said in Hebrew idiomatically where we should say _be disappointed:_it expresses, however, a little more than our English phrase, for it signifies rather to be disconcerted... [ Continue Reading ]
_is dried up_ Better, SHEWETH SHAME, as Joel 1:10. _the pomegranate_ Numbers 13:23; Numbers 20:5; Deuteronomy 8:8; 1 Samuel 14:2; Haggai 2:19; Song of Solomon 4:3; Song of Solomon 4:13;... [ Continue Reading ]
The cessation of the daily sacrifices again occupies the prophet's thought; and he turns to the priests, bidding them not mourn only (Joel 1:9), but clothe themselves in sackcloth, and proclaim a day of public fast and humiliation. The occasion, namely, is not one for grief only: it is one which cal... [ Continue Reading ]
_Sanctify a fast_ Fasting is a common observance in the East, especially among Semitic peoples; and it is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament. The essence of a fast consists in the voluntary abstention, for a season, even from ordinary and innocent bodily enjoyment; it is thus an expression of... [ Continue Reading ]
The prophet states more distinctly the ground for the exhortations of Joel 1:13. The present calamity is viewed by him as the harbinger of a far sorer calamity to come, even of the great "Day of Jehovah" itself; and he gives expression to the alarm which the prospect of its approach naturally create... [ Continue Reading ]
_the meat_ FOOD, the reference being in particular to the products of the soil mentioned in Joel 1:10. _Meat_in the A.V., and sometimes (as here) in the R.V. as well, is not restricted, as in modern English, to the flesh of animals (comp. on Amos 5:22). _before our eyes_ The position of these words... [ Continue Reading ]
In justification of the alarm just expressed, the prophet points again to the terrible condition to which the country has been reduced: anything which the locusts may have spared has been parched by the drought: the water brooks are dried up; cattle and human beings alike are perishing from thirst.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The_ GRAINS SHRIVEL (R.V. marg.) _under their_ SHOVELS (or HOES)] unable to withstand the scorching heat. This is the only rendering which the existing text will permit [32]; but the last word especially is not satisfactory. Merx (p. 100 f.) examines the passage at some length; but his restoration... [ Continue Reading ]
The distress of the cattle through lack of pasture (cf. Jeremiah 14:5-6). _are perplexed_ wandering hither and thither in quest of food [33]. [33] LXX. for מה נאנחה בהמה express מַה־נַּנִּחָה בָהֵמָּה, "what shall we lay up (Deuteronomy 14:28) in them?" connecting the words with Joel 1:17. But suc... [ Continue Reading ]
_Unto thee, O_ JEHOVAH, _do I cry_ the prophet, speaking (as Joel 1:6_; Joel 1:13_) in the nation's name, turns for help to Jehovah, who "saveth men and cattle" (Psalms 36:6). _fire_ either fig. of the intense heat of the sun, or (comp. on Amos 7:4) of the conflagrations kindled among the parched h... [ Continue Reading ]
YEA, _the beasts of the field_ PANT (R.V.) _unto thee_ lit. ASCEND, MOUNT UP (viz. with longing and desire). The verb occurs in Heb. only here and Psalms 42:1 (twice). In Ethiopic it is the regular word for _to go up_, and it has the same meaning also in Arabic: in Heb. it is used only metaphorical... [ Continue Reading ]