_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 th... [ Continue Reading ]
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 exhortatio... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 devou... [ Continue Reading ]
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 sacrific... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 word... [ Continue Reading ]
_Gird yourselves_ Namely, with sackcloth; _and lament, ye priests_ Because the meat-offerings and drink-offerings were cut off: see Joel 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 time... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 j... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 pow... [ Continue Reading ]
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 hims... [ Continue Reading ]