Joel 1:6

A nation] figurative of the locusts: cp. similar figure for ants and conies in Proverbs 30:25. My land] i.e. of Jehovah since the prophet gives His message. The teeth of a lion] in destructiveness. The cheek teeth] RV 'The jaw teeth.' The lion was common in ancient Palestine.

7. Locusts consume not only plants and vegetables, but also small branches and tender bark, thus exposing the white wood. Cast it away] i.e. the unedible fragments of bark and wood which fall to the ground.

8. A general address to the people. The simile may contain an underlying reference to the abandonment of the people by Jehovah, since the union between them was often typified by the marriage relation, and the disaster of the locust plague implied that Jehovah had forsaken the land.