Joel 1:4

That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten. 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. This verse states the subject on which he afterward expands. Four species of locusts, rather than four altogether different insects, are meant (cf. Leviticus 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 o...

He adds what that judgment was, — that the hope of food had for many years disappointed them. It often happened, we know, that locusts devoured the standing corn; and then the chafers and the palmer worms did the same: these were ordinary events. But when one devastation happened, and another followed, and there was no end; when there had been four barren years, suddenly produced by insects, which devoured the growth of the earth; — this was certainly unusual. Hence the Prophet says, that this could not have been chance; for God intended to show to the Jews some extraordinary portent, that even against their will they might observe his hand. When any thing trifling happens, if it be rare, it will strike the attention of men; for we often see that the world makes a great noise about frivolous things. But this wonder, says the Prophet, “ought to have produced effect on you. What then will...

1-7 The most aged could not remember such calamities as were about to take place. Armies of insects were coming upon the land to eat the fruits of it. It is expressed so as to apply also to the destruction of the country by a foreign enemy, and seems to refer to the devastations of the Chaldeans. God is Lord of hosts, has every creature at his command, and, when he pleases, can humble and mortify a proud, rebellious people, by the weakest and most contemptible creatures. It is just with God to take away the comforts which are abused to luxury and excess; and the more men place their happiness in the gratifications of sense, the more severe temporal afflictions are upon them. The more earthly delights we make needful to satisfy us, the more we expose ourselves to trouble....

Verse 4. _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 _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

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...

EXPOSITION JOEL 1:1 THE WORD OF THE LORD THAT CAME TO JOEL THE SON OF PETHUEL. The name Joel signifies "Jehovah is God," or "whose God is Jehovah." We read in Scripture of several of the same name, but the prophet is distinguished as "the son of Pethuel," a name signifying "the sincerity of God," or "godly simplicity." We are not certain of the exact period at which Joel prophesied, but he is generally believed to have been the earliest prophetic writer of the southern kingdom, and one of the earliest of the twelve minor prophets, while Jonah is generally thought to have been the earliest prophetic writer whose book has found a place in the sacred canon. It is at least certain that Joel preceded Amos, who begins his prophecy with a passage from Joel (comp. Joel 3:16 wi

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 s...

PALMERWORM The palmerworm, locust, etc, are thought to be different forms, at different stages of development, of one insect. The essential fact is that, according to the usual method of the Spirit in prophecy, some local circumstance is shown to be of spiritual significance, and is made the occasion of a far-reaching prophecy (for example) (Isaiah 7:1) where the Syrian invasion and the unbelief of Ahaz give occasion to the great prophecy of verse 14 (Joel 1:14). Here in Joel a plague of devouring insects is shown to have spiritual significance (Joel 1:13); (Joel 1:14) and is made the occasion of the prophecy of the day of the Lord, not yet ful

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. THE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS II. THE COMING DAY OF THE LORD: THE RUIN, THE REPENTANCE AND THE RESTORATION III. THE EVENTS OF THE DAY OF THE LORD: ISRAEL'S ENEMIES JUDGED AND THE KINGDOM ESTABLISHED I. THE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS CHAPTER 1 _ 1. The prophet's appeal (Joel 1:1) _ 2. The call to the drunkards (Joel 1:5) 3. The call to the people and the priests (Joel 1:8) 4. The day of the Lord and the suffering land (Joel 1:15) 5. The prayer of the prophet (Joel 1:19)...

JOEL 1:2 TO JOEL 2:17. A DESCRIPTION OF THE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS, AND A SUMMONS TO AN ASSEMBLY FOR CONFESSION AND INTERCESSION. Joel 1:2. The Unprecedented Character of the Plague. No living Jew has experienced so terrible a plague: it will be talked of in generations yet to come. The locusts have eaten the land absolutely bare. Joel 1:2. ye old men: might also be rendered ye elders, _i.e._ officials; but the words are probably a later insertion. Joel 1:4. palmerworm, locust, cankerworm, caterpillar: neither of the suggestions in _mg._ is probable. The names,