= Joel 1
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== Joel 1
1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?
3 Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
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.
5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.
7 He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
9 The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord; the priests, the Lord's ministers, mourn.
10 The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.
11 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.
12 The vine is dried up, 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: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.
13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.
14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord,
15 Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17 The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.
18 How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
19 O Lord, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
20 The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
== Notes
== Cross Reference
== Commentary
== Rashi
==== Verse 1
to Joel son of Pethuel—The son of Samuel the prophet who persuaded God with his prayer (פִתָּה לְאֵל) . Some say that this prophecy was said in those seven years in which Elisha said: “For the Lord has decreed a famine etc.” and they took place during the days of Jehoram son of Ahab.
==== Verse 2
Did this come about—I.e., what is mentioned below.
==== Verse 4
What the shearing locust left over—Gazam, arbeh, yelek, hasil are species of locusts and he prophesied concerning them that they would come in those days and destroy all the fruit of the trees and the herbs of the field.
==== Verse 5
the strong wine—Heb. עָסִיס, good wine.
==== Verse 6
For a nation has ascended upon my land—He named these locusts as a host of nations.
and its molars are like those of a young lion—These are the thick teeth with which he chews.
==== Verse 7
into a disappointment—Heb. לִקְצָפָה, into a disappointment.
he has peeled it and cast it off—He has peeled off the bark of the tree and cast it off until the branches of the vine have become white.
==== Verse 8
Lament Heb. אֱלִי. Lamentations (קִינָה) is translated into Aramic as אִ ילְיָא.
==== Verse 9
have been cut off Heb. הָכְרַת, like נִכְרַת. The “hey” vowelized with a short “kamatz” takes the place of a “nun.” Comp. (Job 5:23), “And the beast of the field made peace (הָשְׁלְמָה) with you.”
==== Verse 11
Be ashamed Heb. הֹבִישוּ
plowmen Heb. אִכָּרִים. Those who guide the plowshare.
for wheat and for barley—This refers back to the plowmen, and concerning the vine dressers, he says...
==== Verse 12
The vines have dried up, and the fig trees have been cut off Heb. הוֹבִישָׁה, it was cut off, its produce terminated.
has dried up Heb. הֹבִיש, like יָבֵש
==== Verse 14
Proclaim a fast Heb. קַדְּשׁוּ, designate a fast
an assembly Heb. עֲצָרָה, a gathering.
==== Verse 15
Woe Heb. אֲהָהּ. An expression of sighing and wailing.
and like plunder Heb. וּכְשֹׁד. Like the plunder of brigands.
it will come—from the Omnipresent.
==== Verse 16
from before our eyes—I.e., we see it.
==== Verse 17
have gathered mold Heb. עָבְשׁוּ, have gathered rust and mold. in French moisir, to become moldy.
casks of wine Heb. פְרֻדּדוֹת. Jonathan renders: casks of wine.
under their bungs Heb. מֶגְרְפֹתֵיהֶם. Jonathan renders: מְגוּפָתֵיהוֹן, the cover of the cask.
the storehouses are laid desolate—I.e. the storehouses of wine and oil.
garners are demolished—Granaries of wheat.
==== Verse 18
herds of cattle are perplexed—They are confounded. They are closed in and astray in the forests and in the wilderness.
are laid waste Heb. נֶאְשָׁמוּ. have become spoiled through their guilt.
==== Verse 19
the dwellings of the wilderness Heb. נְאוֹת, an expression of a dwelling (נָוֶה).
==== Verse 20
cry out Heb. תַּעֲרֹג, will cry out, as Dunash (Teshuvoth Dunash, p. 18) interpreted it: ערג is the cry of the hinds. נהם is the roar of the lions; געה is the lowing of the calves; צהל is the whinnying of the horses; צִפצוּף is the chirping of the birds, and נבח is the barking of the dogs. [Also the beasts of the field—I.e., the hind of the field.]