Chapter One

1–16. Description of the devastation produced by locusts; call of the people to turn to Jehovah. 17–19. Another calamity that befell the country—drought.

Joel 1:2. Hear this, you elders, and give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? Joel 1:3. Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation: Hebrew sekenim (elders) is often used in the Bible as an honorable designation of elders, rulers and governors (Deut 21:2; Isa 24:23; Lam 2:10 and others). In Joel 1:2 the prophet Joel uses the word sekenim in a general sense. The prophet addresses his speech first of all to the elders, as to people who have seen and heard much and who are especially able to appreciate the significance of events that are the subject of the speech. At the same time the prophet calls all inhabitants of “the land,” that is, inhabitants of the kingdom of Judah that was struck by calamity, to listen to his words. By the further words (Joel 1:2-3) the prophet wishes to indicate the severity of the calamity that struck the country (cf. Exod 10:1).

Joel 1:4. What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten. In speaking of the devastation of the land by locusts, the prophet in Joel 1 uses four designations of locusts: gasam (“caterpillars”), arbeh (“locusts”), jelek (“hopping locusts”) and chasil (“destroying locusts”, Greek ἐρυδίβη). Many commentators (ancient Jews, Kimhi, Calvin) see in these four designations an indication that, according to the prophet’s thought, locusts for four years in succession devastated the Judean land, and the vegetation that escaped in one year perished in the next. According to the opinion of other commentators (Credner), the prophet does not have in mind four years of calamity, but one: four names of locusts designate only stages of its development: gasam—fully developed locust, arbeh and jelek—in the state of larvae, and chasil—winged locust. The developments of gasam, arbeh, jelek and chasil etymologically do not contain indications of any characteristic features, and can hardly designate four different types of locust or four stages of its development (cf. Joel 2:25). In the Bible arbeh, jelek and chasil are used as synonymous terms (cf. Deut 28:38; Ps 104:34; Nah 3:15; 1 Sam 8:37; 2 Chr 6:28; Ps 77:46; Isa 33:4). According to the opinion of the best exegetes (Hengst., Keil), the prophet uses different names for locusts as poetic epithets for the common name of them—arbeh. In this way the prophet wishes to depict more vividly the picture of the great devastation produced by locusts.

Joel 1:5. Awake, you drunkards, and weep; and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it is cut off from your mouth! The devastation of the country first of all affected those who drink wine, who lost the sweet wine, and to them the prophet turns.

Joel 1:6. For a nation has come up against my land, powerful and innumerable; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the fangs of a lioness. According to blessed Jerome, by “nation” in Joel 1:6 the prophet understands the Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, Macedonians and Romans. But, evidently, the prophet continues the speech about the invasion of locusts begun above; by “nation” (goi) he calls the locusts, just as in Prov 30:25-26 the word am—nation is applied to ants and rabbits, and in Ps 73:14 (goi) to beasts. In the Bible locusts, which usually come in enormous masses, are often an image of an innumerable multitude (Judg 6:5; Jer 46:23; Nah 3:15). The prophet Joel also calls locusts a powerful and innumerable nation. Having in mind the destructive nature of locust invasions, which not only destroys vegetation but even gnaws dry trees and doors of dwellings, the prophet compares the teeth of locusts to the teeth of a lion, and the jaw with the jaw of a lioness, which with special fury throws itself to defend its young. Slav. “membranous,” Greek μῦγαι, root teeth, jaws. “Lioness,” Greek σκύμνου, young lion; but Hebrew lavi, correspondingly the context and the opinion of many commentators, is better understood in the sense of—“lioness.”

Joel 1:7. It has laid waste my vines and splintered my fig trees; it has stripped their bark and thrown it down; their branches are made white. The grapevine and the fig tree constituted the foundation of the well-being of the country. Therefore the prophet in describing the devastation caused by locusts especially emphasizes the destruction of the named plants—Slav. (“seeking insult” and corresponds to Greek ἐρευνῶν ἐξερέυνησεν αυτήν, while in the Greek text the speech is about grapes, and in Slav. about figs; the Greek reading apparently arose because instead of Hebrew hapchoph haschaphah (“stripped bare”) the LXX read haphosch hapahascha (searched, searched). “And cast them down” (Slav. “cast them down”): the speech is about young branches, gnawed by locusts and fallen to the ground. “Their branches are made white,” that is, because locusts have gnawed the bark, the branches became white. The picture of devastation drawn by the prophet corresponds completely to the accounts about locust invasions that we have from ancient writers (Tacitus, Annals XV, 5) and from modern travelers.

Joel 1:8. Mourn like a virgin dressed in sackcloth for the husband of her youth. In view of the severe calamity that befell the country, the prophet invites all the Judean land to mourn, which he compares to a bride who has lost her bridegroom. Instead of the Russian “like a maiden” in Slav. “like a bride,” Greek ὐπὲρ νύμφην. The Greek reading arose either because instead of Hebrew kibethulah the LXX read mibbethulah, considering the preposition min here to express comparison, or because of an error of the Greek copyist, who changed ὡσπερ νύμφη to ὐπὲρ νύμφη. “For the husband of her youth”: the word baal, husband, is used here, apparently, instead of alluph, bridegroom, since in the Mosaic law the betrothed are regarded as actually having entered into marriage (Deut 22:23). Instead of the words: “for the husband of her youth” in Slav. we read: “for the husband of her virginity,” correspondingly Greek ἐπί τὸν ανδρα αὺτῆς παρθενικόν; the LXX reading arose because Hebrew neureicha, of her youth, the LXX referred to baal, husband, not to bethulah maiden.

Joel 1:9. The grain offering and drink offering have ceased from the house of the Lord. The priests mourn, the ministers of the Lord. The devastation of the country by locusts caused a shortage of flour, wine and oil, and hence the cessation or, at least, the reduction of grain offerings to the temple (minchah) and libations (nesech). The prophet speaks, apparently, of the cessation of not the daily sacrifices prescribed by law (Exod 29:38-42), but of voluntary sacrifices, offered by zeal. Since part of these offerings went to the priests, the latter had to experience the weight of the calamity that struck the country (Rus. “the priests mourn”). The Greek reading πενθεῖτε, Slav. “mourn” arose because the LXX instead of the subjunctive form Hebrew ablu (mourn) read imperative (ivlu). Instead of the words “ministers of the Lord” in Slav. text “serving the altar of the Lord.”

Joel 1:10. The field is laid waste, the ground mourns; for the grain is destroyed, the wine fails, the oil languishes. Joel 1:11. Be ashamed, you farmers, wail, you vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley; for the harvest of the field has perished. Joel 1:12. The vine withers, the fig tree droops. Pomegranate, palm, and apple— all the trees of the field are withered; gladness fails from the children of men. The prophet speaks of the severity of the calamity that struck the country for farmers, vinedressers and all inhabitants in general. It is not entirely clear whether the prophet speaks here of only one calamity, the invasion of locusts, or whether in Joel 1:9-12 he means also another calamity—the drought that struck the country after the invasion of locusts. Credner insists on the latter understanding. But blessed Jerome and the majority of modern commentators see in the passages under consideration only speech about the consequences of the locust invasion. “Pomegranate tree”: Hebrew rimmon. Since this tree has thorns on its branches, in Slav. it is called “thorns.” “Palm” “and phoenix”: in Hebrew gamtamar, also a palm. In ancient times Palestine abounded in palms. Palms grew near Jericho, which was called the city of palms (Deut 34:3), in Eteddi, on the shores of the Dead Sea and the Sea of Gennesaret. “ Apple tree”: properly Hebrew tappuach—a tree that bears full fruits. According to the Song of Songs (Song 2:3) these fruits are very sweet and fragrant; their color is golden (Prov 25:11). It is believed that tappuach is properly Pyrus Cidonia. Probably from the abundance of these trees two cities named Tappuah received their name, one of which lay in the tribe of Judah (Josh 12:17), and the other on the border of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (Josh 16:8). “Gladness fails from the children of men,” that is, the joy that was connected with the gathering of the harvest.

Joel 1:13. Gird yourselves and lament, you priests; wail, you ministers of the altar. Go in, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God! For the grain offering and the drink offering are withheld from the house of your God. The prophet indicates a means for turning away the calamity that struck the country: namely, he orders the priests to appoint a fast and prayer. “Gird yourselves”: the verb chigru (from chagar) has no object; but it is clear from what follows; in some codices (in the Kennicinstein and Rossi manuscripts) the word sak or sakim, Rus. sackcloth, is even directly added. “Mourn,” Slav. “strike yourselves,” Hebrew vesiphdu (from saphad), properly beat your breast to express sorrow (Isa 32:12; Nah 2:7). “Lie all night in sackcloth, ministers” of my God. Do not remove mourning clothes even at night—served among the Hebrews in general as an expression of the deepest sorrow (1 Sam 21:27; 2 Sam 19:1). And to the priests in particular, the law permitted them to put on mourning clothes only in the case of the greatest misfortunes (Lev 21:2).

Joel 1:14. Declare a holy fast, call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord. Declare a fast, kaddschu zom, properly “sanctify a fast,” as in Slav. The Bible repeatedly reports about the appointment of a fast in time of public calamities (1 Sam 21:9; 2 Chr 20:3; Ezra 8:21; Jer 36:9). Declare “a solemn assembly” Hebrew kiru azarah the LXX translated κηρύξατε θεραπείναν, Slav. “proclaim healing,” that is, appoint what would heal the people from the calamity that struck it. The LXX apparently wanted only to convey the thought of the original. “Gather the elders”: the prophet singles out the elders from the mass of the people, in part expressing respect to them, in part indicating that the temple should be called to all.

Joel 1:15. Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes. “Alas, the day!” (ahah lajom) and so forth: this is not an exclamation that the prophet puts in the mouths of priests or people (Justi), but an indication of the reason why a fast and assembly should be appointed. The LXX for greater expressiveness translated the interjection ahah (alas, O!) three times, and lajom understood in the sense of indicating time; hence, in Slav. “woe to me, woe to me, woe to me in the day.” “For the day of the Lord is near” (Hebrew karov): the prophet speaks not of the devastation of the country by locusts (according to Justi it came near), but of the day of Divine judgment for the whole world. In the invasion of locusts the prophet sees a foreboding or even the beginning of this judgment. “As destruction from the Almighty it comes:”, keschod mischschaddaj javö the LXX instead of mischschaddaj read mischschod; therefore in Slav.: “and as calamity from calamity comes.”

Joel 1:16. Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God? In Joel 1:16 the prophet indicates the reason why one should expect the nearness of the Day of the Lord: the severe calamity that struck the country is a harbinger of this day. “Is not the food cut off,” Slav. “the food was taken away,” Hebrew ochel nichroth—expresses the thought of the suddenness of the devastation (nichroth—cut off). In Joel 1:17-20 the prophet describes another calamity that befell the country, namely drought, from which grain died, grass was burned, trees were scorched, as if by fire, streams of water dried up. The description of the prophet has an figurative character. But all the images used by him are so simple and natural that there is no need to interpret, together with some commentators (Ephrem the Syrian, Hengst.), Joel 1:17-20 in an allegorical sense, about Jews and gentiles.

Joel 1:17. The seeds shrivel under the clods, the storehouses are desolate; the granaries are torn down because the grain has failed. “The seeds shrivel under their clods”: Hebrew aygehu perudoth thachath megerephotheichem. (The beginning words of Joel 1:17 except thachtah) are ἁπαξ λεγόμ, the meaning of which is debated. Therefore these words are translated differently, namely: in the LXX—ἐσκίρτησαν δαμάλεις ἐπί ταῖς φάτναις αὺτων, Slav. “calves jumped in their stalls”; in Aquila—ηυρωτίασε σιτοδοχεῖα ἀπο τῶν χρισμάτων αυτῶν, “storehouses were covered with mold from their oils,” in the Vulgate—computruerunt pementa in stercore suo, “the cattle rotted on their manure.” The rendering adopted in the Rus. Bible has on its side authoritative Hebrew scholars (Wünsche, Nowack). “The storehouses are desolate,” Greek ηφανίσθησαν θυσαυροὶ, Slav. “treasures perish” (that is, treasure houses). “The granaries are torn down”—Hebrew nehersu mammguroth: the LXX instead of the last word apparently read giththoth, winepresses and therefore translated κατεσκάφησαν ληνοὶ, “winepresses were dug up.” “For the grain has failed”: in Slav. “for the wheat has dried up.”

Joel 1:18. How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep are suffering. “How the beasts groan!” mah neenchah behemah: in the LXX τὶ ἀποθησομεν ἑαυτοῖσ, Slav. “what shall we lay up for ourselves.” In explaining the differences between Hebrew and Greek texts, one supposes either corruption of the Hebrew text or an error on the part of the LXX. According to the LXX translation, the beginning of Joel 1:18 represents a question: what shall we do in such calamity?

Joel 1:19. To you, O Lord, I cry. For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flame has burned all the trees of the field. “Fire (esch) has devoured the pastures of the wilderness” (neoth midbar). The prophet figuratively speaks of unbearable heat from the sun that has dried all the vegetation. Further this heat the prophet calls flame (cf. Amos 7:4; Isa 9:17). Hebrew midbar means any treeless space in general, either a steppe covered with dense grass (Jer 9:10) or a bare desert (Isa 32:15) Joel 1:19 it is better to understand midbar in the first meaning. In Slav., instead of “pastures of the wilderness,” the reading is “the red wilderness,” since the LXX word neoth in many cases understood as an adjective (cf. Lam 2:2; Ps 22:2) and translated the word ωραῖος, blooming, beautiful.