Joel 1

PREFACE. J.F it were certain that the minor Prophets were placed in the order of time wherein they lived, we might conclude that Joel prophesied before Amos, who was contemporary with Uzziah king of Judah. Archbishop Usher, in his Annals, ad A. M. 3197. makes the same inference, because Joel foretells that drought, (chap, i.) which Amos mentions as actually come to pass, (iv. 7 — 9.) But to that argument it may be answered, that the drought there spoken of might probably be peculiar to the kingdom of Israel. And as to the precedence which the present Hebrew copies give to Joel, the LXX. place him the fourth in order, and put Amos and Micah before him. If we consider the main design of Ids prophecy, we shall be apt to conclude, that it was uttered after the captivity of the ten tribes; for he directs his discourse only to Judah, and speaks distinctly of the sacrifices and oblations that were daily made in the temple. Israel is indeed mentioned, iii. 2. but it is in relation to future times, not to their present condition at the time when Joel prophesied. A description of a terrible famine that is coming on the land, occasioned by a long drought, and the locusts, and other noxious vermin which that produced: wfth an exhortation to proclaim a fast to be observed by the people, that they may humble themselves under the hand of God, and avert his judgments.

Joel 1:2

JjIeAR ye this, ye old men, and give ear all ye inhabitants of the land, &c. The prophet shews how great and unparalleled this dearth is, by appealing to the memory of the ancients, and the observation of the present generation, whether they ever knew or heard any thing like it; so that it deserved to be recorded as a waxning to aftcrtimes. -(Compare ii.2.)

Joel 1:4

That which the palmer-worm hath left, hath the locust eaten, &c. A succession of noxious creatures hath made a perfect riddance of all the fruits of the earth, which makes this judgment so strange and remarkable.

Joel 1:5

Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, &c. This calamity should particularly affect those that spend their time in jollity and excess, and make that the chief business of their life. (Compare Isa. xxiv. 7—9. 11.) It carries along with it evident tokens of being sent as a punishment for their disorders.

Joel 1:6

For a nation is come itpon my land, strong, and without number. 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. (Compare ii. 2. 25. Prov. xxx. 25 — 27.) Whose teeth are [as] the teeth of a lion s &c] So the locusts aro described, Rev. ix. 8. They devour every thing that comes in their way, like a lion, and none can rescue it. The particle as is frequently understood. (See the note upon Isa. xxi. 1.) The word labi is sometimes rendered a great lion, as it is here: lions being common in Judea, the Hebrew language hath particular words to express the several ages and sizes of that creature. *.

Joel 1:7

He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my figtree, &c. Bochart, de Animal, par. ii. p. 469. n. 447. observes out of Pliny and other writers, that locusts and such noxious creatures will not only destroy the leaves and the fruit, but even devour the very bark and stock of those trees upon which they fasten. (Compare ver. 12.) The word translated barked, is read but in this one place of the Bible; so the LXX. and some others, render it to break off, and understand it of the upper branches of the tree; in which sense it is used in the Arabic language. •

Joel 1:8

Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. The words are an apostrophe to the land of Judea: the prophet puts her in mind that she ought to be deeply affected with tho sore strokes of the Divine vengeance, and express her inward sense of those calamities, with the same outward expressions of mourning, as a young virgin that was betrothed to a husband, and should lose him before they had lived together, would lament such an untimely loss. It was common among the Jews, for persons who were espoused, to spend some time together in the house of the woman’s friends, before the husband took her home to live as man and wife together. (See Gen. xix. 14.) The husband of her youth is a woman’s first husband, called elsewhere the guide of her youth, Prov. ii. 17. Jer. iii. 4.; as the wife of thy youth, Mai. ii. 15. is the first wife.

Joel 1:9

The meat-offering and the drink-offering is cut off from the house of the Lord. The meat-offering and drinkoffering always accompanied the daily sacrifice. (Sec Numb, xxviii. 4. 7.) The word mincha, commonly translated meat-offering, properly signifies the bread-offering; being made of flour. (See the note upon Isa. xliii. 23.) The dearth had destroyed both the corn and the wine, ver. 10—12. and thereby disabled the performing the necessary parts of God’s daily worship in the temple. This was a new cause of grief to the priests, as well as to all pious persons.

Joel 1:10

The field is wasted, the land mourneth. The fields and the whole land have a mournful appearance, being altogether bare and destitute of food, either for man or beast. (See ver. 18.) • • ■

Joel 1:11

Be ye asliamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vine-dressers. Your being disappointed of your expectations, and the fruits of your labour, is. enough to cover you with. shame and confusion: (compare Jer. xiv. 3.) especially when you consider these calamities as the just effects of the Divine indignation.

Joel 1:12

For joy is withered away from among the sons of men. That joy they used to shew at the gathering in of the fruits of the earth. (See Isa. ix. 3. xiv. 10. Jer. xlviii. 33.)

Joel 1:13

Gird yourselves [with sackcloth. . Lament, ye priests.] See ver. 9. Lie all night in sackcloth.] Those priests whose turn it is to keep the night-watches in the temple. (See Exod. xxvii. 21. 1 Sam. iii. 3. 1 Chron. ix. 33. Psal. cxxxiv. 2.) Let them cover themselves with sackcloth, as is usual in times of the greatest calamity, and not put it off when they take themselves to rest; but sleep in sackcloth instead of their ordinary garments. (See Dr. Lightfoot’s Temple-Service, chap. 9. at the beginning.)

Joel 1:14

Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, &c. In order to avert God’s wrath, and deprecate his judgments. (See ii. 15, 16.) Gather the elders, and all the inhabitants of the land, into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord.] The house where God hath placed his name, and where he hath promised to hear the prayers which are made to him by his people, when they are afflicted with judgments of this kind. (See 1 Kings viL 37, &c.)

Joel 1:15

Aids, for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, &c. Wo have just cause to lament our sins which have brought these judgments upon us, which, if not averted by our repentance, will end in our utter destruction, as coming from a God that is infinite in power, and terrible in his judgments.

Joel 1:16

Yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God. The dearth has discontinued our public sacrifices, (ver. 9. 13.) and has deprived us of those rejoicings wherewith we used to keep our solemn feasts at Jerusalem, and partake of the sacrifices which were there offered. (Sec Deut. xii. 6, 7. xvi. 10, 11. 14, 15. Psal. cv. 3.)

Joel 1:17

The seed is rotten under their clods, &c.* The corn which is sowed dies away, and rots in the ground: so the barns and granaries become useless and desolate.

Joel 1:18

How do the beasts groan? Tlie herds of cattle are perplexed, &c. The beasts themselves are sensible of these calamities, and pine away for want of sustenance:

Joel 1:19

The fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness. The fiery drought hath burnt up all the pasturegrounds. (See ii. 3.) The wilderness is sometimes opposed to the hills or mountains, and then it signifies the plains, and places for pasture. (See Isa. lxiii. 13. Jer. ix. 10.)

Joel 1:20

The beasts of the field cry also unto thee. They express their want of food by the mournful noise which they make; which is their natural way of making known their wants unto thee. (Compare Psal. civ. 21. Job xxxviii. 41.)