Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joel 1:15
Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD [is] at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
15. The prophet states more distinctly the ground for the exhortations of Joe 1:13-14. The present calamity is viewed by him as the harbinger of a far sorer calamity to come, even of the great “Day of Jehovah” itself; and he gives expression to the alarm which the prospect of its approach naturally creates.
Alas for the day ] cf. Eze 30:2 (where the Heb. is all but the same, for ).
For the day of Jehovah is at hand (or near)] The same words as Joe 3:14; Zep 1:7; Oba 1:15; Isa 13:6: comp. ch. Joe 2:1; Zep 1:14; Eze 30:3. On the ‘Day of Jehovah’ comp. A. B. Davidson on Zep 1:7; and below, on Amo 5:18. It is the Day, when Jehovah is conceived as manifesting Himself in His fulness, striking down wrongdoing and illusion, and giving the final victory to righteousness and truth. The origin of the conception as applied by the prophets, is to be found in Amos’ transformation of a popular idea (see on Amo 5:18). The presentiment of the approach of Jehovah’s Day was often awakened in the minds of the prophets by the prospect of some great political movement among the nations of the earth. In the case of Joel the presentiment is awakened by an extraordinary visitation of Providence. In Joel also the Day of Jehovah is invested, more distinctly than is the case in the earlier prophets, with an eschatological significance: see esp. Joe 2:31, Joe 3:1-2; Joe 3:9-17; and comp. above, p. 33.
as devastation from the Almighty (Heb. Shaddai) shall it come ] The phrase is borrowed verbatim from Isa 13:6 (in the announcement of the doom approaching upon Babylon in b.c. 538) “Howl ye: for the day of Jehovah is at hand; as devastation from the Almighty shall it come.” In the original there is an effective assonance between devastation ( shd), and Almighty ( Shaddai), which might perhaps be preserved, though not with the force and compactness of the Hebrew, by the rendering, as an overpowering from the Over-powerer shall it come [31] . See further, on the divine title Shaddai, the Additional Note, p. 81. For ‘devastation,’ as sent by Jehovah, comp. also Jer 25:36; Jer 47:4; Jer 51:53; Jer 51:55 (A.V. spoil), Amo 5:9. The ‘as’ ( ) is here an example of what is termed by some grammarians the “ Caph veritatis ”: the coming visitation will be what a devastation proceeding from the Almighty might be expected to be, it will realize what the term implies, it will be a veritable “overpowering from the Over-powerer.”
[31] Ewald, wie Gewalt vom Allgewaltigen: Wellhausen, wie Vergewaltigung vom Allgewaltigen.
Additional Note on Chap. Joe 1:15 ( Shaddai)
Shaddai is a Divine title, occurring ( a) as an adj. attached to God ( El) in the name El Shaddai (“God Almighty”), Gen 17:1; Gen 28:3; Gen 35:11; Gen 48:3; Exo 6:3 (all belonging to the document called the ‘Priests’ Code’); Gen 48:3; Eze 10:5; and probably Gen 49:25 (Jacob’s Blessing: read God Almighty for by the Almighty [ for ]); ( b) alone, as a poetical name of God, Num 24:4; Num 24:16; Eze 1:24; Isa 13:6; Joe 1:15; Psa 68:14; Psa 91:1; Psalms 31 times in the dialogue of Job (Job 5:17, Job 6:4, &c.); and in the two rhythmically-constructed sentences, Rth 1:20-21 [58] . The origin and real meaning of the name are both doubtful, neither tradition nor philology throwing any certain light upon it. According to the theory of P (Exo 6:3), Shaddai was the patriarchal name of God; and the same view was perhaps shared by the author of the Book of Job, who lays his scene in the patriarchal age, and represents his characters as saying Shaddai, not Jehovah (except once, Job 12:9). The name is not known in the cognate languages. The LXX. render in Gen. Ex. by my ( thy, their) God, elsewhere by general terms, as , (Job 9-10 times), (Job 15-16 times). Aq. Symm. and (usually) Theod. render by ; this, however, very probably, merely gives expression to an improbable Rabbinical etymology – , ‘he that is sufficient,’ which may also underlie the Massoretic pronunciation Shaddai (already in Eze 10:5 LXX. ). The Heb. verb shdad, from which Shaddai might naturally be derived, means to overpower, treat with violence, devastate (Jdg 5:27 R.V. marg.; Isa 15:1; Isa 23:1; Isa 23:14; Joe 1:10; often in A.V., R.V. spoil, as Isa 33:1; Mic 2:4; Psa 17:9; comp. shd, Joe 1:15, Amo 5:9, and frequently, devastation, desolation); hence it has been supposed that it meant properly the Over-powerer, i.e. either the God who coerces nature to His will, and moulds the course of the world agreeably with His purposes of grace (Delitzsch; Oehler, Theol. of the O.T. 37; Dillm. A. T. Theol. p. 214 f.), or in a more historical sense (Bthgen, Beitrge zur Sem. Rel.-gesch. 1888, p. 295 f., cf. pp. 192 7), the God who in the patriarchal age was conceived principally as ruling by might (“der naturgewaltige”), but who afterwards through Moses and the prophets revealed more distinctly His ethical and spiritual nature. It is some objection to this view that in actual usage shdad always involves the idea of violence; but it is possible that in the age when Shaddai was formed from it, it had not yet acquired this nuance, and meant simply to overpower. Or, perhaps (Wellhausen, Gesch. 1878, p. 359), Shaddai denoted originally the Waster, with reference (see e.g. Job 12:14-25) to the destructive aspects of God’s providence. Other explanations have been suggested; but none that can be said to be more satisfactory [59] . Whatever, however, be the etymology of the title, it is true that the choice of it seems to be sometimes prompted by the thought of the power of God, whether in the way of blessing and defence (Gen 17:1, &c.; Job 29:5; Psa 91:1), or in the way of authority, punishment, or trial (Job 5:17; Job 6:4; Job 8:3; Job 21:20; Job 27:2). Comp. further Dillmann on Gen 17:1; Bthgen, l. c. (whose view that the form is Aramaic is called in question by Nldeke, l. c.); Knig, Lehrgeb. der Hebr. Spr. ii. 118 (= violenta potentia praeditus).
[58] It occurs also in the proper names Zurishaddai, “Shaddai is my Rock” (cf. Zuriel), Num 1:6; Num 2:12; Num 7:36; Num 7:41; Num 10:19; Ammishaddai, “Shaddai is my kinsman,” Num 1:12; Num 2:25; Num 7:66; Num 7:71; Num 10:25 (cf. Ammiel); and perhaps in Shedr, if this should be pointed Shaddaiur, “Shaddai is a flame,” (cf. Uriel), Num 1:5; Num 2:10; Num 7:30; Num 7:35; Num 10:18. Cf. G. B. Gray, Studies in Hebrew Proper Names (1896), pp. 169, 196 199.
[59] There may be some connexion with shd, which in Heb. (Deu 32:17; Psa 106:37), as in Aramaic, has sunk to denote a demi-god or demon, but which, as Arabic makes probable, meant originally lord (Arab. sayyid, whence Span. cid). Nldeke ( Z.D.M.G. 1888, p. 481) would pronounce Shedi (or Shedai, pl. of majesty, like Adonai) “my lord”: though usage shews no trace of a consciousness of the pron. “my” (see on the contrary Gen 17:1), it is still not impossible that if it were a very ancient formation, its etymology might have been forgotten and it might have come to be treated as a mere Divine title.
So far as regards the cognate languages, Arab. sadda is to close or stop up (a way); Eth. sadada, to drive out, expel; Arab. shadda is to be strong, powerful, robust; shadd is the corresponding adj., but Heb. sh corresponds normally to Arab. s (though instances occur of Heb. sh = Arab. sh).
In Assyrian, shad is the common word for ‘mountain’; and Sargon ( K. B. ii. 79, 83; Annals, l. 436) and Asshurbanipal ( K. B. ii. 217) speak of Bel and Asshur as shad rab, ‘the great mountain’: there occur also such proper names as Belshada, ‘Bel is my mountain,’ Marduk-shada, Sin-shadni, ‘Sin is our mountain,’ as well as Ammi-satana ( c. 2200 b.c.), and Beli-satu, Satu-na (b.c. 3800), which are thought (Hommel, Expos. Times, Feb. 1808, p. 235) to contain the same element (with t for d); and it has been conjectured (Friedr. Delitzsch, Heb. Language, 1883, p. 48; Hommel, Anc. Heb. Trad. p. 110 f.) that this is the origin of the Heb. Shaddai, and that it means properly either ‘my mountain’ (cf. ‘my rock,’ Psa 18:2 al.) or ‘the mountain-dweller.’ The explanation is possible; but more cannot be said: there is no stringent proof of it: and even if it is correct, usage shews that all consciousness of this being the original meaning of the name had been lost by the Hebrews.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Alas for the day! for the Day of the Lord is at hand – The judgment of God, then, which they were to deprecate, was still to come. : All times and all days are Gods. Yet they are said to be our days, in which God leaves us to our own freedom, to do as we will, and which we may use to repent and turn to Him. Whence Christ saith, O Jerusalem – if thou hadst known in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace Luk 19:42. That time, on the contrary, is said to be Gods Day, in which He doth any new, rare, or special thing, such as is the Day of Judgment or vengeance. All judgment in time is an image of the Judgment for eternity. The Day of the Lord is, then, each day of vengeance in which God doth to man according to His will and just judgment, inflicting the punishment which he deserves, as man did to Him in his day, manifoldly dishonoring Him, according to his own perverse will. That Day is at hand; suddenly to come. Speed then must be used to prevent it. Prevented it may be by speedy repentance before it comes; but when it does come, there will be no avoiding it, for
As a destruction from the Almighty shall it come – The name the Almighty or God Almighty is but seldom used in Holy Scripture. God revealed Himself by this Name to Abraham, when renewing to him the promise which was beyond nature, that he should be a father of many nations, when he and Sarah were old and well stricken in age. He said, I am God Almighty; walk before Me and be thou perfect Gen 17:1-6, Gen 17:16-21; Gen 18:10-14; Rom 4:17-21. God Almighty uses it again of Himself in renewing the blessing to Jacob Gen 35:11; and Isaac and Jacob use it in blessing in His Name Gen 28:3; Gen 43:14; Gen 48:3; Gen 49:25. It is not used as a mere name of God, but always in reference to His might, as in the book of Job which treats chiefly of His power . In His days of judgment God manifests Himself as the All-mighty and All-just. Hence, in the New Testament, it occurs almost exclusively in the Revelations, which reveal His judgments to come . Here the words form a sort of terrible proverb, from where they are adopted from Joel by the prophet Isaiah Isa 13:6. The word destruction, shod, is formed from the same root as Almighty, shadday. It shall come as might from the Mighty. Only, the word might is always used of might put forth to destroy, a mighty destruction. He says then, in fact, that that Day shall come, like might put forth by the Almighty Himself; to destroy His enemies, irresistible, inevitable, unendurable, overwhelming the sinner.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Joe 1:15
Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
The day of the Lord
The prophet intimates that the destruction caused by the flight of the locusts over the land of Judah was but the commencement of calamity, and that it was a type of judgments more awful in the future. And all the judgments which come upon men in the present are indicative of the final judgment which is to come, and are warnings of that awful event, so that we may not be unprepared to meet it.
I. That it will be Divinely distinguished from all the days which have preceded it. The day! for the day of the Lord. This time of judgment is called the day of the Lord.
1. Because on this day the Lord will give a splendid manifestation of Himself.
2. Because this day will be in sublime contrast, in relation to the unfolding of the Divine purposes, to all others that have preceded it. In the days of Christs incarnation He was rejected and despised of men; men saw no beauty in Him that they should desire Him. In our own age there are multitudes who neglect and treat Him with contempt, while many who profess to serve Him are cold in their service. These are the days of men, in which they are free to pursue an evil method of life, and in which they are left to accomplish their work, waiting for the return of the Great Master; but these days are soon to give place to the Day of the Lord, in the which He will give to every man according to the quality of his work. Then the Lord will exert His sovereign power.
II. That it is near in its approach and will come suddenly upon mankind. The day of the Lord is at hand.
1. This day is certain in its advent. There may be many who contemptuously ask, Where is the promise of His coming? (2Pe 3:4.)
2. This day will be sudden in its advent. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, and will cause a sudden fear to come upon many.
3. This day is near in its advent (2Pe 3:8).
III. That it will be accompanied by the most awful destruction ever witnessed by mankind. And as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. Lessons–
1. This revelation concerning the day of the Lord should make us careful in the ordering of our individual life.
2. This revelation concerning the day of the Lord should lead us to put forth our best activities to save men from its impending doom.
3. In this revelation concerning the day of the Lord see the mercy of heaven in giving us full warning of the coming peril. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 15. Alas for the day!] The Syriac repeats this, the Vulgate, Septuagint, and Arabic, thrice: “Alas, alas, alas, for the day!”
As a destruction from the Almighty] The destruction that is now coming is no ordinary calamity; it is as a signal judgment immediately inflicted by the Almighty.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This verse and the three next may be looked upon either as a particular declaration of the grounds of this fast, or as a direction how to manage the fast, a suggesting to the people what they should spread before the Lord, or else as the words of the priests, bewailing the calamitous state of the land.
Alas! it is a very pathetical bemoaning themselves, which speaks their sense of the evil they suffered.
For the day; the day of trouble, sorrow, and great distress.
For the day of the Lord: this explains the former; it is a day of greater troubles than yet they felt, troubles which God will heap upon them, a day in which God will be judge, and punish by the locusts, by the drought, and by Babylonians, unless you repent.
Is at hand; great calamities were now upon them, and greater were approaching to them: if the prophet aim at the captivity of the two tribes, it was one hundred and eighty years off; if of the ten tribes, it was about sixty years off, for he prophesieth about the latter end of Jeroboam the Second; it is likely therefore he aimeth at some other calamities.
As a destruction; a total overthrow of the kingdom, the worship of God, and all your labours in your land.
From the Almighty; whose displeasure, as a consuming fire, can and will burn up all before it; his power and hand will do it, and then nothing can resist it.
Shall it come; most certainly and speedily, nothing can retard or divert it, unless fasting, prayers, and tears, and amendment do it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15. day of the Lord (Joe 2:1;Joe 2:11); that is, the day ofHis anger (Isa 13:9; Oba 1:15;Zep 1:7; Zep 1:15).It will be a foretaste of the coming day of the Lord as Judge of allmen, whence it receives the same name. Here the transition beginsfrom the plague of locusts to the worse calamities (Joe2:1-11) from invading armies about to come on Judea, of which thelocusts were the prelude.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord [is] at hand,…. A time of severer and heavier judgments than these of the locusts, caterpillars, c. which were a presage and emblem of greater ones, even of the total destruction of their city, temple, and nation, either by the Chaldeans, or by the Romans, or both:
and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come unawares, suddenly, and irresistibly: there is in the Hebrew text an elegant play on words, which may be rendered, as “wasting from the waster”, or “destruction from the destroyer, shall it come” x; even from the almighty God, who is able to save and destroy, and none can deliver out of his hands; see Isa 13:6; the word signifies one powerful and victorious, as Aben Ezra observes; and so it does in the Arabic language.
x “uti vastitas a Deo vastatore”, Drusius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“Alas for the day! for the day of Jehovah is near, and it comes like violence from the Almighty.” This verse does not contain words which the priests are to speak, so that we should have to supply , like the Syriac and others, but words of the prophet himself, with which he justifies the appeal in Joe 1:13 and Joe 1:14. is the time of the judgment, which has fallen upon the land and people through the devastation by the locusts. This “day” is the beginning of the approaching day of Jehovah, which will come like a devastation from the Almighty. Yom Y e hovah is the great day of judgment upon all ungodly powers, when God, as the almighty ruler of the world, brings down and destroys everything that has exalted itself against Him; thus making the history of the world, through His rule over all creatures in heaven and earth, into a continuous judgment, which will conclude at the end of this course of the world with a great and universal act of judgment, through which everything that has been brought to eternity by the stream of time unjudged and unadjusted, will be judged and adjusted once for all, to bring to an end the whole development of the world in accordance with its divine appointment, and perfect the kingdom of God by the annihilation of all its foes. (Compare the magnificent description of this day of the Lord in Isa 2:12-21.) And accordingly this particular judgment – through which Jehovah on the one hand chastises His people for their sins, and on the other hand destroys the enemies of His kingdom – forms one element of the day of Jehovah; and each of these separate judgment is a coming of that day, and a sign of His drawing near. This day Joel saw in the judgment that came upon Judah in his time, k e shod misshaddai , lit., like a devastation from the Almighty, – a play upon the words (since shod and shaddai both come from shadad ), which Rckert renders, though somewhat too freely, by wie ein Graussen vom grossen Gott . is the so-called veritatis , expressing a comparison between the individual and its genus or its idea. On the relation between this verse and Isa 13:6, see the Introduction.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Insect Plague–A Type of the Day of the Lord
Verses 15-20:
Verse 15 introduces the descriptive 70th week period of God’s dealing in judgment, with Judah and Israel. It is here called, with exclamatory Hebrew emotions, “The day of the Lord,” or of Jehovah! It is further described, Joe 2:11; Isa 2:10-22; Isa 13:9; Zec 1:7; Zec 1:15. The Assyrian invasion of captivity they then faced was but an ill omen in comparison with their national suffering during the latter 42 months of the 70th week of Daniel’s foretold trouble upon Israel, also known as The Tribulation The Great, Dan 9:25-27; Dan 12:4-11; Rev 7:14; Rev 12:6; Rev 12:14; Rev 13:5.
Verse 16 rhetorically inquires by affirmation, “The meat or food is cut off before our eyes and joy and gladness are taken away from the house of our God too, aren’t they?” When there was no food for festivals, or even a meat (meal) offering to the Lord, the people had no place for joy. Mourning and repentance were their need of the hour, Deu 12:6-7; Deu 12:12; Deu 16:11; Deu 16:14-15.
Verse 17 explains that seed when sown did not sprout, but decayed, dried up under the dry, hard clods. Their garners (meaning storehouses) went to ruin, decayed, and their barns or granaries were destroyed, because the corn or edible grain crops were all parched, withered, not productive for any harvest. It was a type of judgment that their law had forewarned would come upon them should they depart from obeying the precepts of their God, Deu 28:15-18; Deu 28:21; Deu 28:33; Deu 28:38-41; Deu 28:47.
Verse 18 turns to a view of want in houses and storehouses to the open fields and pastures. There groaning, bewildered, hungry and starving cattle roam, turning from one direction to another, scenting and searching in vain for a bite of vegetation or drink of water. Even the flocks of sheep, that normally survive droughts and deserts, are pictured as mourning and crying in vain bewilderment for a shepherd to feed, to lead, and to guide them, Psa 145:15; Psa 104:21. They share the judgment guilt of man, though themselves innocent of the sins of the people of Judah. The innocent so often must suffer with or for the guilty. A drunkard’s wife and children often suffer with and because of the sins of the drunkard. So it is also with families of drug addicts, gamblers, and often of immoral libertines. As Abraham prayed to God for the cities and plains of Sodom and Gommorha, and as Moses prayed for the tribes of Israel, so Joel interceded to God on behalf of Judah and Israel, Exo 12:29; Jon 3:7; Jon 4:11.
Verse 19 relates Joel’s direct cry to the Lord on behalf of the innocent beasts of the fields that suffer from the fires and scorching summer sun that have devoured the pastures of. the desert and wilderness and burned off all the trees of the field, Isa 15:5; Jer 23:9. Joel confessed that the hope of men and beast for survival from God’s judgment existed in the mercy of God that may be shown in the midst of His judgment, Isa 15:5-6; Jer 23:9.
Verse 20 further affirms that not only do the cattle and flocks of sheep and goats groan for water and feed, v. 18, but also the “beasts of the field,” Job 38:41; Psa 104:21; Psa 147:9; Psa 42:1. All beast creatures groan and travail in hunger and thirst pangs, for some relief, because of the fire drought that have devastated the land, following the calamity-plague of the locust-insects, Rom 8:21-22.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
It now follows, Alas the day! for nigh is the day of Jehovah. Here the Prophet, as it was at first stated, threatens something worse in future than what they had experienced. He has hitherto been showing their torpidity; now he declares that they had not yet suffered all their punishments, but that there was something worse to be feared, except they turned seasonably to God. And he now exclaims, as though the day of Jehovah was before his eyes, and he calls it the day of Jehovah, because in that day God would stretch-forth his hand to execute judgment; for while he tolerates men or bears with their sins, he seems not to rule in the world. And though this mode of speaking is common enough in Scripture, it ought yet to be carefully noticed; for all seem not to understand that God calls that his own day, when he will openly shine forth and appear as the judge of the world: but as long as he spares us, his face seems to be hidden from us; yea, he seems not to govern the world. The Prophet therefore declares here that the day of the Lord was at hand; for it cannot be, but that the Lord must at length rise up and ascend his throne to punish men, though for a time he may connive at them. But the interjection, expressive of grief, intimates that the judgment, of which the Prophet speaks, was not to be despised, for it would be dreadful; and he wished to strike terror into the Jews, for they were too secure. And he says, The day is nigh, that they might not procrastinate, as they were wont to do, from day to day: for though men be touched by God’s judgments they yet even desire time to be prolonged to them, and they come very tardily to God. Hence the Prophet, that he might correct this their great slothfulness, says that the day was nigh.
He adds, כשד משדי יבוא kashed meshadi ibu ‘as a desolation from the Almighty will it come.’ The word שדי shadi signifies a conqueror; but it proceeds from the verb שדד shadad; and this in Hebrew means “to desolate,” or “to destroy.” The powerful and the conqueror is called שדי shadi; and hence they call God שדי shadi, on account of his power. Some derive it from udder: then they call God שדי shadi as though Scripture gave him this name, because from him flows all abundance of good things as from a fountain. But I rather refer this name to his strength and power, for the Jews, we know, gloried in the name of God as one armed to defend their safety. Whenever then the Prophets said that God was שדי shadi, the people laid hold on this as a ground for false confidence, “God is almighty, we are then secure from all evils.” But yet this confidence was not founded on the promises: and it was, we know, an absurd and profane presumption to have thus abused the name of God. Since then the Jews foolishly pricked themselves on this, that God had adopted them for his people, the prophet says here, “There will come a desolation from the Almighty;” that is, “God is Almighty, but ye are greatly deceived in thinking that your safety is secured by his power; for he will, on the contrary, be opposed to you, inasmuch as ye have provoked his wrath.” It follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Joe. 1:15. The day] of anger (Isa. 13:9) and ill omen; evil in itself, and foreshadowing greater evils; a transition from invading locusts to the day of judgment upon all ungodly men. Present calamities are clothed in greater terror when regarded as a type of the last judgment. Joel would have the people thus to regard them. Hence present suffering should quicken to penitence and faith. Destruction] An aspect of the last day seen now.
THE TERRIBLE DAY.Joe. 1:15
The prophet urges them to repentance by fresh motives and more calamities. Judgments had fallen upon the city and the field, in the temple and the vineyard. Hints are now given at the truths typified by the plagues. Trouble is not only at a distance but near. So great is this trouble that men will cry, Alas for the day!
I. This day is a day of terror.
1. On account of the evils which attend it. (a) The chastisement of Gods people for their sins. What can people expect but desolating strokes when they continue to sin? In the day of adversity consider. (b) The destruction of sinners for their guilt. All the enemies of Gods kingdom will be destroyed. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate, and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it (Isa. 13:6; Isa. 13:9). (c) The desolation of the land (Joe. 1:10-12).
2. On account of the evils which it predicts. As a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. In every judgment almighty power is seen. This aspect of the day was seen in present events. Vegetation was consumed, and the face of nature blackened by fire; flocks and herds roamed disconsolate over wasted fields; food was cut off before the eyes of the people, and joy and gladness departed from the house of God. But present calamities predicted greater evils to comeevils beyond description, displays of power never seen before. Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it; it is even the time of Jacobs trouble (Jer. 30:7).
II. This day is near. The day of the Lord is at hand. Sinners put evil days far away, and think they will not come. Evil tidings to-morrow, said one in festive joy. The word of God declares that they are present and pressingthat it is folly to delay repentance, and that judgments may fall suddenly upon men to overwhelm them (Ecc. 9:12; Isa. 28:15). The antediluvians disregarded the warnings of Noah, and were swept away by the flood. Men now cry, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. Some put off the day in a sort of philosophic argument. The course of nature has remained the same for ages, and therefore not likely to change. Others live in stolid indifference, quench their forebodings of evil, and deceive themselves by lies. Alas, some change the threatened vengeance into mirthful jest, and ridicule the devout anticipations of the godly. The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of.
III. This day should be regarded by men. Destruction from the Almighty shall come. There is no uncertainty, no delay. In this light the prophet regarded and desired the people to regard the day. Present adversity should quicken us to a profound sense of the moral government of God, to continual recognition of his purpose in life, and to live so that we may escape the dangers of that eventful day. Heed not the sneering infidelity of the times. Go to your beds to-night, enter upon your duties to-morrow, as in sight of the judgment-seat. Live daily under the powers of the world to come. Grow in love for the appearing of Christ. The promise will not fail. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.
I. The day of judgment written in the convictions of men. Natural theology teaches a retributive providence. The writings of the heathen are full of ideas of God as a God of justice. Retributive justice was made a separate deity, whose awards would only be full and perfect in a future life. There is a sense of future judgment in the heart. Every sin committed carries with it a monition, a prediction of this judgment. The idea is inwrought in the consciousness of mankind, and clearly taught in the writings of ancient philosophy. Seneca says, The good man God accustoms to hardships, and prepares him for himself. But the luxurious, whom he seems to indulge and to spare, he reserves for evils to come. For you are mistaken if you think any one excepted. The man who has been long spared will at last have his portion of misery; and though he seems to have escaped it, it is only delayed for a time. Thus ought we always to believe, says Plato, those ancient and sacred words, which declare to us that the soul is immortal, that judges are appointed, and that they pass the highest sentences of condemnation when the spirit is separate from the body. Thus it is a dictate of natural religion, that the future state will be one of misery to the wicked. The day of the Lord is foreshadowed in our moral constitution. All men fear it and all men believe it. It is a mark of the Divine origin and moral nature of man, which nothing can destroy. That which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them.
II. The day of judgment prefigured in the events of history. The judgments of God, extreme and awful, have even been regarded by the darkest minds as evidences of Gods anger against sin, and his determination to punish it. Heathen seers and Jewish prophets bid us regard the inner meaning of calamity and look at it, in some sense as a part and prediction of another. The vicissitudes of life, the unequal conditions of men, and the providences of God, point to a day when all things will be rectified and each one receive his due. Each particular judgment is a warning of its approach and a pledge of its certainty. Present chastisements must be viewed as steps in a progressive plan, realized in the final day; the beginning and the anticipation of the day of the Lord. The history of the world, through the government of God, is turned into a continuous judgment, which will conclude at the end of this course of the world with a great and universal act of judgment, through which everything that has been brought to eternity by the stream of time unjudged and unadjusted will be judged and adjusted once for all, to bring to an end the whole development of the world in accordance with its Divine appointment, and perfect the kingdom of God by the annihilation of its foes. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
III. The day of judgment predicted in Scripture. What is rendered possible by the creed of the atheist, and probable from the teachings of nature, is morally certain from Divine revelation. Scripture confirms natural theology in this respect, and teaches distinctly that God designs to impress upon our minds that he will by no means clear the guilty, but reserve them to the day of punishment. The judgments of God are said to have happened as examples, warnings to us to repent of the sins and avoid the dangers which brought them on. Earnest and emphatic declarations are given in Old and New Testaments. He hath prepared his throne for judgment. And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. For we must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 1
Joe. 1:15. Judgment will assign to every one a place according to character; ranks will be adjusted and precedency set right; virtue will be rewarded and vice punished. Thoughts of this day should restrain from vice and urge to virtue, preserve human society and defend religion, vindicate the character of God, and justify his providence to men.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(15) Alas.The exclamation is repeated three times in the LXX. and Vulg., thus giving occasion to Jeremy Taylors comment: When the prophet Joel was describing the formidable accidents in the day of the Lords judgment, and the fearful sentence of an angry judge, he was not able to express it, but stammered like a child, or an amazed imperfect person, A. A. A. diei, quia prope est Dies Domini (Christs Adv. to Judgment, Serm. iii., pt. 3).
Almighty.Shaddai. A title signifying the omnipotence of God, especially with reference, as here, to His power to destroy. The Hebrew preserves the alliteration, Shod Mishaddai, destruction from the destroyer. The Almighty was the general title of God. I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob by the name of God ALMIGHTY, but by My name JEHOVAH was I not known unto them. (See Note on Genesis 17)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15-20. Not a petition which the prophet puts into the mouths of the priests, but the prophet’s own words, explaining the seriousness of the calamity and thus presenting the reason for the appeal in 13, 14. The wail turns into a supplication in Joe 1:19. The terror of the prophet is increased, because he sees in the present calamity the forerunner of the day of Jehovah Among the Hebrews, as frequently among the Arabs, the word day is sometimes used in the definite sense day of battle (Isa 9:4). This is the sense of the word in the common Old Testament phrase, day of Jehovah (Amo 5:18; Isa 2:12-21; Zep 1:7, etc.). We first meet the expression in Amo 5:18, where the prophet condemns the popular conception of it. The day of Jehovah is essentially a day of battle, on which Jehovah will manifest himself in the destruction of his foes and the exaltation of his friends; but there are differences in the statements concerning the extent of the conflict and concerning the persons who constitute the enemies of Jehovah. At the time of Amos the popular mind identified the enemies of Israel with the enemies of Jehovah; while the day of Jehovah would mark the destruction of these, to Israel it would be a day of glory and triumph. This misapprehension the prophet seeks to remove. He points out that the day would not necessarily be a day of triumph for Israel; its character would depend entirely upon their moral condition, for on his day Jehovah would vindicate his righteousness against sin, whether among foreign nations or among his own people. Sometimes Jehovah is thought of as employing human agents to strike the decisive blow, at other times he strikes the blow himself (Schultz, Old Testament Theology, 2: 354ff.; Encyclopaedia Biblica, article “Eschatology,” 34ff.; Hastings’s Dictionary of the Bible, 1: 735ff.). The day does not bring final destruction to all; it is followed by a period of permanent felicity for the pious; it is therefore the threshold of the Messianic age. In this verse we have the same thought that we find in Amos, that the chosen people are not necessarily excluded from the terrors of the day; they will be spared only on condition of repentance. At hand See Joe 2:1; Joe 3:14; compare Zep 1:7; Zep 1:14; Oba 1:15; Isa 13:6; Eze 30:3. The near approach of the great judgment was often suggested by a great political crisis; the onward sweep of the Scythians (Zep 1:7), the struggles around Babylon (Isa 13:6), the operations of Nebuchadrezzar (Eze 30:3). To Joel the suggestion came from the plague of locusts, but he does not identify this plague with the day itself.
As a destruction from the Almighty In the original a very effective play upon words: shodh, destruction, shadday, almighty. Driver seeks to retain the play by rendering “overpowering from the overpowerer”; Rueckert gives a somewhat free rendering in German: “Graussen vom grossen Gott.”
As a destruction Not a comparison such as is marked ordinarily by as; it is here the so-called kaph veritatis, used where the comparison is to be emphasized; equivalent to in every respect like (G.-K., 118x). The day of Jehovah will be in every respect like a blow from the Almighty, in suddenness, strength, and effect.
Almighty A translation of the Greek , supposed to be a translation of the Hebrew shadday, used here purposely because of its similarity in sound with shodh. The etymology of the Hebrew word is obscure. Some think that it comes from the verb shadhah, overpower, treat with violence, destroy; if so, the name would represent God as powerful, or as the destroyer. There are several other explanations; the one sure to become popular connects the word with the Assyrian shadu, mountain, and renders el shadday, “God, my mountain” (Delitzsch), or “God of the two mountains” that is, heaven and earth (Radau). Isa 13:6, is almost identical with this verse, which may be dependent upon the former, or the expression may have been a popular saying, a proverb, used by both authors independently.
In justification of his fear the prophet points in Joe 1:16 ff. to the awful condition of the country. Joe 1:16 expresses two thoughts, one touching the physical, the other the religious life. Physical life is threatened because the fields are devastated, so that there can be no harvest.
Before our eyes We have to watch the process of destruction and can do nothing to prevent it. Helplessness on the part of the observer seems always implied in the Hebrew expression (Isa 1:7; Deu 28:31; Psa 23:5). The calamity has a more serious aspect because of its effect upon the religious cult: the communion between the people and Jehovah is broken; therefore he also cannot help (9).
Joy and gladness The joy of the religious gatherings and of the presentation of the first fruits. These were to be offered at the temple with rejoicing (Deu 26:1-11). The more plentiful the harvest the greater the rejoicing; the freewill offerings can no longer be presented, and the joyful feasts accompanying them can no longer be held; the rejoicing of the feast of weeks and of the feast of tabernacles (Deu 16:9-15) is made impossible; all is sadness and lamentation.
The interpretation of Joe 1:17 is made difficult by the presence of at least four uncommon words and the disagreement among the ancient versions; the general thought, however, is clear. Evidently there is reference to a drought accompanying the plague of locusts.
Is rotten Better, shriveled. The Hebrew verb is found only here in the Old Testament. The translation of A.V. is adopted from mediaeval Jewish commentators, who compared the verb with a similar one in Arabic; but rot would presuppose excessive moisture, which is contrary to the context; another similar Arabic verb suggests the meaning to contract (the forehead), wrinkle, which would correctly describe the effects of drought upon the seed. It shrivels, and thus loses its germinating power. The Hebrew words for “seed” and “clods” also occur only here. About the meaning of the former there can be no doubt, and through comparison with the Arabic the translation “clod” seems well established, though the rendering “shovel” (Driver) is not without justification. A calamity of this character would destroy the harvest for a second year (Joe 2:25). Merx, who takes exception to all these uncommon words in a single verse, after careful consideration (pp. 101ff.) suggests the following translation of Joe 1:17 and the first clause of Joe 1:18: “The cattle stamp at their cribs; the garners are laid desolate, the winepresses are broken down, for the grain is not, grapes and olives are lost. What should we place in them?” There does not seem to be sufficient justification for these radical emendations.
Garners The places where the grain is stored.
Are laid desolate Because all that has been stored there has been used, and since the grain is shriveled in the ground there will be no harvest the following year; therefore the garners are allowed to go to ruin.
Barns The Hebrew word is used only here; a similar one meaning barn is in Hag 2:19; probably a synonym to “garner.” Whether separate sections for the preservation of various kinds of grain or fruit are intended (Credner) is not certain.
The corn [“grain”] is withered This gives the reason for the condition of the garners; the same word as in Joe 1:11.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Joe 1:15. The day of the Lord is at hand See Jer 46:10 and Eze 30:3.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The preceding verses having described the ruin of all flesh by reason of sin, here comes the judgment. The Prophet unable to enter into the particulars of the dreadful day of account, only cries out under the apprehension of it. Who may abide the day of his coming. Mal 3:2 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Joe 1:15 Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD [is] at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
Ver. 15. Alas, for the day, &c. ] Gr. Alas, Alas, Alas; the Vulgate Latin A, A, A, which a Lapide makes much ado about, to little purpose.
For the day of the Lord
For as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the day of the LORD. See note on Isa 2:12. This is the great subject of Joel’s prophecy, already the. “at hand”.
destruction from the ALMIGHTY. Note the Figure of speech Paronomasia (App-6). Hebrew. ke shod mishshaddai = mighty destruction from the Almighty. Compare Isa 13:6.
the ALMIGHTY = the All-bountiful. Hebrew. Shaddai. App-4. In this connection it is similar to “the wrath of the Lamb” (Rev 6:16, Rev 6:17) in its violent contrast.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Alas: Joe 2:2, Jer 30:7, Amo 5:16-18
the day of: Joe 2:1, Psa 37:13, Isa 13:6-9, Eze 7:2-12, Eze 12:22-28, Zep 1:14-18, Luk 19:41-44, Jam 5:9, Rev 6:17
Reciprocal: Deu 7:23 – shall destroy 1Ki 17:12 – that we may eat it 1Ki 18:2 – a sore Est 4:16 – fast Job 23:16 – Almighty Job 31:23 – destruction Isa 24:11 – a crying Jer 4:20 – upon destruction Jer 46:10 – the day Eze 6:11 – Alas Eze 13:5 – the day Amo 5:18 – the day of the Lord is 2Pe 3:10 – the day Rev 4:8 – Lord God Almighty Rev 18:10 – Alas
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
A DAY OF JUDGMENT
The day of the Lord is at hand.
Joe 1:15
In the first two chapters Joel foretells, under the figure of an army, a most terrible plague of locusts. The palmer-worm, locust, cankerworm, and caterpillar are believed to have been locusts in four different stages, rather than different insects. Though the primary reference be to literal insects, the Holy Spirit doubtless had in view the successive empires which assailed Judea, each worse than its predecessor, Rome being the worst. Note these lessons in the first chapter.
I. See God in all thingseven in lifes plagues.Either He sends them, or He permits them. Shall there be evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it? (Amo 3:6). This very plague had been foretold (Deu 28:38-39; Deu 28:43). And is there ever any trouble in our lives that He has not either sent or permitted? We talk of chance: the Bible never does. It speaks of God; always of Him.
II. Seek God specially in the time of trouble (Deu 28:14).This is the one thing to do first of all, and yet how often is it our last resort, if it is even that! Trouble comes either as chastisement or as chasteningas chastisement to correct; or as chastening to strengthen, educate, and beautify the obedient. In either case, the great end may be lost if we do not run to God in our sorrow, and ask directly of Him all the questions that pertain to it; and what a loss is thatto lose ones affliction, to suffer all in vain! This is the one hope for us. We must gather before God in confession and prayer. We must cry to God for ourselves, and must plead with Him in intercession for others (Deu 28:14; Deu 28:19). It will never do to continue as we are in the hopelessness of despair, or in a fatuous surrender to our misfortunes.
Illustration
Israel was still a kingdom when Joel prophesied; and as with Hosea, so with him, there are abundant allusions to the natural scenery and agricultural processes of the Land of Promise. How much do the children of the city miss in their aloofness from the illuminated missal of nature! Their speech is poorer for lack of the simple but beautiful images which adorn the language of a student of Gods oldest Bible.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Verse 15. Bay of the Lord denotes that the calamity about to be inflicted upon the nation would be by the decree Of Him.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joe 1:15-17. Alas for the day! Wo to us! The time in which God will inflict on us the punishments we have long deserved is now near; and if they be not averted by our repentance, they will fall upon us in an irresistible manner, and will end in our utter destruction, as coming from a God who is infinite in power, and terrible in his judgments. Is not the meat cut off before our eyes Hebrew, before your eyes, namely, devoured by locusts or withered with drought. Yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God The dearth hath obliged us to discontinue our daily offerings for want of corn and wine; and has deprived us of those rejoicings, wherewith we used to keep our solemn feasts at Jerusalem, and partake of the sacrifices there offered. It must be remembered, that the prophet all along speaks of the calamity as present, although, most probably, as was said before, this is a prophecy of what was to come. The seed is rotten under the clods The corn which is sown dies away and rots in the ground, so that the barns and granaries become useless and desolate.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1:15 Alas for the day! for the {i} day of the LORD [is] at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
(i) We see by these great plagues that utter destruction is at hand.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
D. The significance of the plague 1:15-20
"This section moves much closer to the form of the descriptive lament found in the lamenting psalms than did the descriptions earlier in the chapter." [Note: Allen, p. 59.]
We move, then, from summonses to lament to a lament itself.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The locust plague had destroyed (Heb. shadad) the fields and fruits of Judah, but Joel announced that things would get worse. Another day of destruction (Heb. shod) would come from the Lord, the Almighty (Heb. shadday). A locust plague was not only an evidence of God’s judgment (cf. Deuteronomy 28), but it had been a harbinger of future worse destruction in the past. A locust plague had preceded the plagues of darkness and death in Egypt (cf. Exodus 10-11). Thus, rather than seeing the locust plague as the end of the people’s troubles, Joel saw it as a prelude to something worse.
The day of the Lord is a term that appears frequently in the Old Testament, especially in the Prophets. It refers to a day in which the Lord is working obviously, in contrast to other days, the day of man, in which man works without any apparent divine intervention. Specifically, it is a day in which the Lord intervenes to judge His enemies. Gerhard von Rad argued that this term was originally associated with the Israelite concept of holy war, [Note: Gerhard von Rad, "The Origin of the Concept of the Day of the Lord," Journal of Semitic Studies 4 (1959):97-108.] but other scholars have disputed this aetiology. Most agree, however, that it had early associations with battles and conquest. Here the day of the Lord is obviously one of destruction, though elsewhere it also refers to a day of blessing. The eschatological day of the Lord that the prophets anticipated includes both judgment (in the Tribulation) and blessing (in the Millennium and beyond). Here Joel spoke of an imminent day of the Lord; it was coming on Judah relatively soon (cf. Isa 13:6; Eze 30:2-3; Amo 5:18-20; Zep 1:7-13).