Bible Commentary

Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, [yea], joy and gladness from the house of our God? 16. the meat ] food, the reference being in particular to the products of the soil mentioned in Joe 1:10. Meat in the A.V., and sometimes (as here) in the R.V. as well, is not restricted, … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joel 1:16”

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 … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joel 1:15”

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, 14. Sanctify a fast ] Fasting is a common observance in the East, especially among Semitic peoples; and it is frequently mentioned in the … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joel 1:14”

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 withheld from the house of your God. 13 15. The cessation of the daily sacrifices again occupies the prophet’s thought; and he turns … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joel 1:13”

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. 12. is dried up ] Better, sheweth shame, as Joe 1:10. the pomegranate ] Num … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joel 1:12”

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. 11. Be ashamed ] more exactly shew shame, i.e. manifest, by overt signs, your disappointment. To shew shame (or to be ashamed) is said in Hebrew idiomatically where we should … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joel 1:11”

The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. 10. the ground mourneth ] the country being personified, as Isa 33:9; Jer 12:4; Jer 12:11; Jer 23:10; cf. on Amo 1:2. Conversely, at harvest time, when the fruits of the earth are abundant, … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joel 1:10”

The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD’s ministers, mourn. 9. The meal offering and the drink offering is cut off, &c.] the means of providing them having been destroyed by the locusts. The cessation of the daily sacrifices would be regarded as … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joel 1:9”

Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. 8. Lament ] The verb is fem in the Hebrew, the community, personified as a woman, the “daughter of Judah,” or “daughter of my people,” being addressed. So often in the prophets: comp. on Amo 5:2. The word rendered lament ( ’lh) … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joel 1:8”

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. 7. He hath made my vine into a waste, and my fig-tree into splinters ] The vine and the fig-tree are mentioned as the two principal and most … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joel 1:7”