Joel 1:9 Kommentar

This chapter is the description of a lamentable devastation made of the country of Judah by locusts and caterpillars. Some think that the prophet speaks of it as a thing to come and gives warning of it beforehand, as usually the prophets did of judgments coming. Others think that it was now present, and that his business was to affect the people with it and awaken them by it to repentance. I. It is spoken of as a judgment which there was no precedent of in former ages (Joe 1:1-7). II. All sorts of people sharing in the calamity are called upon to lament it (Joe 1:8-13). III. They are directed to look up to God in their lamentations, and to humble themselves before him (Joe 1:14-20).

This chapter describes a dreadful calamity upon the people of the Jews, by locusts and, caterpillars, and drought. After the title of the book, Joe 1:1; old men are called upon to observe this sore judgment to their children, that it might be transmitted to the latest posterity, as that the like to which had not been seen and heard of, Joe 1:2; and drunkards to awake and weep, because the vines were destroyed, and no wine could be made for them, Joe 1:5; and not only husbandmen and vinedressers, but the priests of the Lord, are called to mourn, because such destruction, was made in the fields and vineyards, that there were no meat nor drink offering brought into the house of the Lord, Joe 1:8; wherefore a general and solemn fast is required throughout the land, because of the distress of man and beast, Joe 1:14; and the chapter is concluded with the resolution of the prophet to cry unto the Lord, on account of this calamity, Joe 1:19.

The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord,.... The meat offering was made of fine flour, oil, and frankincense; and the drink offering was of wine; and, because of the want of corn and wine, these were not brought to the temple as usual; and which was matter of great grief to religious persons, and especially to the priests, as follows: the priests, the Lord's ministers, mourn; partly because they had no work to do, and could not answer to their character, the ministers of the Lord, in ministering about holy things, and bringing the sacrifices and offerings of the people to him; and partly because of their want of food, their livelihood greatly depending on the offerings brought, part of which belonged to them, and on which they and their families lived.

(V. 9 seqq.) The sacrifice and libation from the house of the Lord have perished; the priests, ministers of the Lord, mourn. The land is laid waste, the earth mourns; for the wheat is destroyed. The wine is spoiled, the oil languishes, the farmers are confused. The vintners wail over the wheat and barley, for the harvest of the field is perished. The vine is dried up, the fig tree languishes; the pomegranate, palm, and apple, all the trees of the field are dried up; because joy has been confounded among the sons of men. LXX: The sacrifice and offering have been taken away from the house of the Lord. Mourn, O priests, ministers of the Lord, for the fields are devastated. Let the land mourn, for the wheat is afflicted, the wine has dried up, the oil has diminished. The farmers have withered away. Mourn, O possessions, for the grain and barley have perished. The grape harvest is lost, the vine has dried up, and the fig tree has withered. The pomegranate tree, the palm tree, the apple tree, and all the trees of the field are dried up. The joy of mankind has been destroyed. As far as history is concerned, due to the multitude of locusts or enemies that are described under their appearance, the sacrifice and libation from the house of the Lord perished, with everything devastated and consumed. The former used to offer from flour, and the latter from wine. Therefore, the priests, who are the ministers of the Lord, mourned, since neither the sacrifices nor the libations were properly performed, especially because the tithes, which they used to receive, were not offered at all. For the entire region was populated. The earth mourned, metaphorically, because of what happened to those who work the land: wheat, wine, and oil languished. Even the tenant farmers and vine dressers were confused and wailed because not only did the wheat dry up, but also the barley, which is cheaper and more abundant. And the vegetables, which I believe are signified by what he says, the harvest of the field perished, that is, all that the earth usually produces. What can I say about the grain, wine, oil, and barley, when even the dried fruits of the trees have withered, the fig tree has languished, and the pomegranate, palm, apple, and all the trees, whether fruitless or fruitful, have been devoured by the locust? All these things have happened so that the joy of the children of men may be taken away or be confounded. We can say that the same things happened to the people of Judea after the coming of the Savior when, with equal fury, they cried out, 'Crucify, crucify him! We have no king but Caesar' (John 19:9 and 15). When Jerusalem was surrounded by an army and such great necessity came upon them of famine and pestilence that they ate the bodies of their own children who were not yet mature. And all sacrifices were abolished, and the joy of the children of men was confounded because they did not want to receive the joy that the angel announced to the shepherds: 'I bring you tidings of great joy' (Luke 2:10). According to this interpretation, after the bride, who has received the teaching of God, has been separated from her bridegroom by sins, and has clothed herself in mourning attire, that is, the garments of one in mourning, then the sacrifice will perish, of which it is written: 'A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit' (Ps. 50:19), and the libation of wine, which gladdens the heart of man, from the house of God, which is the Church, as the Apostle says to Timothy: 'So that you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God' (1 Tim. 3:15). But the sacrifice and libation will be taken away from the house of the Lord, when charity has grown cold due to the multiplication of iniquity (Matt. 24): and the leaders of the people and the ministers of the altar will see that the fields and plains of the believers do not produce the fruits of virtue, but that everything is filled with vices: when the wheat and barley, vineyards and olive groves, rocket, grasshoppers, weevils, and rust have consumed everything, and we will not have the chalice that is written about: Your inebriating chalice, how preeminent it is (Ps. 23, 5)! And the oil shall perish, of which we read in Ecclesiastes: Let your garments be always white, and let not oil be lacking on your head (Eccl. IX, 8): whereby your face may shine, and your head may be anointed when you fast. Then the farmers shall be confounded, when they see that wheat does not grow in their fields, which sustains men, and barley which sustains irrational animals, and that the vineyard is in disorder, of which it is written: O vineyard of Israel, abundant in fruit (Isai. V, 2): the Lord was waiting for it to produce grapes, and it produced thorns. The fig also withered under which Nathanael was before he believed (John 1), and the pomegranate, whose cheeks are compared to the bride's cheeks in the Song of Songs (Song of Songs 6), and the palm tree that, losing its sap, withered, of which it was once said: But the righteous shall flourish like a palm tree (Psalm 92:13), and the apple tree of which we read in the same Song: As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons (Song of Songs 2:3). Why is it necessary to traverse all the trees, when everything is burned, and for joy and happiness, the sorrow and confusion of mankind will oppress and confound?

THE DESOLATE ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY THROUGH THE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS; THE PEOPLE ADMONISHED TO OFFER SOLEMN PRAYERS IN THE TEMPLE; FOR THIS CALAMITY IS THE EARNEST OF A STILL HEAVIER ONE. (Joel 1:1-20) Joel--meaning, "Jehovah is God." son of Pethuel--to distinguish Joel the prophet from others of the name. Persons of eminence also were noted by adding the father's name.

The greatest sorrow to the mind of a religious Jew, and what ought to impress the whole nation with a sense of God's displeasure, is the cessation of the usual temple-worship. meat offering--Hebrew, mincha; "meat" not in the English sense "flesh," but the unbloody offering made of flour, oil, and frankincense. As it and the drink offering or libation poured out accompanied every sacrificial flesh offering, the latter is included, though not specified, as being also "cut off," owing to there being no food left for man or beast. priests . . . mourn--not for their own loss of sacrificial perquisites (Num 18:8-15), but because they can no longer offer the appointed offerings to Jehovah, to whom they minister.

I. The Judgment of God, and the Prophet's Call to Repentance - Joel 1:2-2:17 An unparalleled devastation of the land of Judah by several successive swarms of locusts, which destroyed all the seedlings, all field and garden fruits, all plants and trees, and which was accompanied by scorching heat, induced the prophet to utter a loud lamentation at this unparalleled judgment of God, and an earnest call to all classes of the nation to offer prayer to the Lord in the temple, together with fasting, mourning, and weeping, that He might avert the judgment. In the first chapter, the lamentation has reference chiefly to the ruin of the land (Joel 1:2-20); in the second, the judgment is depicted as a foretype and harbinger of the approaching day of the Lord, which the congregation is to anticipate by a day of public fasting, repentance, and prayer (Joel 2:1-17); so that ch. 1 describes rather the magnitude of the judgment, and ch. 2:1-17 its significance in relation to the covenant nation. Lamentation over the Devastation of Judah by Locusts and Drought - Joel 1 After an appeal to lay to heart the devastation by swarms of locusts, which has fallen upon the land (Joe 1:2-4), the prophet summons the following to utter lamentation over this calamity: first the drunkards, who are to awake (Joe 1:5-7); then the congregation generally, which is to mourn with penitence (Joe 1:8-12); and then the priests, who are to appoint a service of repentance (Joe 1:13-18). For each of these appeals he gives, as a reason, a further description of the horrible calamity, corresponding to the particular appeal; and finally, he sums up his lamentation in a prayer for the deliverance of the land from destruction (Joe 1:19, Joe 1:20).