The Locust Plague Devastates the Land
Joel 1:1-12
Joe.1.1 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אשר: PRON,rel
- היה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- יואל: NOUN,m,sg,proper
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- פתואל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Hosea 1:1 (verbal): Same prophetic-intro formula: 'The word of the LORD that came to [name] son of [father]' (דבר־יהוה אשר היה אל...), a close verbal parallel establishing prophetic authority.
- Micah 1:1 (verbal): Uses the identical introductory clause 'The word of the LORD that came to Micah,' echoing the standard prophetic opening found in Joel 1:1.
- Amos 1:1 (structural): Begins with an introductory formula identifying the prophet and the origin of his message ('The words of Amos... which he saw concerning Israel'), functioning like Joel in framing the prophetic oracle.
- Jeremiah 1:4 (verbal): 'The word of the LORD came to me'—another instance of the divine-origin formula that introduces prophetic revelation and the prophet's call to speak.
- Ezekiel 1:3 (verbal): 'The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel...'—a close verbal/structural parallel emphasizing that the prophecy is directly from YHWH to the named prophet.
Alternative generated candidates
- The word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel.
- The word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel.
Joe.1.2 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- שמעו: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,pl
- זאת: DEM,f,sg
- הזקנים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- והאזינו: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,pl
- כל: DET
- יושבי: PTC,qal,ptc,mp,cons
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
- ההיתה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- זאת: DEM,f,sg
- בימיכם: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,const,2,m,pl
- ואם: CONJ
- בימי: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,cons
- אבתיכם: NOUN,m,pl,cons+PRON,2,pl
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 32:1 (verbal): Both open with an imperative summons to ‘give ear/hear’—a traditional prophetic formula calling heaven and earth or the people to listen to a solemn oracle.
- Isaiah 1:2 (verbal): Isaiah likewise begins with ‘Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth,’ using a public summons to witness God’s indictment—parallel use of an address that frames a prophetic complaint.
- Micah 6:3 (thematic): Micah poses a rhetorical question (‘My people, what have I done to you?’) similar to Joel’s challenge (‘Has this been in your days or in the days of your fathers?’), both invoking memory and precedent to highlight the present crisis.
- Ezekiel 12:2 (thematic): Ezekiel addresses a refractory audience (they have ears to hear and hear not) and calls attention to the people’s failure to heed—paralleling Joel’s direct appeal to elders and inhabitants to listen and consider whether such a thing has occurred before.
Alternative generated candidates
- Hear this, you elders; give ear, all who dwell in the land: Has such a thing been in your days, or in the days of your fathers?
- Hear this, you elders; give ear, all who dwell in the land: has such a thing been in your days, or in the days of your fathers?
Joe.1.3 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- עליה: PREP,3,f,sg
- לבניכם: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs,poss:2mp
- ספרו: VERB,qal,impv,2,_,pl
- ובניכם: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,abs+SUFF,2mp
- לבניהם: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs+3,m,pl
- ובניהם: NOUN,m,pl,abs,3mp
- לדור: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אחר: PREP
Parallels
- Psalm 78:6-7 (verbal): Directly parallels Joel's injunction to tell succeeding generations so they may set their hope in God and not forget his works—similar wording and intent about intergenerational instruction.
- Deuteronomy 4:9 (thematic): Warns Israel to take care and 'make them known' to their children—serves the same purpose of deliberately passing knowledge to the next generation.
- Deuteronomy 6:7 (verbal): Commands parents to teach God's commandments 'to your children' in everyday life—echoes Joel's focus on transmission of instruction from parent to child.
- Psalm 145:4 (thematic): Declares that 'one generation shall commend your works to another,' echoing Joel's theme of successive generations recounting God's acts.
- Psalm 22:30-31 (thematic): Speaks of future generations declaring the LORD's righteousness to people yet unborn—parallels Joel's concern that the message be passed on to subsequent generations.
Alternative generated candidates
- Tell it to your children; let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation.
- Tell it to your children; let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation.
Joe.1.4 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- יתר: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- הגזם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אכל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- הארבה: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ויתר: CONJ+ADJ,m,sg,abs
- הארבה: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אכל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- הילק: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ויתר: CONJ+ADJ,m,sg,abs
- הילק: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אכל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- החסיל: NOUN,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Exodus 10:12-15 (verbal): Egyptian plague of locusts described as spreading over the land and eating all vegetation—parallels Joel’s image of successive swarms devouring what the previous left.
- Joel 2:25 (structural): Later in Joel God promises to restore “the years the locust has eaten,” directly responding to the locust devastation described in 1:4.
- Amos 4:9 (verbal): Amos speaks of locusts devouring gardens, vineyards and trees as divine judgment—language and theme closely mirror Joel’s depiction of agricultural destruction.
- Revelation 9:3-4 (allusion): John’s apocalyptic “locusts” echo Joel’s judgment imagery; Revelation reworks the locust motif to portray divine/eschatological torment.
Alternative generated candidates
- What the early locust left, the locust has eaten; what the locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten.
- What the cutting locust left the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust left the hopping locust has eaten; what the hopping locust left the destroyer has eaten.
Joe.1.5 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הקיצו: VERB,qal,impv,2,_,pl
- שכורים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ובכו: CONJ,INFABS,qal
- והיללו: CONJ+VERB,piel,imp,2,mp
- כל: DET
- שתי: NUM,card,f,du
- יין: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- עסיס: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- נכרת: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,sg
- מפיכם: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,pr,2,pl
Parallels
- Isaiah 24:7-8 (verbal): Speaks of the failure of the new wine and the silencing of mirth—language and imagery closely parallel Joel's announcement that the sweet wine is cut off and joy is ended.
- Amos 6:4-6 (thematic): Condemns those who indulge in wine and luxury while ignoring disaster; contrasts the drinking/celebratory life with the need for mourning called for in Joel.
- Amos 8:10 (thematic): Declares that feasts and songs will be turned into mourning and lamentation—similar theme of reversal from drinking/rejoicing to weeping in the face of judgment.
- Joel 2:12 (structural): Within the same book: a call to return to the LORD with fasting, weeping and mourning—echoes Joel 1:5's summons for drinkers to awake and weep.
Alternative generated candidates
- Awake, you drunkards, and weep; and wail, all drinkers of wine, because the sweet wine is cut off from your mouth.
- Awake, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you who drink wine, over the sweet wine—for it is cut off from your mouth.
Joe.1.6 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- גוי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עלה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- על: PREP
- ארצי: NOUN,f,sg,abs,1,sg
- עצום: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- ואין: CONJ+PART,exist
- מספר: VERB,qal,impf,1,m,sg
- שניו: NOUN,f,pl,poss3,m,pl
- שני: NUM,m,pl,construct
- אריה: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- ומתלעות: CONJ+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- לביא: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Joel 2:2–11 (verbal): Same book expands the image of an invading 'nation' like an unstoppable army/locust host—mighty, without number, devastating the land (continuation/amplification of Joel 1:6 imagery).
- Nahum 2:11–12 (thematic): Uses lion/den imagery of a predator that has devoured its prey—parallels Joel’s depiction of the invader as having the teeth and fangs of a lion (predatory, consuming force).
- Psalm 17:12–13 (verbal): Describes enemies in terms of roaring, ravening lions that open their mouths against the psalmist—similar metaphor of foes as lions with dangerous teeth.
- Hosea 13:7–8 (allusion): God (or an agent of judgment) is portrayed as a lion that tears and devours—echoes the predator motif in Joel where the invading force is lion-like in its destructive bite.
Alternative generated candidates
- For a nation has come up against my land—mighty, without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the fangs of a lioness.
- For a nation has come up against my land—mighty and beyond number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the fangs of a lion.
Joe.1.7 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- שם: ADV
- גפני: NOUN,f,pl,const
- לשמה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ותאנתי: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,1cs
- לקצפה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,3fs
- חשף: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- חשפה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- והשליך: VERB,hifil,perf,3,m,sg
- הלבינו: VERB,piel,perf,3,pl
- שריגיה: NOUN,m,pl,abs,3fs
Parallels
- Amos 4:9 (verbal): Amos explicitly links divine punishment to blight and locusts that strike gardens, vineyards and fig trees—language that echoes Joel’s image of vines and fig trees laid waste and stripped bare.
- Deuteronomy 28:39-40 (allusion): As part of the covenant curses Deuteronomy warns that vineyards and fig trees will fail under judgment; Joel’s ruined vine and fig tree functions as the same sign of national punishment.
- Isaiah 5:6 (thematic): Isaiah’s pronouncement that the Lord will make the vineyard a waste and leave it unkept parallels Joel’s judgment motif of a desolated vine and broken branches.
- Habakkuk 3:17 (verbal): Habakkuk uses the image of the fig tree failing to blossom and the vine yielding no fruit to portray agricultural devastation—an image that closely parallels Joel’s bare, stripped vine and fig tree.
- Psalm 80:8-11 (thematic): Psalm 80 laments a vine brought out of Egypt that has been broken down and plucked; the lament over a destroyed vine resonates with Joel’s complaint about stripped and cast-off branches.
Alternative generated candidates
- My vine is laid waste and my fig tree dried up; he has stripped them bare and cast their branches away.
- My vine has been made a desolation and my fig tree a disgrace; he has stripped them bare and thrown them away— their branches are made white.
Joe.1.8 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- אלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- כבתולה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- חגרת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- שק: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- בעל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נעוריה: NOUN,m,pl,abs+3fs
Parallels
- Isaiah 54:6-7 (verbal): Uses the phrase and motif of a wife/‘wife of youth’ who has been forsaken and will be reclaimed — language and image closely parallel the ‘husband of her youth’ bride motif in Joel.
- Jeremiah 2:2 (verbal): God recalls ‘the devotion of your youth, the love of your betrothal’ — similar betrothal/young‑wife language and the theme of former faithful love now lamented.
- Ezekiel 16:8 (allusion): Describes God’s taking Jerusalem as a bride (spreading his skirt, entering a covenant) — parallel bride/husband and covenantal betrothal imagery underlying Joel’s mourning figure.
- Hosea 2:19-20 (thematic): God’s vow to ‘betroth’ Israel forever and re‑establish the husband–wife relationship — echoes the betrothal/husband‑of‑youth motif and the contrast between present chastening and promised restoration.
Alternative generated candidates
- Lament like a maiden girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
- Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
Joe.1.9 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הכרת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- מנחה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ונסך: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מבית: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אבלו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- הכהנים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- משרתי: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Joel 2:17 (structural): Same book and theme: calls the priests/servants of the LORD to lament at the house of the LORD (between porch and altar) — a parallel development of priestly mourning when cultic worship is threatened or interrupted.
- Hosea 9:4 (verbal): Explicitly forbids wine offerings to the LORD and portrays sacrifices as 'the food of mourners,' echoing Joel's mention of the drink (נסך) and grain offerings being cut off and the association with mourning.
- Amos 5:21–23 (thematic): God rejects Israel’s sacrifices and songs, turning festivals into mourning — thematically related to Joel’s image of cultic worship interrupted or rendered unacceptable, producing priestly grief.
- Psalm 74:7–9 (thematic): A communal lament over the profaned sanctuary and the cessation of normal cultic signs; like Joel 1:9 it links temple devastation with the end or disruption of regular offerings and cultic life.
Alternative generated candidates
- The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the ministers of the LORD, mourn.
- Is the grain offering and the libation cut off from the house of the LORD? The priests, the LORD’s ministers, mourn.
Joe.1.10 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- שדד: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- שדה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אבלה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- אדמה: NOUN,prop,f,sg
- כי: CONJ
- שדד: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- דגן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הוביש: VERB,hiph,perf,3,ms
- תירוש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אמלל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יצהר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Habakkuk 3:17-18 (verbal): Lists the failure of staple crops and products (no figs, no grapes, olive yield fails), closely paralleling Joel’s catalogue of devastated grain, dried-up wine, and failing oil.
- Isaiah 24:4-6 (thematic): Speaks of the earth mourning and languishing because the work of its inhabitants has failed—same imagery of the land’s grief and economic/ecological collapse as in Joel.
- Deuteronomy 28:38-40 (structural): Part of the covenant curse predicting failed harvests, scant seed, and poor yields—provides a covenantal framework for crop failure language like Joel’s.
- Psalm 107:33-34 (thematic): Describes God turning fertile land into a waterless waste and a fruitful land into salt—echoes Joel’s theme of agricultural devastation as a sign of divine judgment.
Alternative generated candidates
- The field is wasted and the land mourns; for the grain is destroyed—new wine dried up, oil has failed.
- The field is wasted, the land mourns—because the grain is ruined; the new wine is dried up, the oil languishes.
Joe.1.11 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הבישו: VERB,hif,perf,3,m,pl
- אכרים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- הילילו: VERB,piel,imp,2,m,pl
- כרמים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- על: PREP
- חטה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- שערה: NOUN,m,sg,abs+suff:3,fs
- כי: CONJ
- אבד: VERB,qal,infabs
- קציר: NOUN,m,sg,construct
- שדה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Amos 8:1-2 (thematic): Uses the image of a summer-fruit basket and announces ruin of the harvest—parallels Joel’s theme of lost crops and the resulting mourning of farmers and vinedressers.
- Micah 7:1-2 (thematic): Speaks of a time when the gleanings of the vintage and the summer fruits are gone—echoes Joel’s lament over absent harvest and the resulting desolation.
- Jeremiah 8:20 (verbal): “The harvest is past, the summer is ended” closely parallels Joel’s language that the field’s harvest is perished, both depicting completed loss of the harvest season.
- Psalm 107:33-34 (thematic): Describes God turning fruitful land into barrenness and bringing joy to mourning—parallels the motif of land made unproductive and people’s lament in Joel 1:11.
Alternative generated candidates
- Put on mourning, you farmers; wail, you vine-dressers, for the wheat and the barley—for the harvest of the field is perished.
- The farmers are ashamed; the vinedressers wail—over the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.
Joe.1.12 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הגפן: NOUN,f,sg,def
- הובישה: VERB,hifil,perf,3,f,sg
- והתאנה: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,def
- אמללה: ADJ,f,sg,abs
- רמון: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- גם: ADV
- תמר: NOUN,prop,f,sg,abs
- ותפוח: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כל: DET
- עצי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- השדה: NOUN,m,sg,def
- יבשו: VERB,qal,imprf,3,m,pl
- כי: CONJ
- הביש: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ששון: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מן: PREP
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- אדם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Habakkuk 3:17 (verbal): Uses the same agricultural image (fig tree failing) to picture national calamity; similar wording and motif of fruit trees not bearing.
- Isaiah 5:1-7 (thematic): Song of the vineyard: fruitlessness and judgment on the land and its produce—same theme of divine judgment resulting in withered vines/trees.
- Matthew 21:18-22 (allusion): Jesus curses a fig tree which withers—New Testament echo of fig-tree imagery as a sign of judgment and loss of blessing.
- Amos 4:7-9 (thematic): God withholds rain and sends blight/pestilence so crops and trees fail—parallel description of climatic/agricultural devastation as divine punishment.
Alternative generated candidates
- The vine is dried up and the fig tree languishes; the pomegranate, the palm, and the apple—yes, all the trees of the field—are withered; for gladness has withered away from the children of mankind.
- The vine is dried up and the fig tree languishes; the pomegranate, the palm and the apple—indeed all the trees of the field—are withered; for gladness has vanished from the people.
The word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel.
Hear this, you elders; give ear, all who dwell in the land: has this been in your days, or in the days of your fathers?
Tell it to your children; let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation.
What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten; what the hopping locust left, the stripping locust has eaten.
Awake, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all who drink wine, over the sweet wine, for it is cut off from your mouth.
For a nation has come up against my land, mighty and without number; its teeth are like the teeth of a lion, and it has the fangs of a lion.
It has laid my vine waste and ruined my fig tree; it has stripped them bare and thrown their branches away.
Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD's servants, mourn.
The field is wasted; the land mourns— the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, the oil languishes.
Be ashamed, O farmers; wail, you vinedressers, over the wheat and over the barley, for the harvest of the field is ruined.
The vine is dried up and the fig tree languishes; the pomegranate, also the palm and the apple— all the trees of the field— are withered; gladness has withered away from the sons of men.