Joel 1:20

1:20 Even the wild animals ¹  cry out to you; ² 

for the river beds ³  have dried up;

fire has destroyed ⁴  the grassy pastures. ⁵ 

Joel 1:1

Introduction

1:1 This ⁶  is the Lord’s message ⁷  that was given ⁸ 

to Joel ⁹  the son of Pethuel:

Joel 1:5

1:5 Wake up, you drunkards, ¹⁰  and weep!

Wail, all you wine drinkers, ¹¹ 

because the sweet wine ¹²  has been taken away ¹³  from you. ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 12:4

12:4 How long must the land be parched ¹⁵ 

and the grass in every field be withered?

How long ¹⁶  must the animals and the birds die

because of the wickedness of the people who live in this land? ¹⁷ 

For these people boast,

“God ¹⁸  will not see what happens to us.” ¹⁹ 

Jeremiah 14:5-6

14:5 Even the doe abandons her newborn fawn ²⁰  in the field

because there is no grass.

14:6 Wild donkeys stand on the hilltops

and pant for breath like jackals.

Their eyes are strained looking for food,

because there is none to be found.” ²¹ 

Hosea 4:3

4:3 Therefore the land will mourn,

and all its inhabitants will perish. ²² 

The wild animals, ²³  the birds of the sky,

and even the fish in the sea will perish.

Romans 8:22

8:22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now.

¹ tn Heb “beasts of the field.”

² tn Heb “long for you.” Animals of course do not have religious sensibilities as such; they do not in any literal sense long for Yahweh. Rather, the language here is figurative (metonymy of cause for effect). The animals long for food and water (so BDB 788 s.v. עָרַג), the ultimate source of which is Yahweh.

³ tn Heb “sources of water.”

⁴ tn Heb “consumed.”

⁵ tn Heb “the pastures of the wilderness.”

⁶ sn The dating of the book of Joel is a matter of dispute. Some scholars date the book as early as the ninth century b.c., during the reign of the boy-king Joash. This view is largely based on the following factors: an argument from silence (e.g., the book of Joel does not mention a king, perhaps because other officials de facto carried out his responsibilities, and there is no direct mention in the book of such later Israelite enemies as the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians); inconclusive literary assumptions (e.g., the eighth-century prophet Amos in Amos 9:13 alludes to Joel 3:18); the canonical position of the book (i.e., it is the second book of the Minor Prophets); and literary style (i.e., the book is thought to differ in style from the postexilic prophetic writings). While such an early date for the book is not impossible, none of the arguments used to support it is compelling. Later dates for the book that have been defended by various scholars are, for example, the late seventh century or early sixth century or sometime in the postexilic period (anytime from late sixth century to late fourth century). Most modern scholars seem to date the book of Joel sometime between 400 and 350 b.c. For a helpful discussion of date see J. A. Thompson, “The Date of the Book of Joel,” A Light unto My Path, 453-64. Related to the question of date is a major exegetical issue: Is the army of chapter two to be understood figuratively as describing the locust invasion of chapter one, or is the topic of chapter two an invasion of human armies, either the Babylonians or an eschatological foe? If the enemy could be conclusively identified as the Babylonians, for example, this would support a sixth-century date for the book.

⁷ tn Heb “the word of the Lord.”

⁸ tn Heb “that was.” The term “given” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

⁹ sn The name Joel means in Hebrew “the Lord is God.” There are a dozen or so individuals with this name in the OT.

¹⁰ sn The word drunkards has a double edge here. Those accustomed to drinking too much must now lament the unavailability of wine. It also may hint that the people in general have become religiously inebriated and are unresponsive to the Lord. They are, as it were, drunkards from a spiritual standpoint.

¹¹ sn Joel addresses the first of three groups particularly affected by the locust plague. In v. 5 he describes the effects on the drunkards, who no longer have a ready supply of intoxicating wine; in vv. 11-12 he describes the effects on the farmers, who have watched their labors come to naught because of the insect infestation; and in vv. 13-14 he describes the effects on the priests, who are no longer able to offer grain sacrifices and libations in the temple.

¹² tn Heb “over the sweet wine, because it.” Cf. KJV, NIV, TEV, NLT “new wine.”

¹³ tn Heb “cut off” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV); NAB “will be withheld.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “your mouth.” This is a synecdoche of part (the mouth) for whole (the person).

¹⁵ tn The verb here is often translated “mourn.” However, this verb is from a homonymic root meaning “to be dry” (cf. HALOT 7 s.v. II אָבַל and compare Hos 4:3 for usage).

¹⁶ tn The words “How long” are not in the text. They are carried over from the first line.

¹⁷ tn Heb “because of the wickedness of those who live in it.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “he.” The referent is usually identified as God and is supplied here for clarity. Some identify the referent with Jeremiah. If that is the case, then he returns to his complaint about the conspirators. It is more likely, however, that it refers to God and Jeremiah’s complaint that the people live their lives apart from concern about God.

¹⁹ tc Or reading with the Greek version, “God does not see what we are doing.” In place of “what will happen to us (אַחֲרִיתֵנוּ, ’akharitenu, “our end”) the Greek version understands a Hebrew text which reads “our ways” (אָרְחוֹתֵנו, ’orkhotenu), which is graphically very close to the MT. The Masoretic is supported by the Latin and is retained here on the basis of external evidence. Either text makes good sense in the context. Some identify the “he” with Jeremiah and understand the text to be saying that the conspirators are certain that they will succeed and he will not live to see his prophecies fulfilled.

²⁰ tn Heb “she gives birth and abandons.”

²¹ tn Heb “their eyes are strained because there is no verdure.”

²² tn Or “languish” (so KJV, NRSV); NIV “waste away.”

²³ tn Heb “the beasts of the field” (so NAB, NIV).