Joel 1:10-12

1:10 The crops of the fields ¹  have been destroyed. ² 

The ground is in mourning because the grain has perished.

The fresh wine has dried up;

the olive oil languishes.

1:11 Be distressed, ³  farmers;

wail, vinedressers, over the wheat and the barley.

For the harvest of the field has perished.

1:12 The vine has dried up;

the fig tree languishes –

the pomegranate, date, and apple ⁴  as well.

In fact, ⁵  all the trees of the field have dried up.

Indeed, the joy of the people ⁶  has dried up!

[1:10]  ¹ tn Heb “the field has been utterly destroyed.” The term “field,” a collective singular for “fields,” is a metonymy for crops produced by the fields.

[1:10]  ² tn Joel uses intentionally alliterative language in the phrases שֻׁדַּד שָׂדֶה (shuddad sadeh, “the field is destroyed”) and אֲבְלָה אֲדָמָה (’avlah ’adamah, “the ground is in mourning”).

[1:11]  ³ tn Heb “embarrassed”; or “be ashamed.”

[1:12]  ⁴ tn This Hebrew word וְתַפּוּחַ (vÿtappuakh) probably refers to the apple tree (so most English versions), but other suggestions that scholars have offered include the apricot, citron, or quince.

[1:12]  ⁵ tn These words are not in the Hebrew text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “the sons of man.”