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 2:22

2:22 Do not fear, wild animals! ⁶ 

For the pastures of the wilderness are again green with grass.

Indeed, the trees bear their fruit;

the fig tree and the vine yield to their fullest. ⁷ 

[1:20]  ¹ tn Heb “beasts of the field.”

[1:20]  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.

[1:20]  ³ tn Heb “sources of water.”

[1:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “consumed.”

[1:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “the pastures of the wilderness.”

[2:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “beasts of the field.”

[2:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “their strength.” The trees and vines will produce a maximum harvest, in contrast to the failed agricultural conditions previously described.