Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible · Joel Kabanata 1

Joel 1:2. Hear this, ye old men— This prophesy begins with threatening the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the land of Judah, with such desolation of their country, by swarms of locusts, as had never happened to them before in the memory of the oldest inhabitants of the land, and as should occasion the utmost distress to all sorts of persons among them. The havock that should be made by these creatures is described in a lively manner. Their corn of all sorts should be devoured, and all their choicest fruit-trees entirely destroyed; so that there should be the greatest scarcity of provision in the land, and not enough to supply the meat and drink-offerings for the altar of God. And what should increase this calamity was, the excessive heat and drought which should happen at the same time, whereby their herds and flocks should be almost ready to perish for want of water. Chandler.

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Joel 1:4. That which the palmer-worm hath left, &c.— Bochart has given many probable reasons to believe, that the four Hebrew words here used, חסיל chasil, ילק ielek, ארבה arbeh, גזם gazam, signify four species of locust; which the learned reader will find in his Hieroz. tom. ii. lib. v. c. 1. See also Scheuchzer on the place.

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Joel 1:5. Awake, ye drunkards— This character is given to Ephraim, Isaiah 28:1; Isaiah 28:3.; and excessive drinking is assigned as a reason of the captivity of Israel, Amos 6:6-7. Kimchi's commentary on the place, is, "You who accustom yourselves to get drunk with wine; awake ye out of your sleep, and weep night and day; for the wine shall fail you, because the locust shall devour the grape." See Chandler, and Sharpe. The author of the Observations thinks that new wine is a faulty translation; and that it should be rendered sweet wine; sweet as the new-trodden juice of grapes, but old. Wines (says he) of this sort were chiefly esteemed in former times, as appears from the Septuagint; for that which our version of Est 1:7 renders, Royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king, they read, Much and sweet wine, such as the king himself drank. Dr. Russel observes of the white wines of Aleppo, that they are palatable, but thin and poor, and seldom keep sound above a year. Now the prophet, in chap. Joe 3:18 describes a state of great prosperity, by the mountains dropping down sweet wine; as much as to say, the mountains of Judaea should not produce wine like that of Aleppo, but that which was rich, and capable of being long kept, and by that means of acquiring the greatest agreeableness. The same word עסיס asiis, is very properly translated sweet wine in Amo 9:13 and the same rendering in this place is confirmed and illustrated by an observation of Dr. Shaw's, concerning the wine of Algiers; which, says he, before the locusts destroyed the vineyards, in 1723 and 1724, was not inferior to the best Hermitage, either in briskness of taste or flavour. But since that time it is much degenerated; having not hitherto (that is, in 1732) recovered its usual qualities, Travels, p. 146. It is a desolation of their vineyards by locusts that Joel threatens, which thus injures their produce for many years as to briskness and flavour; and consequently nothing was more natural than to call the drunkards of Israel to mourn on that account. See Isa 49:26 and the Observations, p. 195.

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Joel 1:6. For a nation is come up— A word of consideration concerning the locusts may not be altogether improper, says Dr. Sharpe in his Second Argument, &c. And as the commentators are divided in their opinions, it will be but fair to give a brief view of what has been said on both sides. To begin then with Grotius, Houbigant, Rabbi Tanchum, Abarbanel, &c. they are of opinion, that the prophet has used this image to set forth the multitude of the Chaldean army; but then Bochart and others, on the contrary, assert, that it is an army of real locusts, and not of men. Some, as Cyril and Theodoret, have interpreted it of both. Jerome informs us, that some of the Jews before his time understood this description of the locusts to be figurative, and to mean the most powerful enemies of the Jews: and he himself is forced to confess, that while you read of locusts, you think of the Babylonians. The force of the Chaldeans (says he) is described under the metaphor of locusts. This interpretation is favoured also by the Chaldee. Pocock has, with great learning and diligence, endeavoured to prove, that locusts, not men, are here described by the prophet; and then, after such his literal interpretation, he allows it will be lawful for any to apply them to such things as he pleases. Throughout the prophesies of Daniel, kings, kingdoms, and forces, are represented under the names and parts of animals; the lion, bear, ram, goat, horns, wings. The king of Egypt is represented, Isa 27:1 by leviathan, the crooked serpent; the literal meaning is, "The crocodile of the Nile:" the real import is Psammeticus, king of Egypt, taken prisoner by Cambyses. The army of Nebuchadnezzar is compared to locusts (grasshoppers in our version), Jer 46:23 which is a common metaphor for numerous and destructive armies, as the reader may see by comparing Isaiah 33:4.Judges 6:5; Judges 6:5; Judges 7:12. It may therefore be presumed, that, under the metaphor of locusts, Joel describes the army of the Chaldeans; and this presumption is moreover favoured by several circumstances in the description. The locusts were of four kinds; and the enemies appointed over the Jews were of four kinds, Jeremiah 15:2-3. Jerome, with other interpreters, suppose the succession of these insects to mean the four several attacks of the Chaldeans: that is to say, first, in the last year of Nabopolassar, and third of Jehoiachim; secondly, when that king was taken prisoner, in the eleventh year of his reign; thirdly, in the ninth of Zedekiah; fourthly, about three years after, when Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. To conclude, we may with Bishop Warburton regard this as a double prophesy, and consider that Joel in his prediction of an approaching ravage by locusts, foretels likewise, in the same word, a succeeding desolation by the Assyrian army; for we are to observe, that this was God's method both in warning and punishing a sinful people. Thus when the seven nations, for their exceeding wickedness, were to be exterminated, God promises his chosen nation to send hornets before them,&c. See Exo 23:28 and Wis 12:8, &c. Now Joel, under one and the same prediction, contained in this and the following chapter, foretels both these plagues; the locusts in the primary sense, and the Assyrian army in the secondary. See Div. Leg. book 6: sect. 6 and the note on chap. Joel 2:20.

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Joel 1:7. My vine— This is the name of Judah, Psalms 80:8. Instead of, Cast it away, Houbigant reads, Deprived it of all fruit.

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Joel 1:8. Lament like a virgin— A young woman. Houbigant. These words are an apostrophe to the land of Judah; the prophet puts her in mind, that she ought to be deeply affected with the heavy strokes of divine vengeance, and express her inward sense of these calamities, with the same external marks of mourning as a wife who had lost the husband of her youth. See AEneid 4: ver. 1:28 and Calmet.

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Joel 1:12. The vine is dried up— In Barbary, in the month of June, the locusts collect themselves into compact bodies, a furlong or more square; and afterwards, marching directly on toward the sea, let nothing escape them; eating up every thing that is green or juicy, not only of the lesser kind of vegetables, but also the trees mentioned in this verse. The author of the

Observations is of opinion, that apple-tree cannot be a proper translation in this place; for the apples which the Arabs of Judea eat at this day, are of foreign growth, and at the same time very indifferent. He is therefore of opinion that the citron-tree is meant. See Observations, p. 199 and Dr. Shaw's Travels.

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Joel 1:15. The day of the Lord is at hand— See Jer 46:10 and Ezekiel 30:3.

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Joel 1:17. The seed is rotten, &c.— Rotted. Whoever considers the authentic accounts given of the depredations of locusts in the year 1748 in our own country, wherein they were found burrowing under ground, and consequently destroyed the seeds under the clods, thereby rendering the gardens desolate, must own that this part of the description is applicable to the locusts: though Dr. Sharpe observes, "that these calamities are the natural consequence of war, and not the work of locusts; and that the whole is a picture of a country, not only pillaged and laid waste, but also deprived of its inhabitants; which was the truth of the case, they having been carried into captivity." See his Second Argument, p. 333.

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Joel 1:18. How do the beasts groan!— That is, "How grievous will be the distress of the beasts of the field! How sadly will they complain, through the vehemency of thirst! How will the herds of cattle be troubled and perplexed! for their verdant pastures shall be all scorched up, and they will have none wherein to feed. The flocks also shall be desolate, and ready to perish." See Jeremiah 14:1-6; Jeremiah 15:2. Instead of, The herds of cattle are perplexed, Houbigant reads, How mournful are the lowings of the herds!

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Joel 1:19. For the fire hath devoured, &c.— By the fire, is meant the fiery heat and drought which burned up all the pastures or pleasant places, both in the wilderness and in the valleys.

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