JOE L. INTRODUCTION. THERE is little doubt that Joel lived in the reigns of Uzziah king of Judah, and of Jeroboam II. king of Israel, who flourished as contemporary sovereigns between the years of the world 3194 and 3219; and that he delivered his prophecies soon after Hosea had commenced his ministry; though some Jewish and Christian writers have assigned to him a later period; some placing him in the reign of Jotham; others in that of Joram; and others contending that he prophesied under Manasseh, or Josiah; the last of which monarchs began to reign about 640 years before the birth of Christ. Joel was the son of Pethuel, or Bethuel, and, according to some reports, of the tribe of Reuben. He is related to have been born at Bethoron; which was probably the lower or nether Bethoron, a town in the territory of Benjamin, between Jerusalem and Cesarea." Of the particulars of his life, or of the age to which he attained, we have no account. Dorotheus relates only, that he died in peace at the place of his nativity. The Book appears to be entirely prophetick; though Joel, under the impression of foreseen calamities, describes their effects as present, and by an animated representation anticipates the scenes of misery which lowered over Judea, chap. i. 4-7, 10, 16-20. Though it cannot be positively determined to what period the description contained in the first chapter may apply, it is generally supposed that the Prophet blends two subjects of affliction in one general consideration or beautiful allegory; and that under the devastation to be produced by locusts in the vegetable world, he pourtrays some more distant calamities to be produced by the armies of the Chaldeans in their invasion of Judea. In the second chapter the Prophet proceeds to a more general denunciation of God's vengeance; which is delivered with such force and aggravation of circumstance, as to be in some measure descriptive of that final judgment, which every temporal dispensation of the Deity must faintly prefigure. The severe declarations of Joel are intermingled with exhortations to repentance, and to the auxiliary means of promoting its effects, fasting and prayer; as also with promises of deliverance, and of a prosperity predictive of evangelical blessings. In consideration of these important prophecies, we need not wonder that the Jews should have looked up to Joel with particular reverence, or that he should be cited as a Prophet by the evangelical writers; chap. ii. 32, compared with Rom. x. 13; Acts ii. 16-21. Dr. Gray. In his style Joel is peculiarly elegant, perspicuous, diffuse, and fluent; he is also in a high degree sublime, bold, and animated. In his first and second chapters he shews how well prophetical poetry succeeds in description; how greatly it delights in metaphors, comparisons, and allegories. Nor is the arrangement of his subjects less beautiful than the colouring of his language: the amplification of calamities; exhortation to repentance; the promise to the penitent of earthly as well as heavenly blessings; the restoration of the Israelitish prosperity; the punishments inflicted on their adversaries. However, both in this and in other places, when we extol perspicuity of elocution, and beauty of composition, we do not deny that there is sometimes great obscurity in the matter: which may occasionally be observed in the conclusion of this prophecy. Bp. Lowth. Joel exhorteth to mourning. Before CHRIST CHAP. I. the cankerworm eaten; and that which about 800. the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten. + Heb. laid my fig tree for a barking. I Or, ashamed. 5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. 6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. 7 He hath laid my vine waste, and +barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white. 8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. 9 The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the Lord's ministers, mourn. He prescribeth a fast. Before CHRIST 12 The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate about 800. tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men. 13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. a 14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a a Chap. 2. 15. || solemn assembly, gather the elders restraint. || Or, day of and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD, 15 Alas for the day! for the day b Isai. 13. 6. of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. 16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God? 10 The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is || dried up, the oil languisheth. 17 The seed is rotten under their Heb. Il Be ye ashamed, O ye husband-clods, the garners are laid desolate, grains. men; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the barns are broken down; for the the wheat and for the barley; because corn is withered. the harvest of the field is perished. as concur in hurting and devouring the fruits of the earth, so that whatever escapes one, is destroyed by another. Dr. Pocock. 5. Awake, ye drunkards,] It may seem probable, that the sin of drunkenness was then among others much indulged in, and rendered the people sottish and stupid, as drunkards usually are, so that they regarded neither the work of the Lord, nor their own good. To them therefore He appears more particularly to address Himself, as having by that odious sin drawn down the present judgment on themselves and their country. The word "awake" is used to denote the drunkard's insensibility to his danger, in Prov. xxiii. 35; and elsewhere it signifies a man's recovery from security in other sins: Rom. xiii. 11; Eph. v. 14. Dr. Pocock. 66 6.- a nation] Locusts, poetically so called. Abp. Newcome. As the prophet applies the term, a nation,' to the locusts, and Solomon calls the ants "a people," Prov. xxx. 25, so Homer has "the nations of swarming bees," and "the numerous nations of swarming flies;" and Orpheus expressly mentions "an innumerable nation of locusts." Parkhurst. is come up] A future event, which might be averted by repentance, chap. ii. 12, &c. is spoken of as having already taken place, to enliven the description by setting the images before the eyes of the reader. Abp. Newcome. whose teeth are the teeth of a lion,] The same comparison is used in Rev. ix. 8; and denotes the great power of doing mischief possessed by these little vermin. Elsewhere, things which have great force to do hurt, are compared to the teeth of a lion, Ecclus. xxi. 2; Ps. lviii. 6. Dr. Pocock. 7. He hath laid my vine waste, &c.] See the notes on Exod. x. 4, 15. 18 How do the beasts groan! the the branches thereof are made white.] By reason of the bark being eaten from the boughs. Bp. Hall. 8. Lament like a virgin &c.] The words are an apostrophe to the land of Judea: the Prophet puts her in mind that she ought to be deeply affected with the sore strokes of the Divine vengeance, and express her inward sense of those calamities with the same outward expressions of mourning, as a young virgin that was betrothed to an husband would lament his untimely loss. husband of her youth," is a woman's first husband; as the "wife of his youth," Mal. ii. 15, is a husband's first wife. W. Lowth. "The 9. The meat offering &c.] The earth yieldeth not so much as wherewith to make a meat offering or drink offering unto the Lord; the corn and the wine and the oil are utterly consumed; so that the priests, the Lord's ministers, have just cause to mourn. So also verses 10-13. Bp. Hall. 14. Sanctify ye a fast, &c.] In order to deprecate God's wrath, and avert His judgments. See chap ii. 15, 16. W. Lowth. The word " sanctify seems to require, how the people were to prepare themselves for the enjoined fast, and to behave themselves in it; namely, with more than ordinary sanctity and holiness, not thinking it sufficient only to abstain from meat and drink, which is sufficient to denominate a man to fast, but withal to abstain from sin and wickedness, which is requisite to a holy and religious fast, such as is the duty and sign of an humble penitent, and is alone acceptable to God. Dr. Pocock. into the house of the Lord your God,] See 1 Kings viii. 37. W. Lowth. 17.- the barns are broken down ;] The receptacles for the fruits of the earth are not repaired, because Joel sheweth unto Zion Before CHRIST JOEL. herds of cattle are perplexed, because about 500. they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. || Or, habitations. Or, cornet. 19 O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the || pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. LOW ye the trumpet in Zion, || and sound an alarm in my holy mountain let all the inhabitants of there is nothing to treasure up in them. Abp. New come. 19.- for the fire hath devoured the pastures &c.] For the scorching drought hath devoured all the herbage of the wilderness, and the fiery beams have burnt up all the trees of the field. Bp. Hall. The wilderness is sometimes opposed to the hills or mountains, and then it signifies the plains and places for pasture. See Isai. lxiii. 13; Jer. ix. 10. W. Lowth. Chap. II. ver. 1. Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, &c.] The Prophet describes the locusts and caterpillars as God's "army," ver. 11; in pursuance of which metaphor he exhorts the people to prepare to meet them, in the same terms as if they were alarmed to encounter an enemy, which was by sounding a trumpet. See Jer. iv. 5, 6, 19. This ceremony was not only used to give notice of an approaching enemy, but likewise to publish the times of the solemn assemblies for the worship of God: see Numb. x. 3, 9, 10. And this is the chief use they were to make of it upon this occasion; see ver. 15. For there was no other way to avert the impending judgment, but humbling themselves before God with fasting and prayer. W. Lowth. the day of the Lord] A day, in which He will send very terrible judgments on the land, and take vengeance on them for their sins. Dr. Pocock. 2. A day of darkness] A very calamitous day, bringing with it much mischief and distress, which are figuratively set forth by darkness, as a state of prosperity is by light. See Amos v. 18, &c. By some interpreters "darkness" here is understood properly for darkness in the air, caused by what should then befall them in their land. Compare Exod. x. 15. Dr. Pocock. See on that passage the note from Dr. Shaw, whose testimony concerning locusts "darkening the sun" is confirmed by various authors, ancient and modern. as the morning spread upon the mountains:] As a morning cloud spread upon the mountains, which hides the sun and the heavens, and threatens the certain coming of showers. Dr. Pocock. a great people and a strong;] The Prophet speaks of the locusts in such military terms, and represents them like such a formidable army, that it has induced several the terribleness Before CHRIST the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; about 800. 2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years † of many gene- + Heb. of rations. 3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. 4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. 5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that generation and genera tion. learned men to think, that they are put by a figure to denote real armies. Another opinion is, that we are to understand the locust, cankerworm, palmerworm, and caterpiller, spoken of ver. 4, of the preceding chapter, in a literal sense; and that the military terms, which are used, may by the authority of parallel passages in Scripture be applied to them. Reading. there hath not been ever the like, &c.] See Exod. x. 14. In both places we are to take it for a proverbial expression, to set forth the extraordinary greatness of the judgment. Compare 2 Kings xviii. 5; xxiii. 23. W. Lowth. 3. A fire devoureth before them; &c.] They consume like a general conflagration, as Pliny says, " burning things up by their touch." Sir Hans Sloane, in his Natural History of Jamaica, says, "They destroy the ground not only for the time, but burn trees for two years after :" and Ludolphus, in the History of Ethiopia, "Wheresoever they feed, their leavings seem as it were parched with fire." Abp. Newcome. — as the garden of Eden] A proverbial expression for a place of pleasure and fruitfulness, as we commonly use the word paradise. See Gen. xiii. 10; Isai. li. 3. W. Lowth. nothing shall escape them.] That is, nothing which the ground produces. Abp. Newcome. Different authors give accounts similar to Dr. Shaw's in the note on Exod. x. 15, concerning the devastation occasioned by locusts among all sorts of vegetable productions, not only herbage, corn, pulse, the fruits and leaves, the buds and very bark of trees, but even the hemp, notwithstanding its great bitterness, and the reeds with which the African huts are thatched. 5. Like the noise of chariots &c.] See Rev. ix. 9: Nahum iii. 2. Bochart says, that a swarm of locusts make so loud a noise, when they move, that they may be heard six miles off. Abp. Newcome. like the noise of a flame of fire &c.] The noise in the former comparison seems to be made by their motion; this is probably meant of the noise made by their chewing or eating. Dr. Pocock. Cyril, quoted by Bochart, says of them, that while they are breaking their food with their teeth, the noise is like that of flame driven about by the wind. Abp. Newcome. | Or, dart. 6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather† blackness. 7 They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks : 8 Neither shall one thrust another; 10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: Dr. Chandler, in his Travels in Asia Minor, takes notice of the prodigious crackling and noise which accompanied an accidental fire, which was kindled in the long parched grass near Troas, and devoured all before it. Parkhurst. 6.- all faces shall gather blackness.] The alteration in the countenance was to indicate the inward pain. Dr. Pocock. Compare Jer. viii. 21; Nahum ii. 10. W. Lowth. 7. They shall run like mighty men; &c.] They shall march in such a swift and orderly manner, that no place shall be inaccessible to them, nor any force be able to W. Lowth. withstand them. 8. Neither shall one thrust another;] Many writers mention the order of locusts in their flight and march; and their manner of proceeding directly forwards, whatever obstacles were interposed. Abp. Newcome. See Dr. Shaw's note on Exod. x. 15. a He exhorteth to repentance. Before the sun and the moon shall be dark, a Isai. 13. 10. 11 And the LORD shall utter his Ezek. 32. 7. с Amos 5. 18. 12 Therefore also now, saith the 13 And rend your heart, and not Ps. 86. 5. 14 e Who knoweth if he will return e Jonah 3. 9. and repent, and leave a blessing behind of the people were the cause, which merited this dreadful visitation: and the way to remove it was for the people to repent of their sins, by open confession and sorrow for them, and by utterly renouncing and foracknowledgment of them, by a deep humiliation and saking them. This is the great reason of the Prophet's discourse, and the main point which he pursues throughout it. Reading. turn ye even to me with all your heart,] Let not your heart be divided between God and your idols or other sins, but let it be given wholly up to Him. God all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our might," requires in our love and service of Him, that it be "with Deut. vi. 5; " and with all our mind," as our Saviour adds in repeating that first and great commandment, without obeying which no other can be duly observed, performances of the outward man are insufficient and Mark xii. 30. Without being actuated by the heart, al! vain, or rather they are displeasing. But when the heart shall have duly performed its part, the outward and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.] This refers to the scales with which locusts are covered as with a coat of mail. Abp. New-man is not left unconcerned, but hath his part also to come. 9. They shall run to and fro in the city; &c.] Compare Exod. x. 5, 6. St. Jerome saith of locusts, that there is nothing inaccessible to them; they seize, not only on the fields, corn, and trees, but also enter cities, houses, and the most private chambers. Dr. Pocock. 10. The earth shall quake before them ; &c.] This and 11. And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army :] | 12. Therefore also now, saith the Lord, &c.] The sins perform, in order to express how the inward man of the heart is really affected: and so by the joint concurrence of both true conversion or repentance is made up. The Prophet therefore to the inward affection of the whole and express it, "fasting, and weeping, and mourning.' heart adds those outward acts, which are to accompany Dr. Pocock. He that would so turn to the Lord, as to find mercy with Him, must not turn from one sin to another, or from one sect to another, or from one religion to another former wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts, and only; but he must turn from all his sins, from all his our hearts must be wholly inclined to God, and our must "turn unto the Lord with all his heart:" that is, Him, without any mental reservation or hypocritical souls be offered up as a whole burnt offering unto equivocation. There is no agreement between Christ and Belial, between God and sin in the same heart. Bp. Beveridge. 13. And rend your heart, and not your garments,] Not merely your garments. See Gen. xxxvii. 29, 34; Job i. 20; 2 Sam. i. 11. vi. 6. repenteth him of the evil.] See the notes on Gen. 14. Who knoweth if he will return &c.] Who knoweth Joel prescribeth a fast. Before CHRIST JOEL. 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, f Chap. 1. 14. f sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: He comforteth Zion, Before CHRIST him; even a meat offering and a drink | you the northern army, and will drive about 800. offering unto the LORD your God? him into a land barren and desolate, about 800. with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because the hath done great things. 21 Fear not, O land; be glad fed to do. and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things. 1 Or, use a byword g Ps. 42. 10. & 79 10. & 115. 2. 16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. 22 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. the + Heb. he hath magni teacher of 17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the 23 Be glad then, ye children of heathen should rule over them: Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your against them. wherefore should they say among God: for he hath given you the people, Where is their God. former rain moderately, and her, a 18 Then will the LORD be jea-h will cause to come down for you the righteousness. lous for his land, and pity his people. rain, the former rain, and the latter accordi 19 Yea, the LORD will answer and rain in the first month. say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen: 20 But I will remove far off from whether your humiliation may not yet prevail with Him, and cause Him to withdraw His judgments, and instead thereof to bestow a blessing of plenty upon us; so that there may be both matter and occasion for the sacrifices of our thanksgiving unto the Lord? Bp. Hall. 16. Gather the people, &c.] As their sin and its punishment was national, extending to all ranks and degrees of people, the repentance and humiliation was to be as extensive as general. All are summoned; none exempted. Wogan. 17.-between the porch and the altar,] The altar of burnt offerings stood before the porch of the temple, 2 Chron. viii. 12; and the mid-space in the open court was naturally a place of great concourse, that the prayers of the people might accompany the sacrifice. Abp. Newcome. and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord,] It was usual to prescribe certain forms of prayer or praise to the priests in their publick ministrations: see Hosea xiv. 2; 1 Chron. xvi. 36. Such was this here mentioned, wherein they beseech God to deliver His people, not for any merit of theirs, but for the glory of His own name, lest the neighbouring heathens should take occasion to blaspheme His name, as if He were not able to protect His people. Compare Ps. xlii. 10; lxxix. 10; cxv. 2. W. Lowth. that the heathen should rule over them:] Or, as in the margin, "should use a byword against them;" that is, should make them the subject of scorn and derision, as if they were forsaken by the God whom they worshipped. W. Lowth. The translation "rule over them" may be supported; because, when they were distressed by the locusts, they would be an easier prey to an enemy: but to "make a proverb of them" is the more natural translation. Abp. Secker. according to righteousness. h Lev. 26. 4. 24 And the floors shall be full of Deut. 11. 14. wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. 25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and 18. Then will the Lord be jealous for his land,] He will be moved with great affection for it, so as to take away what is injurious to it, and to seek its good, that it continue not desolate and a reproach to its enemies. Dr. Pocock. 20.— and his stink shall come up, &c.] That a strong and pestilential smell arises from the putrid heaps of locusts, whether driven upon land or cast up from the sea, in which they have perished, appears from the testimony of many writers. Among various other authorities to the same effect, St. Jerome is quoted by Bochart as saying, that in his time those troops of locusts, which covered Judea, were cast by the wind into the sea; and that, when the waters threw them up, their smell caused a pestilence. Thevenot says of them, "They live not above six months: and when dead, the stench of them so corrupts and infects the air, that it often occasions dreadful pestilences." Abp. Newcome. 66 because he hath done great things,] Or rather, although He hath done great things." Though this army of insects, by Divine appointment, has made such destruction in the land, yet shall it come to this shameful end. W. Lowth. Or, " because He doth or shall do great things;" He, that is, Jehovah. Junius, Castalio. 23.-for he hath given you the former rain] In the margin," a teacher of righteousness:" a translation, which the words will well bear; and which is given in many versions, and by many expositors of great note and learning, most of whom understand it as a prophecy of the Messiah. Dr. Pocock. the former rain and the latter rain in the first month.] See the notes on Deut. xi. 14; xxviii. 12; 1 Sam. xii. 17. The first month was Nisan, answering partly to our March, and partly to April. 25.-I will restore to you the years that the locust |