Joel 1:10

10 The field is laid waste. The land mourns, for the grain is destroyed, The new wine has dried up, And the oil languishes.

Joel 1:10 Meaning and Commentary

Joel 1:10

The field is wasted
By the locust, that eat up all green things, the grass and herbs, the fruit and leaves of trees; and also by the Chaldeans trampling on it with their horses, and the increase of which became fodder for them: the land mourneth;
being destitute, nothing growing upon it, and so looked dismally, and of a horrid aspect; or the inhabitants of it, for want of provision: for the corn is wasted;
by the locusts, and so by the Assyrian or Chaldean army, before it came to perfection: the new wine is dried up:
in the grape, through the drought after mentioned: or, "is ashamed" F18; not answering the expectations of men, who saw it in the cluster, promising much, but failed: the oil languisheth;
or "sickens" F19; the olive trees withered; the olives fell off, as the Targum, and so the oil failed: the corn, wine, and oil, are particularly mentioned, not only as being the chief support of human life, as Kimchi observes, and so the loss of them must be matter of lamentation to the people in general; but because of these the meat and drink offerings were, and therefore the priests in particular had reason to mourn.


FOOTNOTES:

F18 (vybwh) "erubuit", Tigurine version, Mercer, Liveleus; "puduit", Drusius, Tarnovius; "pudefit", Cocceius.
F19 (llma) "infirmatum est", Montanus. So some in Vatablus.

Joel 1:10 In-Context

8 Mourn like a virgin dressed in sackcloth for the husband of her youth!
9 The meal offering and the drink offering are cut off from the LORD's house. The Kohanim, the LORD's ministers, mourn.
10 The field is laid waste. The land mourns, for the grain is destroyed, The new wine has dried up, And the oil languishes.
11 Be confounded, you farmers! Wail, you vineyard keepers; For the wheat and for the barley; For the harvest of the field has perished.
12 The vine has dried up, and the fig tree withered; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, Even all of the trees of the field are withered; For joy has withered away from the sons of men.
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.