Joel 1:18

18 How [the] beasts^[a] groan; the herds of cattle wander around because there is no pasture for them; [the] flocks of sheep are in distress.

Joel 1:18 Meaning and Commentary

Joel 1:18

How do the beasts groan?
&c.] For want of fodder, all green grass and herbs being eaten up by the locusts; or devoured, or trampled upon, and destroyed, by the Chaldeans; and also for want of water to quench their thirst: the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture;
the larger cattle, as oxen; these were in the utmost perplexity, not knowing where to go for food or drink: yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate;
which have shepherds to lead and direct them to pastures, and can feed on commons, where the grass is short, which other cattle cannot; yet even these were in great distress, and wasted away, and were consumed for want of nourishment.

Joel 1:18 In-Context

16 [Is] not food cut [off] before our eyes, from the house of our God, joy and gladness?

17 The seeds shrivel under their clods; the storehouses are desolate. The grain storage places are destroyed because grain has dried out.

18 How [the] beasts groan; the herds of cattle wander around because there is no pasture for them; [the] flocks of sheep are in distress.

19 To you, [O] Yahweh, I cry out, because fire has devoured the pastures of the desert, and flames burned all the trees of the field.

20 Also, the beasts of [the] field long for you, because the courses of water are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the desert.

Footnotes

• [a] Hebrew "beast"