Joel 1:6

6 For a nation has come up against My land, Strong, and without number; His teeth are the teeth of a lion, And he has the fangs of a fierce lion.

Joel 1:6 Meaning and Commentary

Joel 1:6

For a nation is come up upon my land
A nation of locusts, so called from their great numbers, and coming from foreign parts; just as the ants are called a "people", and the conies a "folk", ( Proverbs 30:25 Proverbs 30:26 ) ; and which were an emblem of the nation of the Chaldeans, which came up from Babylon, and invaded the land of Judea; called by the Lord "my land", because he had chosen it for the habitation of his people; here he himself had long dwelt, and had been served and worshipped in it: though Kimchi thinks these are the words of the inhabitants of the land, or of the prophet; but if it can be thought they are any other than the words of God, they rather seem to be expressed by the drunkards in particular, howling for want of wine, and observing the reason of it: strong, and without number;
this description seems better to agree with the Assyrians or Chaldeans, who were a mighty and powerful people, as well as numerous; though locusts, notwithstanding they are weak, singly taken, yet, coming in large bodies, carry all before them, and there is no stopping them: whose teeth [are] the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a
great lion;
or "the grinders" ^F13 of such an one; being hard, strong, and sharp, to bite off the tops, boughs, and branches of trees: Pliny

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 says, locusts will gnaw with their teeth the doors of houses; so the teeth of locusts are described in ( Revelation 9:8 ) ; this may denote the strength, cruelty, and voraciousness of the Chaldean army.
F13 (tweltm) "molares", Pagninus, Mercerus, Burkius.
F14 Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 29.

Joel 1:6 In-Context

4 What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten; And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten.

5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep; And wail, all you drinkers of wine, Because of the new wine, For it has been cut off from your mouth.

6 For a nation has come up against My land, Strong, and without number; His teeth are the teeth of a lion, And he has the fangs of a fierce lion.

7 He has laid waste My vine, And ruined My fig tree; He has stripped it bare and thrown it away; Its branches are made white.

8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth For the husband of her youth.