Joel 1

11. Be . . . ashamed--that is, Ye shall have the shame of disappointment on account of the failure of "the wheat" and "barley . . . harvest."
howl . . . vine dressers--The semicolon should follow, as it is the "husbandmen" who are to be "ashamed . . . for the wheat." The reason for the "vine dressers" being called to "howl" does not come till Joel 1:12 , "The vine is dried up."

12. pomegranate--a tree straight in the stem growing twenty feet high; the fruit is of the size of an orange, with blood-red colored pulp.
palm tree--The dates of Palestine were famous. The palm is the symbol of Judea on coins under the Roman emperor Vespasian. It often grows a hundred feet high.
apple tree--The Hebrew is generic, including the orange, lemon, and pear tree.
joy is withered away--such as is felt in the harvest and the vintage seasons ( Psalms 4:7 , Isaiah 9:3 ).

13. Gird yourselves--namely, with sackcloth; as in Isaiah 32:11 , the ellipsis is supplied (compare Jeremiah 4:8 ).
lament, ye priests--as it is your duty to set the example to others; also as the guilt was greater, and a greater scandal was occasioned, by your sin to the cause of God.
come--the Septuagint, "enter" the house of God (compare Joel 1:14 ).
lie all night in sackcloth--so Ahab ( 1 Kings 21:27 ).
ministers of my God--( 1 Corinthians 9:13 ). Joel claims authority for his doctrine; it is in God's name and by His mission I speak to you.

14. Sanctify . . . a fast--Appoint a solemn fast.
solemn assembly--literally, a "day of restraint" or cessation from work, so that all might give themselves to supplication ( Joel 2:15 Joel 2:16 , 1 Samuel 7:5 1 Samuel 7:6 , 2 Chronicles 20:3-13 ).
elders--The contrast to "children" ( Joel 2:16 ) requires age to be intended, though probably elders in office are included. Being the people's leaders in guilt, they ought to be their leaders also in repentance.

15. day of the Lord--( Joel 2:1 Joel 2:11 ); that is, the day of His anger ( Isaiah 13:9 , Obadiah 1:15 , Zephaniah 1:7 Zephaniah 1:15 ). It will be a foretaste of the coming day of the Lord as Judge of all men, whence it receives the same name. Here the transition begins from the plague of locusts to the worse calamities ( Joel 2:1-11 ) from invading armies about to come on Judea, of which the locusts were the prelude.

16. Compare Joel 1:9 , and latter part of Joel 1:12 .
joy--which prevailed at the annual feasts, as also in the ordinary sacrificial offerings, of which the offerers ate before the Lord with gladness and thanksgivings ( Deuteronomy 12:6 Deuteronomy 12:7 Deuteronomy 12:12 , Deuteronomy 16:11 Deuteronomy 16:14 Deuteronomy 16:15 ).

17. is rotten--"is dried up," "vanishes away," from an Arabic root [MAURER]. "Seed," literally, "grains." The drought causes the seeds to lose all their vitality and moisture.
garners--granaries; generally underground, and divided into separate receptacles for the different kinds of grain.

18. cattle . . . perplexed--implying the restless gestures of the dumb beasts in their inability to find food. There is a tacit contrast between the sense of the brute creation and the insensibility of the people.
yea, the . . . sheep--Even the sheep, which are content with less rich pasturage, cannot find food.
are made desolate--literally, "suffer punishment." The innocent brute shares the "punishment" of guilty man ( Exodus 12:29 , Jonah 3:7 , 4:11 ).

19. to thee will I cry--Joel here interposes, As this people is insensible to shame or fear and will not hear, I will leave them and address myself directly to Thee (compare Isaiah 15:5 , Jeremiah 23:9 ).
fire--that is, the parching heat.
pastures--"grassy places"; from a Hebrew root "to be pleasant." Such places would be selected for "habitations" (Margin). But the English Version rendering is better than Margin.

20. beasts . . . cry . . . unto thee--that is, look up to heaven with heads lifted up, as if their only expectation was from God ( Job 38:41 , Psalms 104:21 , 145:15 , 147:9 ; compare Psalms 42:1 ). They tacitly reprove the deadness of the Jews for not even now invoking God.