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.
Parallel Translations
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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.
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The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate 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.
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The vine is withered, and the fig-tree languisheth; the pomegranate-tree, the palm-tree also, and the apple-tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered; for joy is withered away from the sons of men.
Cross-references (16)
Passages linked to Joel 1:12 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 16:10 Gladness is taken away, and joy out of the fruitful field; and in the vineyards there will be no singing, neither joyful noise. Nobody will tread out wine in the presses. I have made the shouting stop.
- Isaiah 24:11 There is a crying in the streets because of the wine. All joy is darkened. The mirth of the land is gone.
- Song of Solomon 2:3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, his fruit was sweet to my taste.
- Hosea 9:1-2 Don’t rejoice, Israel, to jubilation like the nations; for you were unfaithful to your God. You love the wages of a prostitute at every grain threshing floor. The threshing floor and the wine press won’t feed them, and the new wine will fail her.
- Joel 1:10 The field is laid waste. The land mourns, for the grain is destroyed, The new wine has dried up, and the oil languishes.
- Joel 1:16 Isn’t the food cut off before our eyes; joy and gladness from the house of our God?
- Habakkuk 3:17-18 For though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, nor fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food; the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in Yahweh. I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
- Numbers 13:23 They came to the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it on a staff between two. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs.
- Psalms 4:7 You have put gladness in my heart, more than when their grain and their new wine are increased.
- Psalms 92:12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
- Song of Solomon 4:13 Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits, henna with spikenard plants,
- Song of Solomon 7:7-9 This, your stature, is like a palm tree, your breasts like its fruit. I said, “I will climb up into the palm tree. I will take hold of its fruit.” Let your breasts be like clusters of the vine, the smell of your breath like apples. Your mouth is like the best wine, that goes down smoothly for my beloved, gliding through the lips of those who are asleep.
- Isaiah 9:3 You have multiplied the nation. You have increased their joy. They rejoice before you according to the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the plunder.
- Jeremiah 48:3 The sound of a cry from Horonaim, desolation and great destruction!
- Jeremiah 48:33 Gladness and joy is taken away from the fruitful field and from the land of Moab. I have caused wine to cease from the wine presses. No one will tread with shouting. The shouting will be no shouting.
- Haggai 2:19 Is the seed yet in the barn? Yes, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree haven’t produced. From today I will bless you.’ ”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The Prophet now concludes his subjects which was, that…
The Prophet now concludes his subjects which was, that as God executed judgments so severe on the people, it was a wonder that they remained stupefied, when thus reduces to extremities. The vine, he says, has dried up, and every kind of fruit; he adds the fig-tree, afterwards the רמון remun, the pomegranate, (for so they render it,) the palm, the apple-tree, and all trees. And this sterility was a clear sign of God’s wrath; and it would have been so regarded, had not men either wholly deceived themselves, or had become hardened against all punishments. Now this αναὶσθησὶα (insensibility) is as it were the very summit of evils; that is, when men feel not their own calamities, or at least understand not that they are inflicted by the hand of God. Let us now proceed —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Joe 1:12 The vine is dried up, and the…
Joe 1:12 The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate 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.
Ver. 12. The vine is dried up, and the fig tree lanquisheth] God cutteth you short of all things both for necessity and delight; and this is so much inculcated and iterated that you may not slight it as a common occurrence; but be deeply affected with it, as a sore affliction. Verba toties repetita viva sunt, vera sunt, sana sunt, plana sunt (Aug.). Let no man think that this is a superfluous tautology, or an idle repetition of the same thing. For, in sacred Scripture there is not a tittle in vain; there is not an apex whereon there hangs not a mountain of sense, as the Rabbis use to say. By one and the same thing repeated, memory is helped, affection is excited, and matters of moment are better minded, Php 3:1. Besides, Repetitio confirmatio est, saith Ambrose, The repeating of a matter implieth, 1. The infallible truth of it; 2. The inexpressible excellency of it; 3. The profitable use of it; 4. The absolute necessity of it. Aut faciendum, aut patiendum. Either to do or to endure.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The vine is dried up: see Joe 1:10,
The vine is dried up: see Joe 1:10,
The fig tree; a tree well known, and the fruit of it was usually a great advantage and benefit to the people of those countries.
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The pomegranate tree; a pleasant tree, as appears Son 4:13; 7:12; and its fruit lovely, therefore fit for ornaments about the pillars of the temple. These in the common drought and by locusts have lost their beauty, and fail the hopes of him that planted them.
The palm tree; of great beauty in the height and uniformity of its growth, and that doth rise under the weight which would depress it, Psa 92:12; with these Ezekiel’s temple was adorned, Eze 40:16,22,26; with the branches of these triumphant shows were also made; but these are withered and dry.
The apple tree; the fruit whereof was very useful, and did ordinarily well recompense the care of the planter, but now, as other trees, fail them.
All the trees of the field; none so hardy and able to bear unkind seasons, but are now destroyed by the judgments of God in drought and locusts.
Are withered; not as in autumn, when the leaf falleth, but, because the root fails, is either dead or dying.
Because; or therefore, or surely, for the particle here used is oftentimes assertive, not causal.
Joy is withered away from the sons of men; all mirth and liveliness of men is blasted with this dismal blast upon their labours and hopes; they cannot rejoice who foresee they shall be, nay, are already, pinched with want and famine.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain The vine is dried up,.... Withered away, stripped of…
The vine is dried up,.... Withered away, stripped of its leaves and fruits, and its sap and moisture gone: or, "is ashamed" (t); to see itself in this condition, and not answer the expectation of its proprietor and dresser:
and the fig tree languisheth; sickens and dies, through the bite of the locusts:
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the pomegranate tree: whose fruit is delicious, and of which wine was made: the palm tree also; which bears dates:
and the apple tree; that looks so beautiful, when either in bloom, or laden with fruit, and whose fruit is very grateful to the palate; so that both what were for common use and necessary food, and what were for delight and pleasure, were destroyed by these noisome creatures:
even all the trees of the field are withered; for locusts not only devour the leaves and fruits of trees, but hurt the trees themselves; burn them up by touching them, and cause them to wither away and die, both by the saliva and dung, which they leave upon them, as Bochart, from various authors, has proved:
because joy is withered away from the sons of men; this is not given as a reason of the above trees dried up and withered, but of the lamentation of the vinedressers and husbandmen: or else the particle is merely expletive, or may be rendered, "therefore", or "truly", or "surely" (u), "joy is withered", or "ashamed"; it blushes to appear, as it used to do at the time of harvest; but now there was no harvest, and so no joy expressed, as usually was at such times; see Isa 9:3.
(t) "confusa est", V. L. "pudefacta est", Cocceius; "pudet", Drusius. (u) "ideo", Grotius; "imo", Piscator; "sane", Mercer.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 12. The vine is dried up] Dr. Shaw…
Verse 12. The vine is dried up] Dr. Shaw observes that in Barbary, in the month of June, the locusts collect themselves into compact bodies a furlong or more square, and march on, eating up every thing that is green or juicy, and letting nothing escape them, whether vegetables or trees.
They destroy the pomegranate, the palm, the apple, (תפוח tappuach, the citron tree,) the vine, the fig, and every tree of the field. See Clarke on Joe 2:2.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Because joy is withered away - o: “There are…
Because joy is withered away - o: “There are four sorts of joy, a joy in iniquity, a joy in vanity, a joy of charity, a joy of felicity. Of the first we read, “Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the forwardness of the wicked Pro 2:14. Of the second, “They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ” Job 21:12. Of the third, “Let the saints be joyful in glory” Psa 149:5. Of the fourth, “Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house; they will be still praising Thee” Psa 84:4. The joy of charity and the joy of felicity “wither from the sons of men,” when the virtues aforesaid failing, there being neither knowledge of the truth nor love of virtue, no reward succeedeth, either in this life or that to come.”
Having thus pictured the coming woe, he calls all to repentance and mourning, and those first, who were to call others. God Himself appointed these afflictive means, and here He “gives to the priest a model for penitence and a way of entreating mercy.” : “He invites the priests first to repentance through whose negligence chiefly the practice of holiness, the strictness of discipline, the form of doctrine, the whole aspect of the Church was sunk in irreverence. Whence the people also perished, hurrying along the various haunts of sin. Whence Jeremiah says, “The kings of the earth and all the inhabitants of the world would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem. For the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her, they have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood Lam 4:13-14.
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Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Withered. The bite of locusts corrupts the juice of…
Withered. The bite of locusts corrupts the juice of plants.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain pomegranate--a tree straight in the stem growing twenty feet…
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.
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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 (Psa 4:7; Isa 9:3).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 12. is dried up] Better, sheweth shame, as Joe_1:10.
12. is dried up] Better, sheweth shame, as Joe_1:10.
the pomegranate] Num_13:23; Num_20:5; Deu_8:8; 1Sa_14:2; Hag_2:19; Son_4:3; Son_4:13; Son_6:7; Son_6:11; Son_7:12; Son_8:2. A tree abundant in Palestine, and highly prized on account of its fruit. The fruit when ripe is of a bright red colour, as large as an orange and crowned with the calyx. The name pomegranate is derived from the Latin, “grained apple,” from the bright red pips contained in the fruit. The expressed juice of the fruit makes a cooling drink, and it is also sometimes fermented into a light wine (Son_8:2).
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the palm tree] once, no doubt, with its tall, branchless stems and huge spreading leaves, the glory of most of the warmer parts of Palestine, the maritime plains, and the Jordan valley, but now comparatively rare. See Jdg_4:5; Son_7:7-8; Psa_92:13. Pliny (H. N. xiii. 4) says, Judaea inclyta est palmis; and Tacitus (Hist. Joe_1:6), Palmetis (Judaeis) proceritas et decor. Jericho is called the “City of palm-trees,” Deu_34:3; Jdg_1:16; Jdg_3:13; 2Ch_28:15. Jericho was celebrated in antiquity for its palm-groves, the semi-tropical warmth of the Arábah—here 600 feet below the level of the sea—favouring their growth. A beautiful spring, called the ‘Ain es-Sultan, or Elisha’s Spring, gushes forth in the plain, at about a mile from the foot of the hills which lead up into the high land of Judah: this must have been near the site of the ancient city, and Josephus (B. J. iv. 8, 3) speaks with admiration of the beautiful park of palms and other rare trees, which the stream watered. Comp. Herodis palmeta pinguia, Hor. Ep. ii. 2. 184. See an interesting collection of notices respecting the palm-groves of Jericho in Schürer, Hist. of N. T. Times, § 15. Palms also flourished at Engedi, on the W. shore of the Dead Sea (Sir_24:14).
the apple tree] Son_2:3; Son_8:5; cf. apples Son_2:5; Son_7:8; Pro_25:11. It has been doubted whether tappûaḥ is really the apple; and Tristram (N. H. B. p. 334 f.; D. B.2 s.v.) adduces grounds tending to shew that is was more probably the apricot. But the corresponding Arabic word (tuffâḥ) certainly means the apple; and though it is true that the Syrian apple is much inferior in flavour to the European apple, it has nevertheless been long esteemed in the East as a grateful and refreshing fruit, and valued in sickness on account of its restorative properties (W. R. Smith, in the Journ. of Phil. XV. 1885, p. 65 f., with quotations from Arabic authorities; and G. E. Post, in Clark’s Bible Dictionary).
even all the trees of the field] The trees most prized for their fruits are mentioned first; but in the end all alike are included as suffering in the visitation.
are dried up] The reference might be to the hard and dried appearance of the trees produced by the ravages of the locusts; but from Joe_1:17-20 it appears that the country was at the same time suffering from a protracted drought.
yea, joy is dried up] better, with a pregnant construction, “sheweth shame (and is vanished) from the sons of men.” The joy meant is that of which, directly or indirectly, the fruits of the earth, especially the harvest and the vintage, are the occasion: cf. Psa_4:7; Psa_104:15; Isa_9:3; Isa_16:10.—The word rendered shew shame in Joe_1:10 and Joe_1:12 (twice) is exactly the same as that so rendered in Joe_1:11; and this is the more natural and obvious rendering of the word: it might, however, also just mean shew dryness (though elsewhere, where the same form is derived from the root to be dry, it has a causative force to make dry, and in Joe_1:12 this idea is expressed by the usual form for be dried up), and there may at least be a play upon this possible sense of the word.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (12) The vine is dried up.—The ravages produced by…
(12) The vine is dried up.—The ravages produced by the locusts and the drought are universal. There seems to be a method in the enumeration of the trees. The vine is the favourite term for the chosen people; the fig-tree has its life prolonged at the intercession of the “dresser of the vineyard,” in our Lord’s parable (Luk_13:8); the tall and stately pomegranate is of such importance as to give its name to the idol Rimmon; yea, and the palm-tree, even that is gone; the apple also, including the lemon, citron, &c.—all joy is vanished.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The withering of joy.
The withering of joy.
The description given by the prophet of the devastation and misery caused by the horrible plague of locusts is so graphic and so frightful, that the very strong language in which the effect produced upon the inhabitants of the land is portrayed cannot be deemed exaggerated. The husbandmen are covered with shame, and joy is withered in all hearts.
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I JOY IS NATURAL TO MAN, AND IS THE APPOINTMENT OF A BENEVOLENT CREATOR. It is occasioned by the plentiful produce of the earth, by the possession of health and by circumstances of comfort, by the solace of human affection. Joy is a motive to activity, and diffuses itself from heart to heart, and raises the tone of society. A joyless life man was not designed to leach.
II THE VISITATION OF CALAMITY MAY WITHER JOY. It is a plant of great beauty, but also of great delicacy. Exposed to the fierce winds of adversity, this fair plant withers and decays. Such is the constitution of the world, and such the changeable. ness of life, that this event does sometimes occur, as in the circumstances described in this passage by the Prophet Joel.
III EVEN THE WITHERING OF JOY MAY BE SANCTIFIED AND OVERRULED FOR GOOD BY TRUE RELIGION. It may lead the afflicted to seek consolation and happiness in a higher than any earthly source. Especially does the gospel of Christ, by revealing unto us as our Saviour "a Man of sorrows," teach us that there are joys of benevolence and self-sacrifice which are preferable to all delights of sense, to all enrichments of worldly prosperity. T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:12 Drought had intensified the devastation of the locust…
1:12 Drought had intensified the devastation of the locust plague; everything had withered and dried up (see also 1:19-20). Spiritually, the people’s joy had dried up along with the fruit trees.
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