Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, For the wheat and for the barley; Because the harvest of the field is perished. The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth ; more particularly these products after they have been adapted partially for the food, or use, of man. Corn (dāgān) is thus the grain of wheat after it has been threshed and freed from the husk ("from the threshingfloor," Num. xviii. 27); new wine, or must (tīrōsh), is the freshlyexpressed juice of the grape, sometimes, at any rate, if not always, slightly fermented (Hos. iv. 11), and described as a sustaining (Gen. xxvii. 37), invigorating (Zech. ix. 17), and exhilarating (Jud. ix. 13) beverage; fresh oil (yitzhār) is similarly the freshly-expressed juice of the olive. On tīrōsh, see more fully the Additional Note at the end of the Book (p. 79). The oil which, when pressed, the fruit of the olive yields, is almost a necessary of life in Palestine: it is used in cooking and for food, where we should employ butter; it is burnt in lamps; it is in habitual use for anointing the person (see on Am. vi. 6); it has medicinal virtues (Is. i. 6; Luke x. 34); it was used in ancient times in sacrifice (Lev. ii. 1, 6, &c.), and it was prized as a gift (1 Ki. v. 11; Hos. xii. 1; Is. lvii. 9). Being a valuable commodity, it was subject to tithe (Deut. xiv. 23; Neh. xiii. 5). See further Tristram, N. H. B. p. 373 ff.; Van Lennep, Bible Lands, p. 124 ff.; Whitehouse, Primer of Heb. Antiquities, pp. 104-110. is dried up] Better, sheweth shame (cf. R.V. marg.), the 'new wine' being personified (cf. Is. xxiv. 7, where it is said to mourn'), just as the 'ground' is in the first part of the verse. Comp. of Lebanon (though the Heb. word used is a different one), Is. xxxiii. 9. languisheth] The same word, said of trees of which the foliage has been stripped off, or is withering, v. 12; Is. xvi. 8, xxiv. 7; Nah. i. 4. 11. Be ashamed] more exactly shew shame, i.e. manifest, by overt signs, your disappointment. To shew shame (or to be ashamed) is said in Hebrew idiomatically where we should say be disappointed: it expresses, however, a little more than our English phrase, for it signifies rather to be disconcerted, or to shew, in countenance or demeanour, overt signs of disappointment. People are thus often said to be " ashamed," when the help, or support, on which they rely fails them: see e.g. Is. i. 29 (the Israelites to be ashamed' of the oaks which they have desired, i.e. disappointed of the rewards which they hoped that the rites observed under them would bring them), xx. 5 (those who rely upon Egypt to be "ashamed," i.e. disappointed; similarly xxx. 5); Job vi. 20 (caravans in the wilderness, travelling to a wady in which they expect to find water, are "ashamed when they arrive there and find none). With the usage here, cf. Jer. xiv. 3b, 4 b. vine-dressers] more exactly, vineyard-keepers. These are in this verse subordinate: the reason why they are to lament appearing only in v. 12. 12. is dried up] Better, sheweth shame, as v. 10. II 12 The pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, Even all the trees of the field, are withered: the pomegranate] Num. xiii. 23, xx. 5; Deut. viii. 8; 1 Sam. xiv. 2 ; Hag. ii. 19; Cant. iv. 3, 13, vi. 7, 11, vii. 12, viii. 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 (Cant. viii. 2). 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 Jud. iv. 5; Cant. vii. 7, 8; Ps. xcii. 13. Pliny (H. N. XIII. 4) says, Judaea inclyta est palmis; and Tacitus (Hist. v. 6), Palmetis (Judaeis) proceritas et decor. Jericho is called the "City of palm-trees," Deut. xxxiv. 3; Jud. i. 16, iii. 13; 2 Chr. xxviii. 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. 7. 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 palmgroves of Jericho in Schürer, Hist. of N. T. Times, § 15. Palms also flourished at Engedi, on the W. shore of the Dead Sea (Ecclus. xxiv. 14). the apple tree] Cant. ii. 3, viii. 5; cf. apples Cant. ii. 5, vii. 8; Prov. XXV. II. It has been doubted whether tappuaḥ is really the apple; and Tristram (N. H. B. p. 334f.; D. B.2 s.v.) adduces grounds tending to shew that is was more probably the apricot. But the corresponding Arabic word (tuffāḥ) 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 Fourn. 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 vv. 17-20 it appears that the country was at the same time suffering from a protracted drought. 13 Because joy is withered away from the sons of men. Howl, ye ministers of the altar: Come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God; For the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, 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. Ps. iv. 7, civ. 15; Is. ix. 3, xvi. 10. The word rendered shew shame in v. 10 and v. 12 (twice) is exactly the same as that so rendered in v. 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 v. 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. 13-15. The cessation of the daily sacrifices again occupies the prophet's thought; and he turns to the priests, bidding them not mourn only (v. 9), but clothe themselves in sackcloth, and proclaim a day of public fast and humiliation. The occasion, namely, is not one for grief only: it is one which calls also for penitence and prayer; such a calamity is a judgement, not merely betokening God's present anger with His people, but awakening the apprehension of sorer judgements in the future, which it behoves the nation, by timely penitence, if possible to avert. Gird yourselves] viz. with sackcloth (v. 8), as the R.V. supplies. So Is. xxxii. II. lament] wail (see on Am. v. 16). A different word from the unusual one so rendered in v. 8. ministers of the altar] cf. ministers of the sanctuary, Ez. xlv. 4. lie all night in sackcloth] as Ahab did, when he humbled himself before Elijah (1 Ki. xxi. 27). The sackcloth would be a token not only of grief, but also of penitence (1 Ki. I.c.; Neh. ix. 1; Jonah iii. 5, 6); and the mention of it leads on accordingly to the thought of v. 14. 14. Sanctify a fast] Fasting is a common observance in the East, especially among Semitic peoples; and it is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament. The essence of a fast consists in the voluntary abstention, for a season, even from ordinary and innocent bodily enjoyment; it is thus an expression of sympathy with human affliction, -for instance during mourning, 1 Sam. xxxi. 13; 2 Sam. i. 12. More often, however, it is mentioned as a distinctly religious observance, expressive of self-abasement and sorrow for sin, and resorted to, especially at the time of some grave disaster, whether on the part of individuals or the nation, in conjunction with prayer or sacrifice, for the 14 Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land And cry unto the LORD, 15 Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, And as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. purpose, if possible, of propitiating God's favour; see e.g. Jud. xx. 26; I Sam. vii. 6; 2 Sam. xii. 16; 1 Ki. xxi. 27; Ps. lxix. 10, 11; Ezr. x. 6; Neh. ix. I; Jon. iii. 5-9; Dan. ix. 3; Judith iv. 9, 13. Extraordinary general fasts are spoken of as "proclaimed" by royal authority, 1 Ki. xxi. 9, 12; Jer. xxxvi. 9 (cf. Ezr. viii. 21). During the exile, four annual fast-days were established in commemoration of events connected with the fall of Jerusalem (Zech. vii. 3, 5, viii. 19). The annual Day of Atonement was also observed as a fast (Lev. xvi. 29). See further on ii. 12, 13. a solemn assembly] a public religious gathering, in which all may join. On the term used ('atzarah), see on Am. v. 21. elders] lit. old men; but here probably (unlike i. 2, ii. 16) the term is used in its official sense (as Is. iii. 14, Ez. viii. 1, and frequently). and cry unto Jehovah] expressing, on the nation's behalf, penitence, and entreating Him to stay the threatened destruction. 15. The prophet states more distinctly the ground for the exhortations of vv. 13, 14. The present calamity is viewed by him as the harbinger of a far sorer calamity to come, even of the great "Day of Jehovah" itself; and he gives expression to the alarm which the prospect of its approach naturally creates. Alas for the day] cf. Ez. xxx. 2 (where the Heb. is all but the same,— For the day of Jehovah is at hand (or near)] The same words as iii. 14; Zeph. i. 7; Ob. 15; Is. xiii. 6: comp. ch. ii. 1; Zeph. i. 14; Ez. xxx. 3. On the 'Day of Jehovah' comp. A. B. Davidson on Zeph. i. 7; and below, on Am. v. 18. It is the Day, when Jehovah is conceived as manifesting Himself in His fulness, striking down wrongdoing and illusion, and giving the final victory to righteousness and truth. The origin of the conception as applied by the prophets, is to be found in Amos' transformation of a popular idea (see on Âm. v. 18). The presentiment of the approach of Jehovah's Day was often awakened in the minds of the prophets by the prospect of some great political movement among the nations of the earth. In the case of Joel the presentiment is awakened by an extraordinary visitation of Providence. In Joel also the Day of Jehovah is invested, more distinctly than is the case in the earlier prophets, with an eschatological significance: see esp. ii. 31, iii. 1, 2, 9-17; and comp. above, p. 33. as devastation from the Almighty (Heb. Shaddai) shall it come] The phrase is borrowed verbatim from Is. xiii. 6 (in the announcement of the doom approaching upon Babylon in B.C. 538) "Howl ye: for the day of Jehovah is at hand; as devastation from the Almighty shall it come.' In the original there is an effective assonance between devastation Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, (shōd), and Almighty (Shaddai), which might perhaps be preserved, though not with the force and compactness of the Hebrew, by the rendering, as an overpowering from the Over-powerer shall it come1. See further, on the divine title Shaddai, the Additional Note, p. 81. For 'devastation,' as sent by Jehovah, comp. also Jer. xxv. 36, xlvii. 4, li. 53, 55 (A.V. spoil), Am. v. 9. The 'as' () is here an example of what is termed by some grammarians the "Caph veritatis": the coming visitation will be what a devastation proceeding from the Almighty might be expected to be, it will realize what the term implies, it will be a veritable "overpowering from the Over-powerer." : 16-20. In justification of the alarm just expressed, the prophet points again to the terrible condition to which the country has been reduced anything which the locusts may have spared has been parched by the drought: the water brooks are dried up; cattle and human beings alike are perishing from thirst. 16. the meat] food, the reference being in particular to the products of the soil mentioned in v. 10. Meat in the A.V., and sometimes (as here) in the R.V. as well, is not restricted, as in modern English, to the flesh of animals (comp. on Am. v. 22). before our eyes] The position of these words shews that they are the emphatic words in the sentence. The fact which they emphasize is the helplessness of those who witness the process going on, and their inability to stay it. This is the regular force of this, or similar expressions, in Hebrew: comp. Is. i. 7 ("your land, strangers are devouring it in your presence"); Deut. xxviii. 31 ("Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof "); Ps. xxiii. 5 ("Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies,"—who experience the mortification of being unable to overthrow it). joy and gladness from the house of our God] There would be no firstfruits, for instance, to be presented in the Temple with gladness (Deut. xxvi. 1—2, 10—11). The feasts of Weeks and of Ingathering, which marked respectively the completion of wheat-harvest, and of vintage, could no longer be observed with the rejoicings which naturally accompanied them (Deut. xvi. 10 f., 13-15); and the number of persons offering peace-offerings, with the sacred meals which formed their distinctive concomitant (cf. Deut. xii. 6, 7), would naturally be much fewer than usual. 17. The grains shrivel (R.V. marg.) under their shovels (or hoes)] unable to withstand the scorching heat. This is the only rendering which the existing text will permit2; but the last word especially is not 1 Ewald, wie Gewalt vom Allgewaltigen: Wellhausen, wie Vergewaltigung vom Allgewaltigen. Grains, lit. things parted (cf. Syr. perdā). A.V. is rotten follows Ibn Ezra and Kimchi in explaining the Heb. 'abhesh from the Aram. 'aphash, to rot; but the meaning is unsuitable (for rotting is not an effect of drought), and the Arab. 'abisa, to be dried 16 17 |