Joel 1:12

12 The vine withers and the fig tree droops. The pomegranate tree, and also the palm tree, the apple tree --all the trees of the field--are dried up. Indeed, joy is dried up among the sons of men.

Joel 1:12 Meaning and Commentary

Joel 1:12

The vine is dried up
Withered away, stripped of its leaves and fruits, and its sap and moisture gone: or, "is ashamed" ^F20; 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: 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 (yk) is merely expletive, or may be rendered, "therefore", or "truly", or "surely" ^F21, "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 ( Isaiah 9:3 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 (hvybwh) "confusa est", V. L. "pudefacta est", Cocceius; "pudet", Drusius.
F21 (yk) "ideo", Grotius; "imo", Piscator; "sane", Mercer.

Joel 1:12 In-Context

10 The field is destroyed; the earth mourns because [the] grain is destroyed, [the] new wine dries up, [the] olive oil languishes.

11 Be ashamed, farmers; Wail, vinedressers, over [the] wheat and over [the] barley, because [the] harvest of the field is ruined.

12 The vine withers and the fig tree droops. The pomegranate tree, and also the palm tree, the apple tree --all the trees of the field--are dried up. Indeed, joy is dried up among the sons of men.

13 Gird yourselves and lament, O priests! Wail, [O] ministers of [the] altar! Come spend the night in sackcloth, [O] ministers of my God, because offering and libation are withheld from the house of your God.

14 Solemnize a fast! Call an assembly! Gather [the] elders, all [of] the inhabitants of the land [in] the house of Yahweh your God, and cry out to Yahweh.