Joel 1:4 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Joel 1:4
That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.
a kind of locust · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
left
יֶ֤תֶרYe.ter
H3499
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
locust
הָֽאַרְבֶּ֔הha.'ar.Beh
H697
a locust (from its rapid increase) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
eaten
אָכַ֣ל'a.Khal
H398
to eat (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
locust
הָאַרְבֶּ֖הha.'ar.Beh
H697
a locust (from its rapid increase) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
left
וְיֶ֥תֶרve.Ye.ter
H3499
properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
cankerworm
הַיָּ֑לֶקhai.Ya.lek
H3218
a devourer · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
eaten
אָכַ֣ל'a.Khal
H398
to eat (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
cankerworm
הַיֶּ֔לֶקhai.Ye.lek
H3218
a devourer · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
left
וְיֶ֣תֶרve.Ye.ter
H3499
properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
caterpiller
הֶחָסִֽילhe.cha.Sil
H2625
the ravager · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
eaten
אָכַ֖ל'a.Khal
H398
to eat (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Joel 2:25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which…
Amos 4:9 I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the pal…
Psalms 78:46 He gave also their increase unto the caterpiller, and their labour unto the locust.
Amos 7:1 Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo…
Exodus 10:4 Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast:
Deuteronomy 28:38 Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.
Isaiah 33:4 And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them.
Psalms 105:34 He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillers, and that without number,
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Joel 1:1-7
It is a foolish fancy which some of the Jews have, that this Joel the prophet was the same with that Joel who was the son of Samuel (Sa1 8:2); yet one of their rabbin very gravely undertakes to show why Samuel is here called Pethuel. This Joel was long after that. He here speaks of a sad and sore judgment which was now brought, or to be brought, upon Judah, for their sins. Observe,
I. The greatness of the judgment, expressed here in two things: - 1. It was such as could not be paralleled in the ages that were past, in history, or in the memory of any living, Joe 1:2. The old men are appealed to, who could remember what had happened long ago; nay, and all the inhabitants of the land are calle…
This verse states the subject on which he afterwards expands. Four species or stages of locusts, rather than four different insects, are meant (compare Lev 11:22). Literally, (1) the gnawing locust; (2) the swarming locust; (3) the licking locust; (4) the consuming locust; forming a climax to the most destructive kind. The last is often three inches long, and the two antennÃ&brvbr, each an inch long. The two hinder of its six feet are larger than the rest, adapting it for leaping. The first "kind" is that of the locust, having just emerged from the egg in spring, and without wings. The second is when at the end of spring, still in their first skin, the locusts put forth little ones without l…
That which the palmer worm hath left hath the locust eaten,.... These, with the two following, are four kinds of, locusts as Jarchi observes; though it is difficult to fix the particular species designed; they seem to have their names from some peculiar properties belonging to them; as the first of these from their sheering or cropping off the fruits and leaves of trees; and the second from the vast increase of them, the multitude they bring forth and the large numbers they appear in:
and that which the locust hath left hath the canker worm eaten; which in the Hebrew language is called from its licking up the fruits of the earth, by which it becomes barren:
and that which the canker worm h…
The Church Fathers
In a figurative manner he wants to convey to them the impending troubles; as always, the earlier ones are surpassed by those coming later. Tiglath-pileser, king of the Assyrians, came like a cutting locust, he is saying, and laid waste no small proportion of your possessions. After him Shalmaneser [came] like some kind of locust further ravaging your goods. After them Sennacherib [came] like a young locust wreaking general destruction on the twelve tribes of Israel. Like some kind of blight in addition to these came the attack of the Babylonian, who took the people of Judah as well and inflicted the evil of captivity on all in common.
We certainly know that in clouds of smoke, when some are fading away above, others rise up from below. So too in carnal thoughts, though some evil desires pass away, yet others succeed. But frequently the wretched mind beholds what has already passed but does not behold where it is still detained. It rejoices in being no longer subject to some sins but neglects to be careful and to lament because others have succeeded in their place, to which perhaps it yields more sinfully. And so it is that while some sins pass away and others succeed, the heart of the reprobate is possessed without intermission by this serpent. Therefore it is well said by the prophet Joel: "That which the palmer-worm has left, the locust has eaten; and that which the locust has left, the canker-worm has eaten; and that which the canker-worm has left, the mildew has eaten."
The twelve prophets whose writings are compressed within the narrow limits of a single volume have symbolic, typical meanings far beyond their literal ones. Hosea speaks many times of Ephraim, of Samaria, of Joseph of Jezreel, of a wife of whoredoms and of children of whoredoms, of an adulterous woman shut up within the chamber of her husband, sitting for a long time in widowhood and in the garb of mourning awaiting the time when her husband will return to her. Joel the son of Pethuel describes the land of the twelve tribes as spoiled and devastated by the palmerworm, the cankerworm, the locust and the blight, and he predicts that after the overthrow of the former people the Holy Spirit shall be poured out upon God's servants and handmaids. This is the same spirit that was to be poured out in the upper chamber at Zion upon the 120 believers.
Dictionary and topics
Cankerworm — (Heb. yelek), “the licking locust,” which licks up the grass of the field; probably the locust at a certain stage of its growth, just as it emerges from the caterpillar state (Joel 1:4; 2:25). The…
Caterpillar — The consumer. Used in the Old Testament (1 Kings 8:37; 2 Chr. 6:28; Ps. 78:46; Isa. 33:4) as the translation of a word (hasil) the root of which means “to devour” or “consume,” and which is used also…
Locust — There are ten Hebrew words used in Scripture to signify locust. In the New Testament locusts are mentioned as forming part of the food of John the Baptist (Matt. 3:4; Mark 1:6). By the Mosaic law…
Palmer-worm — (Heb. gazam). The English word may denote either a caterpillar (as rendered by the LXX.), which wanders like a palmer or pilgrim, or which travels like pilgrims in bands (Joel 1:4; 2:25), the…
Palmerworm — (Heb. gazam) occurs (Joel 1:4; 2:25; Amos 4:9) It is maintained by many that gazam denotes some species of locust. but it is more probably a caterpillar.
Animals · Instruments of God’s willEx 8;9;10:1-20; — Instruments of God’s willEx 8;9;10:1-20;
Cankerworm · Sent as a — Sent as a
Caterpillar · 51:27; — 51:27;
Famine · Caused by: Swarms of insects — Caused by: Swarms of insects
Fig Tree, The · The Jews punished by: Barking and eating of, by locusts — The Jews punished by: Barking and eating of, by locusts
Fruits · Often destroyed: By locusts, & c — Often destroyed: By locusts, & c
Joel 1:1-4
1. The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
1. Verbum Jehovae quod fuit ad Joel, filium Pethuel.
2. Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?
2. Audite hoc senes, et auscultate omnes incolae terrae, an fuerit hoc diebus vestris, et si diebus patrum vestrorum.
3. Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
3. Super hoc filiis vestris narrate, et filii vestri filiis suis, et filii ipsorum generationi posterae.
4. That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hat…
Joe 1:1 contains the heading to the book, and has already been noticed in the introduction. Joe 1:2. "Hear this, ye old men; and attend, all ye inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing indeed happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? Joe 1:1. Ye shall tell your sons of it, and your sons their sons, and their sons the next generation. Joe 1:4. The leavings of the gnawer the multiplier ate, and the leavings of the multiplier the licker ate, and the leavings of the licker the devourer ate." Not only for the purpose of calling the attention of the hearers to his address, but still more to set forth the event of which he is about to speak as something unheard of - a thing that has n…
The disaster that had befallen Judah was a catastrophic plague of locusts. Some commentators have understood the four kinds of locusts mentioned here to represent four ancient empires that conquered Israel. Others have suggested that the words indicate four stages in the development of locusts. Most likely, the prophet was using multiple terms to emphasize the extent of the destruction wrought by wave after wave of the voracious insects.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Harvest, The
· Failure of: Occasioned by locusts
— Failure of: Occasioned by locusts
Insects · Mentioned in scripture: Cankerworm — Mentioned in scripture: Cankerworm
Locust · General references — General references
Locust, The · The Jews: Often plagued by — The Jews: Often plagued by
Nation · Chastised — Chastised
Palmer-Worm · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Seed · The Jews punished by: Its increase being consumed by locusts — The Jews punished by: Its increase being consumed by locusts
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
