Joel 1:10 - Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Bible Comments

The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.

The field is wasted, the land mourneth - differing in that "field" х saadeh (H7704)] means the open unenclosed country; "land," the rich RED soil х 'ªdaamaah (H127), from a root, 'aadam (H119), to be red] fit for cultivation. Thus, 'a man of the field,' in Hebrew, is a hunter; a man of the ground or land, an agriculturist (Genesis 25:27). Field and land are here personified.

The new wine, х tiyrowsh (H8492)] - from a Hebrew root х yaarash (H3423)] implying that it takes possession of the brain, so that a man is not master of himself. So the Arabic term is from a root to hold captive. It is already fermented, and so intoxicating, unlike the sweet fresh wine, in Joel 1:5, called also "new wine," though a different Hebrew word х `aaciyc (H6071)]. It and "the oil" stand for the vine and the olive tree, from which the "wine" and "oil" are obtained (Joel 1:12).

Is dried up - not "ashamed," as margin, as is proved by the parallelism to "languisheth" - i:e., the oil-olive tree droopeth.

Joel 1:10

10 The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.