Joel 1:12
in Joel 1The grapevine is dried up, and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, palm, and apple—all the trees of the orchard—are withered. Surely the joy of mankind has dried up.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
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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This verse in Joel 1
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThe 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 the note on Joe 2:2 (note).
This site's exposition
Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen
on Joel 1:11-12
The husbandmen are told to be ashamed and the vinedressers to howl for the wheat and the barley, since the harvest itself, not the vine alone, has failed. Verse 12 lists six trees by name, the vine, the fig, the pomegranate, the palm, and the apple, all withered together, an inventory the commentators read as deliberately exhaustive, nothing left standing in the field. The chapter's own explanation follows in the same verse, because joy is withered away from the sons of men, the crop failure and the human grief named as one event.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(V. 9 seqq.) The sacrifice and libation from the house of the Lord have perished; the priests, ministers of the Lord, mourn. The land is laid waste, the earth mourns; for the wheat is destroyed. The wine is spoiled, the oil languishes, the farmers are confused. The vintners wail over the wheat and barley, for the harvest of the field is perished. The vine is dried up, the fig tree languishes; the pomegranate, palm, and apple, all the trees of the field are dried up; because joy has been confounded among the sons of men.
Describing the calamity at greater length to bring to repentance those suffering from indifference, he bids even the produce to lament the failure of the barley and the wheat and the defoliation of the vine, and in general the lack of fruit on olives and …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
)-- the wheat and barley, the two principal grains bread was then made of, wheat for the rich and barley for the poor, so that the rich and poor meet together in the calamity. The trees are destroyed, not only the vine and the fig-tree (as before,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
The vine is dried up,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The palm is the symbol of Judea on coins under the Roman emperor Vespasian. It often grows a hundred feet high. 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 (Ps 4:7;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
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.
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַגֶּ֣פֶן | hagefen | the vine | H1612 → | 55 times |
| הוֹבִ֔ישָׁה | hovishah | it has dried up | H954 → | 127 times |
| וְהַתְּאֵנָ֖ה | vehateenah | and the fig tree | H8384 → | 39 times |
| אֻמְלָ֑לָה | ʾumlalah | it has dried out | H535 → | |
| רִמּ֞וֹן | rimon | [the] pomegranate tree | H7416 → | |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| תָּמָ֣ר | tamar | [the] palm tree | H8558 → | |
| וְתַפּ֗וּחַ | vetapuach | and [the] apple tree | H8598 → | |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עֲצֵ֤י | ʾatzei | [the] trees of | H6086 → | 328 times |
| הַשָּׂדֶה֙ | hasadeh | the field | H7704 → | 334 times |
| יָבֵ֔שׁוּ | yaveshu | they have dried up | H3001 → | 59 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הֹבִ֥ישׁ | hovish | it has been ashamed | H954 → | 127 times |
| שָׂשׂ֖וֹן | sason | joy | H8342 → | |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | [the] children of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אָדָֽם׃ ס | ʾadam | humankind | H120 → |
הַגֶּ֣פֶןthe vine
hagefenH1612 →55 times
הוֹבִ֔ישָׁהit has dried up
hovishahH954 →127 times
וְהַתְּאֵנָ֖הand the fig tree
vehateenahH8384 →39 times
אֻמְלָ֑לָהit has dried out
ʾumlalahH535 →
רִמּ֞וֹן[the] pomegranate tree
rimonH7416 →
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
תָּמָ֣ר[the] palm tree
tamarH8558 →
וְתַפּ֗וּחַand [the] apple tree
vetapuachH8598 →
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
עֲצֵ֤י[the] trees of
ʾatzeiH6086 →328 times
הַשָּׂדֶה֙the field
hasadehH7704 →334 times
יָבֵ֔שׁוּthey have dried up
yaveshuH3001 →59 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
הֹבִ֥ישׁit has been ashamed
hovishH954 →127 times
שָׂשׂ֖וֹןjoy
sasonH8342 →
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
בְּנֵ֥י[the] children of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
אָדָֽם׃ סhumankind
ʾadamH120 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Song of Solomon 2:3Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
it leads to
- Song of Solomon 8:5
Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? I roused you under the apple tree; there your mother conceived you; there she travailed and brought you forth.
- Isaiah 25:4
For You have been a refuge for the poor, a stronghold for the needy in distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like…
- Isaiah 32:2
Each will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in a dry land, like the shadow of a great rock in an arid land.
- Hebrews 1:1–6
On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets.
- Hebrews 12:2
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand…
- Song of Solomon 8:5
Through
Joel 1:10The field is ruined; the land mourns. For the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails.
it leads to
- Hosea 4:3
Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea disappear.
- Hosea 4:3
Through
Isaiah 24:11In the streets they cry out for wine. All joy turns to gloom; rejoicing is exiled from the land.
it leads to
- Isaiah 24:7–9
The new wine dries up, the vine withers. All the merrymakers now groan.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 24:7–9
Through
Isaiah 16:10Joy and gladness are removed from the orchard; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards. No one tramples the grapes in the winepresses; I have put an end to the cheering.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 48:33
Joy and gladness are removed from the orchard and from the fields of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses; no one treads them with shouts of joy; their shouts…
- Jeremiah 48:33
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Joel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Joel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON JOEL 1:11–12.