Joel 1:16
in Joel 1Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes—joy and gladness from the house of our God?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Is not the food cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
KJV
Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
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This verse in Joel 1
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Is not the meat cut off before our eyes? - The prophet exhibits the immediate judgment, as if it were already fullilled in act.
This site's exposition
Alas for the day
on Joel 1:15-18
Alas for the day! introduces the book's refrain, the day of the Lord is at hand, a phrase Joel repeats at 2:1, 2:11, and 3:14, binding the locust year to a horizon larger than any one harvest. The word rendered destruction plays in the Hebrew on the divine name Shaddai, shod mishaddai, a wordplay the commentators note the King James cannot carry across into English. Even the animals are drawn into the lament, the beasts groan, the herds of cattle are perplexed for lack of pasture, and the flocks of sheep made desolate, creation itself given a voice in the book's grief.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 16) Have not the provisions perished before our eyes from the house of our God, joy and exultation? LXX: The provisions have perished before your eyes: from the house of our God, joy and delight. The provisions of sinners perish before our eyes when the expected crops are taken from their hands, and the locust precedes the harvester, so that what is stored in the barns with hope is consumed by weevils and rust.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Is not the meat cut off before our eyes?....
Is not the meat many a time cut off before our eyes? Let us then labour for that spiritual meat which is not before our eyes, and which cannot be cut off. (2.) Let them look into God's house, and see the effects of the judgment there; joy and gladness were cut off from the house of God.
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. The greatness of the judgment, expressed here in two things:-- 1.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Compare Joe 1:9, and latter part of Joe 1:12. joy--which prevailed at the annual feasts, as also in the ordinary sacrificial offerings, of which the offerers ate before the Lord with gladness and thanksgivings (De 12:6, 7, 12;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֲל֛וֹא | halo' | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נֶ֥גֶד | neged | before | H5048 → | |
| עֵינֵ֖ינוּ | ʾeineinu | eyes our | H5869 → | |
| אֹ֣כֶל | ʾokhel | food | H400 → | |
| נִכְרָ֑ת | nikhrat | has it been cut off | H3772 → | 288 times |
| מִבֵּ֥ית | mibeit | from [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ | ʾeloheinu | God our | H430 → | 2601 times |
| שִׂמְחָ֥ה | simchah | joy | H8057 → | |
| וָגִֽיל׃ | vagil | and rejoicing | H1524 → |
הֲל֛וֹא¿ not
halo'H3808 →5168 times
נֶ֥גֶדbefore
negedH5048 →
עֵינֵ֖ינוּeyes our
ʾeineinuH5869 →
אֹ֣כֶלfood
ʾokhelH400 →
נִכְרָ֑תhas it been cut off
nikhratH3772 →288 times
מִבֵּ֥יתfrom [the] house of
mibeitH1004 →2046 times
אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּGod our
ʾeloheinuH430 →2601 times
שִׂמְחָ֥הjoy
simchahH8057 →
וָגִֽיל׃and rejoicing
vagilH1524 →
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
Psalms 105:3Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
it leads to
- Lamentations 3:25
The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.
- Galatians 6:14
But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
- Proverbs 8:17
I love those who love me, and those who seek me early shall find me.
- 1 Corinthians 1:29
so that no one may boast in His presence.
- 1 Corinthians 1:31
Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
- Lamentations 3:25
Through
Psalms 43:4Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my greatest joy. I will praise You with the harp, O God, my God.
it leads to
- Isaiah 61:10
I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom…
- Habakkuk 3:17–18
Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold…
- Psalms 66:13–15
I will enter Your house with burnt offerings; I will fulfill my vows to You—
- Isaiah 61:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Joel
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Joel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.