Joel 1:6
in Joel 1For a nation has invaded My land, powerful and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and its fangs are the fangs of a lioness.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the jaw-teeth of a lioness.
KJV
For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.
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This verse in Joel 1
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA nation is come up upon my land - That real locusts are intended there can be little doubt; but it is thought that this may be a double prophecy, and that the destruction by the Chaldeans may also be intended, and that the four kinds of locusts mentioned above may mean the four several attacks made on Judea by them.
This site's exposition
Awake, ye drunkards, and weep
on Joel 1:5-7
The drunkards are roused first because the vine is the plague's earliest casualty, the new wine cut off from their mouth before any theology is preached to them. Verse 6 names the locust swarm a nation, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, the double vision the book will not let go of, an insect plague described in an invading army's own vocabulary. The vine laid waste and the fig tree barked clean bare, its branches made white, pictures trees stripped to bare wood, a report travelers in genuine locust years have called accurate rather than exaggerated.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
How then are we to be freed from this pest? If we can drink a potion that is able to kill the worms within us and the serpents. And of what nature, it will be asked, may this potion be, that hath such power? The precious Blood of Christ, if it be received with full assurance, for this will have power to extinguish every disease; and together with this the divine Scriptures carefully heard, and almsgiving added to our hearing; for by means of all these things we shall be enabled to mortify the affections that mar our soul. And then only shall we live; for now surely we are in no better state than the dead: forasmuch as it cannot be, that while those passions live, we should live too, but we must necessarily perish. And unless we first kill them here, they will be sure to kill us in the other life; or rather before that death they will exact of us, even here, the utmost penalty. Yes, for every such passion is both cruel and tyrannical and insatiable, and never ceases to devour us every day. For "their teeth are the teeth of a lion," or rather even far more fierce. For the lion, as soon as ever he is satisfied, is wont to leave the carcass that hath fallen in his way; but these passions neither are satisfied, nor do they leave the man whom they have seized, until they have set him nigh the devil.
(Verse 6,7.) For a strong and innumerable nation will ascend over my land: its teeth, like lion's teeth, and its molars, like lion cubs. It has turned my vineyard into a desert, and has stripped my fig tree bare: it has made it naked and thrown it away; its branches have turned white. LXX: For a strong and innumerable nation will ascend over the land: its teeth, like a lion's teeth, and its molars, like lion cubs.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Strong - Mighty in power, and undaunted in courage, if you refer it to the Assyrian or Babylonians; if to those vermin, they are, though each weak by itself, yet in those multitudes, strong and irresistible.
), because they are embodied, and act by consent, and as it were with a common design; for, though the locusts have no king, yet they go forth all of them by bands ( Prov. xxx. 27 ), and it is there mentioned as an instance of their wisdom. It is prudence for those that are weak severally to unite and act jointly.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
For a nation is come up upon my land,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
38:16). strong--as irresistibly sweeping away before its compact body the fruits of man's industry. without number--so Jud 6:5; 7:12, "like grasshoppers (or "locusts") for multitude" (Jer 46:23; Na 3:15). teeth . . . lion--that is, the locusts are as destructive as a lion; there is no vegetation that can resist their bite (compare Re 9:8).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For a nation is come up upon my land - He calls this scourge of God a “nation,” giving them the title most used in Holy Scripture, of pagan nations. The like term, “people, folk,” is used of the “ants” and the “conies” Pro 30:25-26, for the wisdom with which God teaches them to act. Here it is used, in order to include at once, the irrational invader, guided by a Reason above its own, and the pagan conqueror. This enemy, he says, is “come up” (for the land as being God’s land, was exalted in dignity, above other lands,) “upon My land,” i. e. “the Lord’s land” Hos 9:3, hitherto owned protected as God’s land, a land which, Moses said to them, “the Lord thy God careth for; the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year” Deu 11:12. Now it was to be bared of God’s protection, and to be trampled upon by a pagan foe. Strong and without number - The figure is still from the locust, whose numbers are wholly countless by man. Travelers sometimes use likenesses to express their number, as clouds darkening the sun (see the note at Joe 2:10) or discharging flakes of snow ; some grave writers give it up, as hopeless. : “Their multitude is incredible, whereby they cover the earth and fill the air; they take away the brightness of the sun. I say again, the thing is incredible to one who has not seen them.” “It would not be a thing to be believed, if one had not seen it.” “On another day, it was beyond belief: they occupied a space of eight leagues (about 24 English miles). I do not mention the multitude of those without wings, because it is incredible.” : “When we were in the Seignory of Abrigima, in a place called Aquate, there came such a multitude of locusts, as cannot be said. They began to arrive one day about terce (nine) and until night they cease not to arrive; and when they arrived, they bestowed themselves. […]
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| גוֹי֙ | goy | a nation | H1471 → | 561 times |
| עָלָ֣ה | ʾalah | it has come up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אַרְצִ֔י | ʾartzi | land my | H776 → | 2504 times |
| עָצ֖וּם | ʾatzum | mighty | H6099 → | 31 times |
| וְאֵ֣ין | veein | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| מִסְפָּ֑ר | mispar | [is] number | H4557 → | |
| שִׁנָּיו֙ | shinav | teeth its | H8127 → | |
| שִׁנֵּ֣י | shinei | [are the] teeth of | H8127 → | |
| אַרְיֵ֔ה | ʾaryeh | a lion | H738 → | |
| וּֽמְתַלְּע֥וֹת | umetaleot | and [the] fangs of | H4973 → | |
| לָבִ֖יא | lavi' | a lioness | H3833 → | |
| לֽוֹ׃ | lo | [belong] to it |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
גוֹי֙a nation
goyH1471 →561 times
עָלָ֣הit has come up
ʾalahH5927 →890 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אַרְצִ֔יland my
ʾartziH776 →2504 times
עָצ֖וּםmighty
ʾatzumH6099 →31 times
וְאֵ֣יןand there not
veeinH369 →789 times
מִסְפָּ֑ר[is] number
misparH4557 →
שִׁנָּיו֙teeth its
shinavH8127 →
שִׁנֵּ֣י[are the] teeth of
shineiH8127 →
אַרְיֵ֔הa lion
ʾaryehH738 →
וּֽמְתַלְּע֥וֹתand [the] fangs of
umetaleotH4973 →
לָבִ֖יאa lioness
lavi'H3833 →
לֽוֹ׃[belong] to it
lo
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
Joel 2:25I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts—the swarming locust, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust—My great army that I sent against you.
it leads to
- Zechariah 10:6
I will strengthen the house of Judah and save the house of Joseph. I will restore them because I have compassion on them, and they will be as though I had not rejected them.…
- Joel 1:4–7
What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.
- Joel 2:2–11
a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like the dawn overspreading the mountains a great and strong army appears, such as never was of old, nor will ever be…
- Zechariah 10:6
Through
Proverbs 30:14there is a generation whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are knives, devouring the oppressed from the earth and the needy from among men.
it leads to
- Psalms 57:4
My soul is among the lions; I lie down with ravenous beasts— with men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
- Psalms 3:7
Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.
- Psalms 14:4
Will the workers of iniquity never learn? They devour my people like bread; they refuse to call upon the LORD.
- Job 29:17
I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.
- Psalms 57:4
Through
Isaiah 8:8It will pour into Judah, swirling and sweeping over it, reaching up to the neck; its spreading streams will cover your entire land, O Immanuel!
it leads to
- Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.
- Isaiah 7:14
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); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Joel; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 4; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.