Yoel 1:7

1:7 They ¹  have destroyed our ²  vines; ³ 

they have turned our ⁴  fig trees into mere splinters.

They have completely stripped off the bark ⁵  and thrown them aside;

the ⁶  twigs are stripped bare. ⁷ 

Yoel 1:12

1:12 The vine has dried up;

the fig tree languishes –

the pomegranate, date, and apple ⁸  as well.

In fact, ⁹  all the trees of the field have dried up.

Indeed, the joy of the people ¹⁰  has dried up!

Yoel 2:22

2:22 Do not fear, wild animals! ¹¹ 

For the pastures of the wilderness are again green with grass.

Indeed, the trees bear their fruit;

the fig tree and the vine yield to their fullest. ¹² 

[1:7]  ¹ tn Heb “it.” Throughout vv. 6-7 the Hebrew uses singular forms to describe the locust swarm, but the translation uses plural forms because several details of the text make more sense in English as if they are describing the appearance and effects of individual locusts.

[1:7]  ² tn Heb “my.”

[1:7]  ³ tn Both “vines” and “fig trees” are singular in the Hebrew text, but are regarded as collective singulars.

[1:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “my.”

[1:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “it has completely stripped her.”

[1:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “her.”

[1:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “grow white.”

[1:7]  sn Once choice leafy vegetation is no longer available to them, locusts have been known to consume the bark of small tree limbs, leaving them in an exposed and vulnerable condition. It is apparently this whitened condition of limbs that Joel is referring to here.

[1:12]  ⁸ tn This Hebrew word וְתַפּוּחַ (vÿtappuakh) probably refers to the apple tree (so most English versions), but other suggestions that scholars have offered include the apricot, citron, or quince.

[1:12]  ⁹ tn These words are not in the Hebrew text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the sons of man.”

[2:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “beasts of the field.”

[2:22]  ¹² tn Heb “their strength.” The trees and vines will produce a maximum harvest, in contrast to the failed agricultural conditions previously described.