Amplified Bible
Joel 1:8
8Wail like a virgin [bride] clothed with sackcloth For the bridegroom of her youth [who has died].
Joel 1:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
- New International Version (NIV)Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth grieving for the betrothed of her youth.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Lament like a virgin wearing sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth For the husband of her youth.
Context of Joel 1:8
6For a [pagan and hostile] nation has invaded My land [like locusts], Mighty and without number; Its teeth are the teeth of a lion, And it has the fangs of a lioness. 7It has made My vine (My people) a waste and object of horror, And splintered and broken My fig tree. It has stripped them completely bare and thrown them away; Their branches have become white. Wail like a virgin [bride] clothed with sackcloth For the bridegroom of her youth [who has died]. 9The [daily] grain offering and the drink offering are cut off From the house of the Lord; The priests mourn Who minister to the Lord. 10The field is ruined, The ground mourns; For the grain is ruined, The new wine is dried up, The fresh oil fails.
Read all of Joel 1Joel 1:8 word by word
אֱלִ֕י כִּבְתוּלָ֥ה חֲגֻֽרַת־שַׂ֖ק עַל־בַּ֥עַל נְעוּרֶֽיהָ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Joel 1:8
- Joel 1:13Clothe yourselves with sackcloth And lament (cry out in grief), O priests; Wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth [and pray without ceasing], O ministers of my God, For the grain offering and the drink offering Are withheld from the house of your God.
- Joel 2:12“Even now,” says the Lord, “Turn and come to Me with all your heart [in genuine repentance], With fasting and weeping and mourning [until every barrier is removed and the broken fellowship is restored];
- Isaiah 22:12Therefore in that day the Lord God of hosts called you to weeping, to mourning, To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth [in humiliation].
- Isaiah 24:7The new wine mourns, The vine decays; All the merry-hearted sigh and groan.
- Isaiah 32:11Tremble, you women who are carefree; Tremble with fear, you complacent ones! Strip, undress and wear sackcloth on your waist [in grief],
- Jeremiah 9:17Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider and call for the mourning women to come; Send for the wailing women to come.
- James 4:8Come close to God [with a contrite heart] and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; and purify your [unfaithful] hearts, you double-minded [people].
- James 5:1Come [quickly] now, you rich [who lack true faith and hoard and misuse your resources], weep and howl over the miseries [the woes, the judgments] that are coming upon you.
- Proverbs 2:17Who leaves the companion (husband) of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God.
- Jeremiah 3:4Will you not just now call out to Me, ‘My Father, you were the guide and companion of my youth?
- Malachi 2:15But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth.
Commentaries on Joel 1:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8Lament like a virgin - for the husband of her youth - Virgin is a very improper version here. The original is בתולה bethulah, which signifies a young woman or bride not a virgin, the proper Hebrew for which is עלמה almah . See the notes on Isaiah 7:14; (note), and Matthew 1:23; (note).Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8Lament like a virgin - The prophet addresses the congregation of Israel, as one espoused to God; “Lament thou,‘ daughter of Zion,” or the like. He bids her lament, with the bitterest of sorrows, as one who, in her virgin years, was just knit into one with the husband of her youth, and then at once was, by God‘s judgment, on the very day of her espousal, ere yet she ceased to be a virgin, parted by death. The mourning which God commands is not one of…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-13Verses 8-13 All who labour only for the meat that perishes, will, sooner or later, be ashamed of their labour. Those that place their happiness in the delights of sense, when deprived of them, or disturbed in the enjoyment, lose their joy; whereas spiritual joy then flourishes more than ever. See what perishing, uncertain things our creature-comforts are. See how we need to live in continual dependence upon God and his providence. See what ruinous work…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8Wail like a virgin: Judah is like a young engaged woman whose marriage never happens because her husband dies.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. Lament--O "my land" (Joe 1:6; Is 24:4). virgin ... for the husband--A virgin betrothed was regarded as married (De 22:23; Mt 1:19). The Hebrew for "husband" is "lord" or "possessor," the husband being considered the master of the wife in the East. of her youth--when the affections are strongest and when sorrow at bereavement is consequently keenest. Suggesting the thought of what Zion's grief ought to be for her separation from Jehovah, the betrothed…Read the comment
Topics related to Joel 1:8
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Joel 1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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