Joel 1:20

Joel 1:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
• New International Version (NIV)Even the wild animals pant for you; the streams of water have dried up and fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Even the beasts of the field pant for you because the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
• New King James Version (NKJV)The beasts of the field also cry out to You, For the water brooks are dried up, And fire has devoured the open pastures.

Context of Joel 1:20

18The cows make a sad noise. They all move about because they cannot find any grass. Even groups of sheep are hungry. 19I speak to you, my Lord. Fire has destroyed the grass in the wilderness, and it has burned up all the trees. Even the wild animals are thirsty and they want your help. The rivers have no water in them. Fire has destroyed the fields in the wilderness.

Joel 1:20 word by word

גַּם־בַּהֲמ֥וֹת שָׂדֶ֖ה תַּעֲר֣וֹג אֵלֶ֑יךָ כִּ֤י יָֽבְשׁוּ֙ אֲפִ֣יקֵי מָ֔יִם וְאֵ֕שׁ אָכְלָ֖ה נְא֥וֹת הַמִּדְבָּֽר׃ פRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The beastsבְּהֵמָהbehêmâh · animalH929
• of the fieldשָׂדֶהώâdeh ώâday · land: countryH7704
• cryעָרַג‛ârag · to long forH6165
• also unto thee: for the riversאָפִיק'âphîyq · channelH650
• of watersמַיmayim · waterH4325
• are dried upיָבֵשׁyâbêsh · to witherH3001
• and the fireאֵשׁ'êsh · fireH784
• hath devouredאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• the pasturesנָוָהnâ'âh · habitationH4999
• of the wildernessמִדְבָּרmidbâr · wildernessH4057

Cross-references for Joel 1:20

• Job 38:41You cannot find food for the ravens to eat. You cannot help them when their babies cry to me because they are weak and hungry.’
• Psalms 104:21The lions roar while they look for animals to kill. They look for the food that God gives to them.
• Psalms 145:15People look to you for help. You give them food when they need it.
• Psalms 147:9He gives food for the animals to eat. He feeds the young ravens when they cry.
• 1 Kings 17:7After some time the stream became dry, because there had been no rain in the whole land.
• 1 Kings 18:5Now Ahab said to Obadiah, ‘Go through all the land to where there are valleys and springs of water. See if we can find some grass to feed the horses and mules. Then we will not have to kill our animals.’

Commentaries on Joel 1:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20The beasts of the field cry also unto thee - Even the cattle, wild and tame, are represented as supplicating God to have mercy upon them, and send them provender! There is a similar affecting description of the effects of a drought in Jeremiah, Jeremiah 14:6. The rivers of waters are dried up - There must have been a drought as well as a host of locusts; as some of these expressions seem to apply to the effects of intense heat. For המדבר hammidbar, "the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20The beasts of the field cry also unto Thee - o“There is an order in these distresses. First he points out the insensate things wasted; then those afflicted, which have sense only; then those endowed with reason; so that to the order of calamity there may be consorted an order of pity, sparing first the creature, then the things sentient, then things rational. The Creator spares the creature; the Ordainer, things sentient; the Saviour, the rational.”…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-20Verses 14-20 The sorrow of the people is turned into repentance and humiliation before God. With all the marks of sorrow and shame, sin must be confessed and bewailed. A day is to be appointed for this purpose; a day in which people must be kept from their common employments, that they may more closely attend God's services; and there is to be abstaining from meat and drink. Every one had added to the national guilt, all shared in the national calamity…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20All creation suffers because of human sin (Genesis 3:17–18; 9:2; Romans 8:20–21). Even wild animals cry out to God. The Hebrew word translated "pant” is the same as in Psalm 42:1, where the deer “pants” for water. The animals, needing food and drink, show how the people of Judah and Jerusalem should seek their Lord (see Isaiah 1:3).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. beasts ... cry ... unto thee--that is, look up to heaven with heads lifted up, as if their only expectation was from God (Job 38:41; Psa 104:21; 145:15; 147:9; compare Psa 42:1). They tacitly reprove the deadness of the Jews for not even now invoking God.Read the comment

Topics related to Joel 1:20

• Animals
• Famine
• Nation

In the dictionaries

• Cry, Crying
• Joel (2)
• River

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