Joel 1:18

Joel 1:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
• New International Version (NIV)How the cattle moan! The herds mill about because they have no pasture; even the flocks of sheep are suffering.
• English Standard Version (ESV)How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep suffer.
• New King James Version (NKJV)How the animals groan! The herds of cattle are restless, Because they have no pasture; Even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment.

Context of Joel 1:18

16Food disappears right before our eyes. Happiness and rejoicing disappear from our God’s temple. 17Seeds shrivel up in their shells. Storehouses are destroyed. Barns are ruined. The grain has dried up. The animals groan. Herds of cattle wander around confused. There’s no pasture for them. Even flocks of sheep are suffering. 19O Lord, I cry to you for help! Fire has burned up the open pastures. Flames have burned up all the trees in the orchards. 20Even wild animals long for you. Streams run dry. Fire has burned up the open pastures.

Joel 1:18 word by word

מַה־נֶּאֶנְחָ֣ה בְהֵמָ֗ה נָבֹ֙כוּ֙ עֶדְרֵ֣י בָקָ֔ר כִּ֛י אֵ֥ין מִרְעֶ֖ה לָהֶ֑ם גַּם־עֶדְרֵ֥י הַצֹּ֖אן נֶאְשָֽׁמוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• How do the beastsבְּהֵמָהbehêmâh · animalH929
• groanאָנַח'ânach · to sighH584
• the herdsעֵ֫דֶר‛êder · flockH5739
• of cattleבָּקָרbâqâr · cattleH1241
• are perplexedבּוּךְbûk · to perplexH943
• because they have no pastureמִרְעֶהmir‛eh · pastureH4829
• of sheepצֹאןtsô'n tse'ôn · flockH6629
• are made desolateאָשַׁם'âsham 'âshêm · be guiltyH816

Cross-references for Joel 1:18

• Joel 1:20Even wild animals long for you. Streams run dry. Fire has burned up the open pastures.
• 1 Kings 18:5Ahab told Obadiah, “Let’s go throughout the countryside to every spring and stream. If we can find grass, then we can keep the horses and mules alive and not lose any animals.”
• Jeremiah 12:4How long will the land mourn? How long will the plants in every field remain dried up? The animals and the birds are dying, because people are wicked. They think that God doesn’t know what they are doing.
• Jeremiah 14:5Even deer in the fields give birth and abandon their young because there’s no grass.
• Hosea 4:3That is why the land is drying up, and everyone who lives in it is passing away. Wild animals, birds, and fish are dying.
• Romans 8:22We know that all creation has been groaning with the pains of childbirth up to the present time.

Commentaries on Joel 1:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18How do the beasts groan! - I really think that the neighing of horses, or braying of asses, is wonderfully expressed by the sound of the original: בהמה נאנחה מה mah Neenchah behemah, how do the horses neigh! how do the asses bray! בהמה behemah is a collective name for all domestic cattle, and those used in husbandry. Cattle are perplexed - They are looking everywhere, and wandering about to find some grass, and know not which way to run.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18How do the beasts groan! - There is something very pitiable in the cry of the brute creation, even because they are innocent, yet bear man‘s guilt. Their groaning seems to the prophet to be beyond expression. How vehemently do they “groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed,” as though, like man, they were endued with reason, to debate where to find their food. Yea, not these only, but the flocks of sheep, which might find pasture where the herds could…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. 18The people of Judah struggled because of the famine. Even sheep and goats, which can survive on little food, cried out because they had nothing to eat.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. cattle ... perplexed--implying the restless gestures of the dumb beasts in their inability to find food. There is a tacit contrast between the sense of the brute creation and the insensibility of the people. yea, the ... sheep--Even the sheep, which are content with less rich pasturage, cannot find food. are made desolate--literally, "suffer punishment." The innocent brute shares the "punishment" of guilty man (Ex 12:29; Jon 3:7; 4:11).Read the comment

Topics related to Joel 1:18

• Animals
• Famine
• Nation

In the dictionaries

• Cattle
• Groan
• Joel (2)

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