God’s Word Translation
Joel 1:2
2Listen to this, you leaders! Open your ears, all inhabitants of this land! Nothing like this has ever happened in your lifetime or in your ancestors’ lifetime.
Joel 1:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?
- New International Version (NIV)Hear this, you elders; listen, all who live in the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your ancestors?
- English Standard Version (ESV)Hear this, you elders; give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers?
- New King James Version (NKJV)Hear this, you elders, And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land! Has anything like this happened in your days, Or even in the days of your fathers?
Context of Joel 1:2
1This is what the Lord said to Joel, son of Pethuel. Listen to this, you leaders! Open your ears, all inhabitants of this land! Nothing like this has ever happened in your lifetime or in your ancestors’ lifetime. 3Tell your children about it. Have your children tell their children. Have your grandchildren tell their children. 4What young locusts leave, mature locusts will eat. What mature locusts leave, adult locusts will eat. What adult locusts leave, grasshoppers will eat.
Read all of Joel 1Joel 1:2 word by word
שִׁמְעוּ־זֹאת֙ הַזְּקֵנִ֔ים וְהַֽאֲזִ֔ינוּ כֹּ֖ל יוֹשְׁבֵ֣י הָאָ֑רֶץ הֶהָ֤יְתָה זֹּאת֙ בִּֽימֵיכֶ֔ם וְאִ֖ם בִּימֵ֥י אֲבֹֽתֵיכֶֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Hearשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085
- this, ye old menזָקֵןzâqên · old: elderH2205
- and give earאָזַן'âzan · to listenH238
- all ye inhabitantsיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
- of the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- Hath this been in your daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- or evenאִם'im · ifH518
- of your fathersאָב'âb · fatherH1
Cross-references for Joel 1:2
- Psalms 49:1Listen to this, all you people. Open your ears, all who live in the world—
- Isaiah 34:1Come close, you nations, and listen. Pay attention, you people. The earth, everyone in it, the world, and everything on it will listen.
- Jeremiah 5:21Hear this, you stupid and senseless people! You have eyes, but you cannot see. You have ears, but you cannot hear.
- Hosea 5:1“Listen to this, you priests! Pay attention, nation of Israel! Open your ears, royal family! This is my decision about you. You set traps at Mizpah and spread out nets on Mount Tabor.
- Amos 3:1Listen to this message which I, the Lord, have spoken against you Israelites, against your whole family that I brought out of Egypt.
- Amos 4:1Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan who live on Mount Samaria. You women oppress the poor and abuse the needy. You say to your husbands, “Get some wine! Let’s drink!”
- Amos 5:1Listen to this message, this funeral song that I sing about you, nation of Israel:
- Micah 1:2Listen, all you people! Pay attention, earth and all who are on it. The Almighty Lord will be a witness against you. The Lord will be a witness from his holy temple.
- Micah 3:1Then I said: Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the nation of Israel. You should know justice.
- Matthew 13:9Let the person who has ears listen!”
- Revelation 2:7“Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give the privilege of eating from the tree of life, which stands in the paradise of God, to everyone who wins the victory.
- Job 8:8“Ask the people of past generations. Find out what their ancestors had learned.
- Job 12:12“Wisdom is with the ancient one. The one who has had many days has insight.
- Job 15:10Both the old and the gray-haired are among us. They are older than your father.
- Job 21:7“Why do the wicked go on living, grow old, and even become more powerful?
- Joel 2:2It is a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and overcast skies. A large and mighty army will spread over the mountains like the dawn. Nothing like this has ever happened. Nothing like this will ever happen again.
Commentaries on Joel 1:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Ye old men - Instead of הזקנים hazzekenim old men, a few MSS. have הכהנים haccohanim, ye priests, but improperly. Hath this been in your days - He begins very abruptly; and before he proposes his subject, excites attention and alarm by intimating that he is about to announce disastrous events, such as the oldest man among them has never seen, nor any of them learnt from the histories of ancient times.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2Hear this, ye old men - By reason of their age they had known and heard much; they had heard from their fathers, and their father‘s fathers, much which they had not known themselves. Among the people of the east, memories of past times were handed down from generation to generation, for periods, which to us would seem incredible. Israel was commanded, so to transmit the vivid memories of the miracles of God. The prophet appeals “to the old men, to hear,”…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2Hear this: Joel called the people to pay close attention to the prophecy. elders: The prophet asked the community elders if anything like this had happened before. It had not. This disaster was unique in the history of God's people.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2-32-3. A spirited introduction calling attention. old men--the best judges in question concerning the past (De 32:7; Job 32:7). Hath this been, &c.--that is, Hath any so grievous a calamity as this ever been before? No such plague of locusts had been since the ones in Egypt. Ex 10:14 is not at variance with this verse, which refers to Judea, in which Joel says there had been no such devastation before.Read the comment
Topics related to Joel 1:2
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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