God’s Word Translation
Joel 1:6
6A strong nation attacked my land. It has too many soldiers to count. They have teeth like lions. They have fangs like grown lions.
Joel 1:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.
- New International Version (NIV)A nation has invaded my land, a mighty army without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness.
- English Standard Version (ESV)For a nation has come up against my land, powerful and beyond number; its teeth are lions' teeth, and it has the fangs of a lioness.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For a nation has come up against My land, Strong, and without number; His teeth are the teeth of a lion, And he has the fangs of a fierce lion.
Context of Joel 1:6
4What young locusts leave, mature locusts will eat. What mature locusts leave, adult locusts will eat. What adult locusts leave, grasshoppers will eat. 5Wake up and cry, you drunks! Cry loudly, you wine drinkers! New wine has been taken away from you. A strong nation attacked my land. It has too many soldiers to count. They have teeth like lions. They have fangs like grown lions. 7They destroyed my grapevines. They ruined my fig trees. They stripped off what they could eat, threw the rest away, and left the branches bare. 8Cry loudly like a young woman who is dressed in sackcloth, mourning for the man she was going to marry.
Read all of Joel 1Joel 1:6 word by word
כִּֽי־גוֹי֙ עָלָ֣ה עַל־אַרְצִ֔י עָצ֖וּם וְאֵ֣ין מִסְפָּ֑ר שִׁנָּיו֙ שִׁנֵּ֣י אַרְיֵ֔ה וּֽמְתַלְּע֥וֹת לָבִ֖יא לֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- For a nationגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
- is come upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
- upon my landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- strongעָצוּם‛âtsûm ‛âtsûm · mightyH6099
- and without numberמִסְפָּרmispâr · numberH4557
- whose teethשֵׁןshên · toothH8127
- of a lionאַרְיֵה'ărîy 'aryêh · lionH738
- and he hath the cheek teethמְתַלְּעוֹתmethalle‛âh · jawH4973
- of a great lionלָבִיאlâbîy' lebîyâ' lebâ'îym lebâ'ôth · lionH3833
Cross-references for Joel 1:6
- 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.
- Proverbs 30:25Ants are not a strong species, yet they store their food in summer.
- Psalms 107:34and fertile ground into a layer of salt because of the wickedness of the people living there.
- Isaiah 8:8It will sweep through Judah. It will overflow and pass through; it will be neck-high. Its outspread wings will extend over your whole country, O Immanuel.
- Isaiah 32:13Mourn for my people’s land where thorns and briars will grow. Mourn for all the happy homes in a joyful city.
- Hosea 9:3The people of Ephraim won’t stay in the Lord’s land. They will return to Egypt, and they will eat unclean food in Assyria.
- Proverbs 30:14A certain kind of person, whose teeth are like swords and whose jaws are ⌞like⌟ knives, devours oppressed people from the earth and people from among humanity.
- Revelation 9:7The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. They seemed to have crowns that looked like gold on their heads. Their faces were like human faces.
Commentaries on Joel 1:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6A nation is come up upon my land - That real locusts are intended there can be little doubt; but it is thought that this may be a double prophecy, and that the destruction by the Chaldeans may also be intended, and that the four kinds of locusts mentioned above may mean the four several attacks made on Judea by them. The first in the last year of Nabonassar, (father of Nebuchadnezzar), which was the third of Jehoiakim; the second when Jehoiakim was taken…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6For a nation is come up upon my land - He calls this scourge of God a “nation,” giving them the title most used in Holy Scripture, of pagan nations. The like term, “people, folk,” is used of the “ants” and the “conies” Proverbs 30:25-26, for the wisdom with which God teaches them to act. Here it is used, in order to include at once, the irrational invader, guided by a Reason above its own, and the pagan conqueror. This enemy, he says, is “come up” (for…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-20The prophet Joel describes a severe locust plague that struck Judah and Jerusalem.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. nation--applied to the locusts, rather than "people" (Pr 30:25, 26), to mark not only their numbers, but also their savage hostility; and also to prepare the mind of the hearer for the transition to the figurative locusts in the second chapter, namely, the "nation" or Gentile foe coming against Judea (compare Joe 2:2). my land--that is, Jehovah's; which never would have been so devastated were I not pleased to inflict punishment (Joe 2:18; Is 14:25; Jr…Read the comment
Topics related to Joel 1:6
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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