Joel 1:20

Joel 1:20 in other versions

• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Even the wild animals cry out to you because the streams have dried up, and fire has consumed the wilderness pastures.

Context of Joel 1:20

18How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. 19O Lord, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. 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.

Joel 1:20 word by word

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

• 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 38:41Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.
• Psalms 104:21The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.
• Psalms 145:15The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.
• Psalms 147:9He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.
• 1 Kings 17:7And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
• 1 Kings 18:5And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts.

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