New English Translation
Joel 1:6
6For a nation has invaded our land. There are so many of them they are too numerous to count. Their teeth are like those of a lion; they tear apart their prey like a lioness.
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 the gazam-locust left the ‘arbeh-locust consumed, what the ‘arbeh-locust left the yeleq-locust consumed, and what the yeleq-locust left the hasil-locust consumed! 5Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you wine drinkers, because the sweet wine has been taken away from you. For a nation has invaded our land. There are so many of them they are too numerous to count. Their teeth are like those of a lion; they tear apart their prey like a lioness. 7They have destroyed our vines; they have turned our fig trees into mere splinters. They have completely stripped off the bark and thrown them aside; the twigs are stripped bare. 8Wail like a young virgin clothed in sackcloth, lamenting the death of her husband-to-be.
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 will be a day of dreadful darkness, a day of foreboding storm clouds, like blackness spread over the mountains. It is a huge and powerful army – there has never been anything like it ever before, and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come!
- Proverbs 30:25ants are creatures with little strength, but they prepare their food in the summer;
- Psalms 107:34and a fruitful land into a barren place, because of the sin of its inhabitants.
- Isaiah 8:8It will spill into Judah, flooding and engulfing, as it reaches to the necks of its victims. He will spread his wings out over your entire land, O Immanuel.”
- Isaiah 32:13Mourn over the land of my people, which is overgrown with thorns and briers, and over all the once-happy houses in the city filled with revelry.
- Hosea 9:3They will not remain in the Lord’s land. Ephraim will return to Egypt; they will eat ritually unclean food in Assyria.
- Proverbs 30:14There is a generation whose teeth are like swords and whose molars are like knives to devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among the human race.
- Revelation 9:7Now the locusts looked like horses equipped for battle. On their heads were something like crowns similar to gold, and their faces looked like men’s 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
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