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Selected Verse: Joel 1:13 - King James

Verse	Translation	Text
Joe 1:13	King James	Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
Gird yourselves--namely, with sackcloth; as in Isa 32:11, the ellipsis is supplied (compare Jer 4:8). lament, ye priests--as it is your duty to set the example to others; also as the guilt was greater, and a greater scandal was occasioned, by your sin to the cause of God. come--the Septuagint, "enter" the house of God (compare Joe 1:14). lie all night in sackcloth--so Ahab (Kg1 21:27). ministers of my God-- (Co1 9:13). Joel claims authority for his doctrine; it is in God's name and by His mission I speak to you.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

Gird yourselves--namely, with sackcloth; as in Isa 32:11, the ellipsis is supplied (compare Jer 4:8).

lament, ye priests--as it is your duty to set the example to others; also as the guilt was greater, and a greater scandal was occasioned, by your sin to the cause of God.

come--the Septuagint, "enter" the house of God (compare Joe 1:14).

lie all night in sackcloth--so Ahab (Kg1 21:27).

ministers of my God-- (Co1 9:13). Joel claims authority for his doctrine; it is in God's name and by His mission I speak to you.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
Gird yourselves - that is, with haircloth, as is elsewhere expressed Isa 22:12; Jer 4:8; Jer 6:26. The outward affliction is an expression of the inward grief, and itself excites to further grief. This their garment of affliction and penitence, they were not to put off day and night. Their wonted duty was to "offer up sacrifice for their own sins and the sins of the people" Heb 7:27, and to entreat God for them. This their office the prophet calls them to discharge day and night; to "come" into the court of the temple, and there, where God showed Himself in majesty and mercy, "lie all night" prostrate before God, not at ease, but in sackcloth. He calls to them in the Name of his God, "Ye ministers of my God;" of Him, to whom, whosoever forsook Him, he himself was faithful. : "The prophets called the God of all, their own God, being united to Him by singular love and reverential obedience, so that they could say, "God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" Psa 73:26. He calls Him, further, "their" God, (your God) in order to remind them of His special favor to them, and their duty to Him who allowed them to call Him "their" God.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

Gird yourselves - that is, with haircloth, as is elsewhere expressed Isa 22:12; Jer 4:8; Jer 6:26. The outward affliction is an expression of the inward grief, and itself excites to further grief. This their garment of affliction and penitence, they were not to put off day and night. Their wonted duty was to "offer up sacrifice for their own sins and the sins of the people" Heb 7:27, and to entreat God for them. This their office the prophet calls them to discharge day and night; to "come" into the court of the temple, and there, where God showed Himself in majesty and mercy, "lie all night" prostrate before God, not at ease, but in sackcloth. He calls to them in the Name of his God, "Ye ministers of my God;" of Him, to whom, whosoever forsook Him, he himself was faithful. : "The prophets called the God of all, their own God, being united to Him by singular love and reverential obedience, so that they could say, "God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" Psa 73:26. He calls Him, further, "their" God, (your God) in order to remind them of His special favor to them, and their duty to Him who allowed them to call Him "their" God.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
The affliction is not removed by mourning and lamentation, but only through repentance and supplication to the Lord, who can turn away all evil. The prophet therefore proceeds to call upon the priests to offer to the Lord penitential supplication day and night in the temple, and to call the elders and all the people to observe a day of fasting, penitence, and prayer; and then offers supplication himself to the Lord to have compassion upon them (Joe 1:19). From the motive assigned for this appeal, we may also see that a terrible drought had been associated with the devastation by the locusts, from which both man and beast had endured the most bitter suffering, and that Joel regarded this terrible calamity as a sign of the coming of the day of the Lord. Joe 1:13. "Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests; howl, ye servants of the altar; come, pass the night in sackcloth, ye servants of my God: for the meat-offering and drink-offering are withdrawn from the house of your God. Joe 1:14. Sanctify a fast, call out an assembly, assemble the elders, all ye inhabitants of the land, at the house of Jehovah your God, and cry to Jehovah." From what follows we must supply bassaqqı̄m (with sackcloth) to chigrū (gird yourselves). Gird yourselves with mourning apparel, i.e., put it on (see Joe 1:8). In this they are to pass the night, to offer supplication day and night, or incessantly, standing between the altar and the porch (Joe 2:17). "Servants of my God," i.e., of the God whose prophet I am, and from whom I can promise you a hearing. The reason assigned for this appeal is the same as for the lamentation in Joe 1:9. But it is not the priests only who are to pray incessantly to the Lord; the elders and all the people are to do the same. קדּשׁ צום, to sanctify a fast, i.e., to appoint a holy fast, a divine service of prayer connected with fasting. To this end the priests are to call an ‛ătsârâh, i.e., a meeting of the congregation for religious worship. ‛Atsârâh, or ‛ătsereth, πανήγυρις, is synonymous with מקרא קודשׁ in Lev 23:36 (see the exposition of that passage). In what follows, כּל־ישׁבי ה is attached ἀσυνδέτως to זקנים; and the latter is not a vocative, but an accusative of the object. On the other hand, בּית יהוה is an accus. loci, and dependent upon אספוּ. זעק, to cry, used of loud and importunate prayer. It is only by this that destruction can still be averted.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

The affliction is not removed by mourning and lamentation, but only through repentance and supplication to the Lord, who can turn away all evil. The prophet therefore proceeds to call upon the priests to offer to the Lord penitential supplication day and night in the temple, and to call the elders and all the people to observe a day of fasting, penitence, and prayer; and then offers supplication himself to the Lord to have compassion upon them (Joe 1:19). From the motive assigned for this appeal, we may also see that a terrible drought had been associated with the devastation by the locusts, from which both man and beast had endured the most bitter suffering, and that Joel regarded this terrible calamity as a sign of the coming of the day of the Lord. Joe 1:13. "Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests; howl, ye servants of the altar; come, pass the night in sackcloth, ye servants of my God: for the meat-offering and drink-offering are withdrawn from the house of your God. Joe 1:14. Sanctify a fast, call out an assembly, assemble the elders, all ye inhabitants of the land, at the house of Jehovah your God, and cry to Jehovah." From what follows we must supply bassaqqı̄m (with sackcloth) to chigrū (gird yourselves). Gird yourselves with mourning apparel, i.e., put it on (see Joe 1:8). In this they are to pass the night, to offer supplication day and night, or incessantly, standing between the altar and the porch (Joe 2:17). "Servants of my God," i.e., of the God whose prophet I am, and from whom I can promise you a hearing. The reason assigned for this appeal is the same as for the lamentation in Joe 1:9. But it is not the priests only who are to pray incessantly to the Lord; the elders and all the people are to do the same. קדּשׁ צום, to sanctify a fast, i.e., to appoint a holy fast, a divine service of prayer connected with fasting. To this end the priests are to call an ‛ătsârâh, i.e., a meeting of the congregation for religious worship. ‛Atsârâh, or ‛ătsereth, πανήγυρις, is synonymous with מקרא קודשׁ in Lev 23:36 (see the exposition of that passage). In what follows, כּל־ישׁבי ה is attached ἀσυνδέτως to זקנים; and the latter is not a vocative, but an accusative of the object. On the other hand, בּית יהוה is an accus. loci, and dependent upon אספוּ. זעק, to cry, used of loud and importunate prayer. It is only by this that destruction can still be averted.

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