The text highlights not just the lack of crops, but the failure of the vital elements of Israelite life: grain for bread, wine for drink, and oil for sustenance and worship. This points beyond a simple famine to a spiritual crisis, where the very sustenance that symbolized God's blessing is withheld.
The fields are destroyed, the ground mourns, because the grain is destroyed, the wine dries up, the oil languishes. Be ashamed, O tillers of the soil; wail, O vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished. The vine dries up; the fig tree languishes. Pomegranate, palm, and apple, all the trees of the field are dried up, and gladness dries up from the children of man.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Joel paints a vivid picture of devastation, describing the land itself as mourning because its most vital crops – grain, wine, and oil – have been destroyed. This isn't just a natural disaster; it's presented as a consequence of sin, leading to the failure of offerings to God and the collapse of daily sustenance. The prophet emphasizes this widespread loss to shock his audience into realizing the severity of their situation and its divine cause.
When disaster strikes, who or what is mourning? The answer might surprise you.
Joel paints a vivid picture of ecological devastation. He uses personification, a literary device where inanimate objects are given human qualities, to show the depth of the crisis. The 'field' is wasted, and the 'ground' mourns. This isn't just about crops failing; it's about the entire environment crying out in distress.
Think about it: When nature itself seems to be groaning, it's a profound sign that something is terribly wrong. This imagery elevates the disaster from a mere agricultural problem to a spiritual and existential crisis. The land's mourning reflects the deep sorrow and disruption caused by the locust plague, a visible manifestation of God's judgment.
What are the absolute essentials that, when gone, signal a complete breakdown of life as you know it?
Joel zeroes in on the most crucial elements of sustenance: grain, new wine, and oil. These weren't just commodities; they were the bedrock of ancient Israelite life and worship.
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When these three disappear, it's not just an inconvenience; it signifies the collapse of food security, the halt of worship (as sacrifices depended on these), and the loss of everyday comforts and means.
People are hurting, but are they seeing the real reason for their pain?
The commentators highlight a critical insight: the people of Joel's day were experiencing the physical devastation intensely – the hunger, the thirst, the lack. They felt the consequences of the locust plague.
However, they were largely failing to connect this suffering to its divine source. They mourned the loss of their crops and produce, but they didn't see this as a consequence of their sin or as a direct act of God's judgment. They were like 'brute beasts,' reacting to physical discomfort but lacking spiritual discernment.
This is a profound challenge for us today. When hardship strikes—whether personal struggles, economic downturns, or broader societal problems—do we merely lament the symptoms, or do we seek to understand if there's a deeper spiritual cause, perhaps a call from God to repentance and deeper faith?
Understand the original words
buwsh · Hebrew Verb
A sense of disgrace, humiliation, or remorse often experienced when one realizes their unworthiness before God or the consequence of their sins. It involves an internal awareness of failure that manifests outwardly.
Joel's vivid description of a devastated land, with its crops of grain, wine, and oil destroyed, points directly to a catastrophic locust plague, a tangible event that underscores God's judgment and the people's desperate need for repentance.
c. 8th century BC
Prophetic Ministry Flourishes
The prophet Joel delivers his message during a period when prophetic voices were active, challenging the people of Judah and Israel.
c. 8th century BC— this verse
Agricultural Devastation by Locusts
A massive locust swarm descends upon Judah, consuming crops, leaving fields barren, and causing widespread famine and despair.
c. 8th century BC
Widespread Mourning and Lament
The people of Judah lament the loss of their crops – the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil – which are essential for sustenance and religious offerings.
c. 8th century BC
Call for Repentance and Fasting
Joel calls the elders and all inhabitants of Judah to a solemn assembly and a public fast to seek God's mercy in their time of crisis.
c. 8th century BC
Plea for Divine Intervention
The people cry out to God, pleading for Him to spare them from destruction and to restore their land and livelihoods.
c. 8th century BC
Promise of Future Restoration
God promises through Joel that He will restore the land, the crops, and pour out His Spirit upon all people.
This passage also personifies the land mourning due to the wickedness of its inhabitants, mirroring Joel's depiction of a devastated land grieving over its loss of produce.
Psalm 104:15This verse speaks of wine that gladdens the heart and oil that makes the face shine, highlighting the essential role these provisions played in life and joy, making their absence in Joel a profound loss.
Deuteronomy 28:51This passage from the blessings and curses covenant describes the enemy consuming the land's produce (corn, wine, and oil), directly paralleling the devastation Joel is describing as a consequence of disobedience.
Isaiah 24:7Here, the wine mourns and the oil languishes, using similar imagery to Joel to describe a land stripped of its bounty and joy, often interpreted as a consequence of sin or judgment.
calvinJoel 1:10: "The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth."
- Vastatus est ager, luxit terra (hoc est, luxerunt terrae incolae;) quia vastatum est (idem est verbum vel, quia periit) frumentum, aruit (est a verbo yvs, non a vvs, quod significat pudefacere: quanquam utraque radix significationem hanc admittit apud Hebraeos: quia ergo aruit) mustum et exterminatum est (infirmatum ad verbum, ab 'ml; sed significat debilitatum esse) o…
pulpitJoel 1:10: "The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth."
Verse 10. - The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. This verse is closely connected with the preceding, for the failure of the meat offerings and drink offerings was owing to the devastation of the country and the destruction of its crops by the locust-plague. The field was laid waste by them, nor was i…
The text highlights not just the lack of crops, but the failure of the vital elements of Israelite life: grain for bread, wine for drink, and oil for sustenance and worship. This points beyond a simple famine to a spiritual crisis, where the very sustenance that symbolized God's blessing is withheld.
Joel paints a vivid picture of devastation, describing the land itself as mourning because its most vital crops – grain, wine, and oil – have been destroyed. This isn't just a natural disaster; it's presented as a consequence of sin, leading to the failure of offerings to God and the collapse of daily sustenance. The prophet emphasizes this widespread loss to shock his audience into realizing the severity of their situation and its divine cause.
Joel paints a vivid picture of devastation, describing the land itself as mourning because its most vital crops – grain, wine, and oil – have been destroyed. This isn't just a natural disaster; it's presented as a consequence of sin, leading to the failure of offerings to God and the collapse of daily sustenance. The prophet emphasizes this widespread loss to shock his audience into realizing the severity of their situation and its divine cause.
"The fields are destroyed, the ground mourns, because the grain is destroyed, the wine dries up, the oil languishes. Be ashamed, O tillers of the soil; wail, O vinedressers, for the wheat and the barl…" — The text highlights not just the lack of crops, but the failure of the vital elements of Israelite life: grain for bread, wine for drink, and oil for sustenance and worship. This points beyond a…
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Last reviewed October 2026
