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Rashi on Joel

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1. The word of the Lord, which came to Joel son of Pethuel.   א.
to Joel son of Pethuel: The son of Samuel the prophet who persuaded God with his prayer (פִתָּה לְאֵל). Some say that this prophecy was said in those seven years in which Elisha said: “For the Lord has decreed a famine etc.” and they took place during the days of Jehoram son of Ahab.   :
2. Hear this, you elders, and hearken, all you inhabitants of the land. Did this come about in your days or in the days of your forefathers?   ב.
Did this come about: I.e., what is mentioned below.   :
3. Tell your children about it, and your children to their children, and their children to another generation.   ג.
4. What the shearing locust left over, the increasing locust devoured, and what the increasing locust left over the nibbling locust devoured, and what the nibbling locust left over the finishing locust devoured.   ד.
What the shearing locust left over: Gazam, arbeh, yelek, hasil are species of locusts and he prophesied concerning them that they would come in those days and destroy all the fruit of the trees and the herbs of the field.   :
5. Awaken, you drunkards, and weep; and wail, all you wine drinkers, concerning the strong wine, which has been cut off from your mouth.   ה.
the strong wine: Heb. עָסִיס, good wine.   :
6. For a nation has ascended upon my land, mighty and innumerable; its teeth are like the teeth of an old lion, and its molars are like those of a young lion.   ו.
For a nation has ascended upon my land: He named these locusts as a host of nations.   :
and its molars are like those of a young lion: These are the thick teeth with which he chews.   :
7. He has laid my vine waste, and my fig tree into a disappointment; he has peeled it and cast it off, its branches have become white.   ז.
into a disappointment -Heb.: לִקְצָפָה, into a disappointment.   :
he has peeled it and cast it off: He has peeled off the bark of the tree and cast it off until the branches of the vine have become white.   :
8. Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.   ח.
Lament: Heb. אֱלִי. Lamentations (קִינָה) is translated into Aramic as א ִילְיָא.   :
9. Meal offering and libation have been cut off from the house of the Lord; the priests, the ministers of the Lord, mourn.   ט.
have been cut off: Heb. הָכְרַת, like נִכְרַת. The “hey” vowelized with a short “kamatz” takes the place of a “nun.” Comp. (Job 5:23), “And the beast of the field made peace (הָשְׁלְמָה) with you.”   :
10. The field has been plundered, the soil destroyed, for corn has been plundered, must has dried up, oil has been cut off.   י.
11. Be ashamed, you plowmen; wail, you vinedressers, for wheat and for barley, for the harvest of the field is lost.   יא.
Be ashamed: Heb. הֹבִישוּ   :
plowmen: Heb. אִכָּרִים. Those who guide the plowshare.   :
for wheat and for barley: This refers back to the plowmen, and concerning the vine dressers, he says…   :
12. The vines have dried up, and the fig trees have been cut off; the pomegranates, also the date palms and the apples, all the trees of the field have dried up, for joy has dried up from the sons of man.   יב.
The vines have dried up, and the fig trees have been cut off: Heb. הוֹבִישָׁה, it was cut off, its produce terminated.   :
has dried up: Heb. הֹבִיש, like יָבֵש   :
13. Gird yourselves and lament, you priests; wail, you ministers of the altar; come, lodge in sackcloth, you ministers of my God, for the meal offering and the libations have been withheld from the house of your God.   יג.
14. Proclaim a fast, call an assembly; assemble, you elders, all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.   יד.
Proclaim a fast: Heb. קַדְּשׁוּ, designate a fast   :
an assembly: Heb. עֲצָרָה, a gathering.   :
15. Woe is to the day, for the day of the Lord is near, and like plunder, it will come from the Almighty.   טו.
Woe: Heb. אֲהָהּ. An expression of sighing and wailing.   :
and like plunder: Heb. וּכְשֹׁד. Like the plunder of brigands.   :
it will come: from the Omnipresent.   :
16. Is not the food cut off from before our eyes? From the house of our God joy and jubilation?   טז.
from before our eyes: I.e., we see it.   :
17. Casks of wine have gathered mold under their bungs, the storehouses are laid desolate, garners are demolished, for the corn has dried out.   יז.
have gathered mold: Heb. עָבְשׁוּ, have gathered rust and mold. in French moisir, to become moldy.   :
casks of wine: Heb. פְרֻדּדוֹת. Jonathan renders: casks of wine.   :
under their bungs: Heb. מֶגְרְפֹתֵיהֶם. Jonathan renders: מְגוּפָתֵיהוֹן, the cover of the cask.   :
the storehouses are laid desolate: I.e. the storehouses of wine and oil.   :
garners are demolished: Granaries of wheat.   :
18. How the cattle sighs, herds of cattle are perplexed, for they have no pasture; also flocks of sheep are laid waste.   יח.
herds of cattle are perplexed: They are confounded. They are closed in and astray in the forests and in the wilderness.   :
are laid waste: Heb. נֶאְשָׁמוּ. have become spoiled through their guilt.   :
19. To You, O Lord, I call, for a fire has consumed the dwellings of the wilderness, and a flame has burnt all the trees of the field.   יט.
the dwellings of the wilderness: Heb. נְאוֹת, an expression of a dwelling (נָוֶה).   :
20. Also, the beasts of the field cry out to You for the springs of water have dried up, and fire has consumed the dwellings of the wilderness.   כ.
Also the beasts of the field: I.e., the hind of the field.   :
cry out: Heb. תַּעֲרֹג, will cry out, as Dunash (Teshuvoth Dunash, p. 18) interpreted it: ערג is the cry of the hinds. נהם is the roar of the lions; געה is the lowing of the calves; צהל is the whinnying of the horses; צִפצוּף is the chirping of the birds, and נבח is the barking of the dogs.
 
 
 
 
 
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