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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Joel 1:1-7

It is a foolish fancy which some of the Jews have, that this Joel the prophet was the same with that Joel who was the son of Samuel (1 Sam. 8:2); yet one of their rabbin very gravely undertakes to show why Samuel is here called Pethuel. This Joel was long after that. He here speaks of a sad and sore judgment which was now brought, or to be brought, upon Judah, for their sins. Observe, I. The greatness of the judgment, expressed here in two things:?1. It was such as could not be paralleled in... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joel 1:5

Awake, ye drunkards, and weep: and howl, all ye drinkers of wine ,.... Who are used to neither, either to awake or to howl, being very prone to drowsiness upon their drinking bouts, and to mirth and jollity in them; but now should be awake, and sober enough, not as being a virtue in them, but through want of wine; and for the same reason should howl, as follows: because of the new wine, for it is cut off from your mouth ; the locusts having spoiled the vines and eaten the grapes, no new... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joel 1:5

Awake, ye drunkards - The general destruction of vegetation by these devouring creatures has totally prevented both harvest and vintage; so that there shall not be wine even for necessary uses, much less for the purposes of debauchery. It is well known that the ruin among the vines by locusts prevents the vintage for several years after. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Joel 1:5

Verse 5 The Prophet adds this verse for the sake of amplifying; for when God sees men either contemptuously laughing at or disregarding his judgments, he derides them; and this mode the Prophet now adopts. ‘Ye drunkards,’ he says, ‘awake, and weep and howl.’ In these words he addresses, on the subject in hand, those who had willfully closed their eyes to judgments so manifest. The Jews had become torpid, and had covered themselves over as it were with hardness; it was then necessary to draw... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:2-7

These verses describe the invasion of the locusts, with an exhortation to reflect on and lament for the calamity. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:5

Three classes are called on to lament—the winebibbers, the husbandmen, and the priests. The verses before us ( Joel 1:5-7 ) contain the prophet's appeal to the drunkards. Their sin had not alarmed them; the danger with which their soul was imperilled bad not aroused them; now, however, the heavy visitation that awaited them would affect them more vehemently, touching them more nearly. Deprived of the means of their favourite indulgence, they are urged to awake from their stupid slumber and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:5

Awake! This solemn appeal to those who are designated and denounced as drunkards is fraught with implicit lessons of wisdom and faithfulness for all devout readers of God's Word. I. IT IMPLIES THE PREVALENCE OF SPIRITUAL SLUMBER . Such is the state of those who are immersed in the cares and the enjoyments of this earthly life, who are deaf to the thunder of the Law and to the promises of the gospel, who are blind to the visions of judgment or of grace that are passing... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:5

A call to drunkards. "Awake, ye drunkards, and weep I and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine! for it is cut off from your mouth." The words imply that the wine used in Judah was of an intoxicating character, that men in that country used it to an inebriating extent, and that such men should humble themselves in deep penitence on account of the great calamity that was coming upon the land. A more contemptible character, a more injurious member of the human family,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:5-8

The lessons taught by this calamity. The lessons which God intended to teach his people by the calamitous events here recorded are solemn as salutary. Among them may be reckoned the ends for which they were sent, the alarming extent of them, and the effects produced. I. THE ENDS OF THE CRUSHING CALAMITY THEN PRESSING ON THE PEOPLE OF JUDAH . 1 . It was designed to rouse them out of their sinful slumber. Previous intimations of Divine displeasure had... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Joel 1:5

Awake, ye drunkards, and weep - All sin stupefies the sinner. All intoxicate the mind, bribe and pervert the judgment, dull the conscience, blind the soul and make it insensible to its own ills. All the passions, anger, vain glory, ambition, avarice and the rest are a spiritual drunkenness, inebriating the soul, as strong drink doth the body. : “They are called drunkards, who, confused with the love of this world, feel not the ills which they suffer. What then is meant by, “Awake, ye drunkards... read more

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