The vine has dried up, and the fig tree withered; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all of the trees of the field are withered; for joy has withered away from the sons of men.
Parallel translations
- KJV The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.
- BSB The grapevine is dried up, and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, palm, and apple—all the trees of the orchard—are withered. Surely the joy of mankind has dried up.
- NKJV The vine has dried up, And the fig tree has withered; The pomegranate tree, The palm tree also, And the apple tree— All the trees of the field are withered; Surely joy has withered away from the sons of men.
- NASB The vine has dried up And the fig tree has withered; The pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree, All the trees of the field have dried up. Indeed, joy has dried up From the sons of mankind.
- NLT The grapevines have dried up, and the fig trees have withered. The pomegranate trees, palm trees, and apple trees— all the fruit trees—have dried up. And the people’s joy has dried up with them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Every kind of tree has withered, and with them human joy itself has dried up. The loss of provision drains away the people's gladness.
Overview
Joel lists the vine, fig, pomegranate, palm, and apple, declaring that all the trees and their fruit have failed. He concludes that joy itself has withered from humanity, linking material loss to spiritual desolation. The verse reveals how judgment can empty life of gladness, and points by contrast to the enduring joy God restores to His people, ultimately in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Isa 24:11There is a crying in the streets because of the wine. All joy is darkened. The mirth of the land is gone.
- Isa 16:10Gladness is taken away, and joy out of the fruitful field; and in the vineyards there will be no singing, neither joyful noise. Nobody will tread out wine in the presses. I have made the shouting stop.
- Joel 1:10The field is laid waste. The land mourns, for the grain is destroyed, The new wine has dried up, and the oil languishes.
- Hos 9:1–2Don’t rejoice, Israel, to jubilation like the nations; for you were unfaithful to your God. You love the wages of a prostitute at every grain threshing floor.
- Hab 3:17–18For though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, nor fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food; the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls:
- Joel 1:16Isn’t the food cut off before our eyes; joy and gladness from the house of our God?
- Song 2:3As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, his fruit was sweet to my taste.
- Ps 4:7You have put gladness in my heart, more than when their grain and their new wine are increased.
- Song 7:7–9This, your stature, is like a palm tree, your breasts like its fruit.
- Jer 48:3The sound of a cry from Horonaim, desolation and great destruction!
- Jer 48:33Gladness and joy is taken away from the fruitful field and from the land of Moab. I have caused wine to cease from the wine presses. No one will tread with shouting. The shouting will be no shouting.
- Hag 2:19Is the seed yet in the barn? Yes, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree haven’t produced. From today I will bless you.’”
- Ps 92:12The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
- Num 13:23They came to the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it on a staff between two. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs.
- Isa 9:3You have multiplied the nation. You have increased their joy. They rejoice before you according to the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the plunder.
- Song 4:13Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits: henna with spikenard plants,
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Christ at the center
The promised outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh and the call to 'everyone who calls on the name of the LORD' are fulfilled at Pentecost in the name of Jesus.
How Joel 1:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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