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.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.
- 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.
- 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 24:11In the streets they cry out for wine. All joy turns to gloom; rejoicing is exiled from the land.
- Isa 16:10Joy and gladness are removed from the orchard; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards. No one tramples the grapes in the winepresses; I have put an end to the cheering.
- Joel 1:10The field is ruined; the land mourns. For the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails.
- Hos 9:1–2Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation like the nations, for you have played the harlot against your God; you have made love for hire on every threshing floor.
- Hab 3:17–18Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls,
- Joel 1:16Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes—joy and gladness from the house of our God?
- Song 2:3Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
- Ps 4:7You have filled my heart with more joy than when grain and new wine abound.
- Song 7:7–9Your stature is like a palm tree; your breasts are clusters of fruit.
- Jer 48:3A voice cries out from Horonaim: ‘Devastation and great destruction!’
- Jer 48:33Joy and gladness are removed from the orchard and from the fields of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses; no one treads them with shouts of joy; their shouts are not for joy.
- Hag 2:19Is there still seed in the barn? The vine, the fig, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yet yielded fruit. But from this day on, I will bless you.”
- Ps 92:12The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
- Num 13:23When they came to the Valley of Eshcol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes, which they carried on a pole between two men. They also took some pomegranates and figs.
- Isa 9:3You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. The people rejoice before You as they rejoice at harvest time, as men rejoice in dividing the plunder.
- Song 4:13Your branches are an orchard of pomegranates with the choicest of fruits, with henna and nard,
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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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.