The Meaning of Joel 1:2 Explained

Joel 1:2

KJV: Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?

YLT: Hear this, ye aged ones, And give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land, Hath this been in your days? Or in the days of your fathers?

Darby: Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?

ASV: Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or in the days of your fathers?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Hear  this, ye old men,  and give ear,  all ye inhabitants  of the land.  Hath this been in your days,  or even  in the days  of your fathers? 

What does Joel 1:2 Mean?

Context Summary

Joel 1:1-20 - A Summons To Penitence
We know nothing of Joel beyond this book. He was content to be God's mouthpiece and remain unknown. His message was one of unparalleled woe. The memory of God's loving kindness ought to have kept His people faithful and loyal, but since grace and love had failed to affect them awful judgments were announced. A small insect, the locust, was to prostrate man's boasted power. The four kinds of locusts here described and which doubtless devastated the country, were also symbols of the four world-empires, Assyria, Babylon, Greece, and Rome, which were to lay waste the Holy Land. Such judgments call for acts of repentance, such as fasting, humiliation, and intercession. There are days in national experience when it becomes us to gird ourselves and lament. The ministers and elders of the Church should lead the way. Where there has been infidelity to the great Lover of souls, when the visible Church or the individual member has turned from Christ to the wanton world, then joy withers away, Joel 1:12, spiritual worship ceases, Joel 1:9, and there can be neither peace nor safety until there has been repentance and return. [source]

Chapter Summary: Joel 1

1  Joel, declaring various judgments of God, exhorts to observe them,
8  and to mourn
14  He prescribes a solemn fast to deprecate those judgments

What do the individual words in Joel 1:2 mean?

Hear this you elders and give ear all you inhabitants of the land Has [anything] happened [like] this in your days Or even in the days of your fathers
שִׁמְעוּ־ זֹאת֙ הַזְּקֵנִ֔ים וְהַֽאֲזִ֔ינוּ כֹּ֖ל יוֹשְׁבֵ֣י הָאָ֑רֶץ הֶהָ֤יְתָה זֹּאת֙ בִּֽימֵיכֶ֔ם וְאִ֖ם בִּימֵ֥י ؟ אֲבֹֽתֵיכֶֽם

שִׁמְעוּ־  Hear 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: שָׁמַע 
Sense: to hear, listen to, obey.
זֹאת֙  this 
Parse: Pronoun, feminine singular
Root: זׄאת  
Sense: this, this one, here, which, this … that, the one … the other, such.
הַזְּקֵנִ֔ים  you  elders 
Parse: Article, Adjective, masculine plural
Root: זָקֵן  
Sense: old.
וְהַֽאֲזִ֔ינוּ  and  give  ear 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: אָזַן  
Sense: to hear, listen.
יוֹשְׁבֵ֣י  you  inhabitants 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural construct
Root: יָשַׁב 
Sense: to dwell, remain, sit, abide.
הָאָ֑רֶץ  of  the  land 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
הֶהָ֤יְתָה  Has  [anything]  happened 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
זֹּאת֙  [like]  this 
Parse: Pronoun, feminine singular
Root: זׄאת  
Sense: this, this one, here, which, this … that, the one … the other, such.
בִּֽימֵיכֶ֔ם  in  your  days 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
וְאִ֖ם  Or  even 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Conjunction
Root: אִם  
Sense: if.
בִּימֵ֥י  in  the  days 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
؟ אֲבֹֽתֵיכֶֽם  of  your  fathers 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: אָב  
Sense: father of an individual.