The Meaning of Joel 1:13 Explained

Joel 1:13

KJV: Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.

YLT: Gird, and lament, ye priests, Howl, ye ministrants of the altar, Come in, lodge in sackcloth, ministrants of my God, For withheld from the house of your God hath been present and libation.

Darby: Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests; howl, ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the oblation and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of your God.

ASV: Gird yourselves with sackcloth , and lament, ye priests; wail, ye ministers of the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meal-offering and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of your God.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Gird  yourselves, and lament,  ye priests:  howl,  ye ministers  of the altar:  come,  lie all night  in sackcloth,  ye ministers  of my God:  for the meat offering  and the drink offering  is withholden  from the house  of your God. 

What does Joel 1:13 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The prophet turned again to the priests (cf. Joel 1:9) and urged them to lament in sackcloth because the grain and wine used in their offerings were no longer available. Joel"s second call to the priests underlines the tragedy of curtailed worship in Judah"s life. Since there were no offerings to bring to the Lord, the nation could not approach Him as He had directed at the very time she needed Him most. This closing reference to priests in this section contrasts with the opening reference to drunkards ( Joel 1:5-7), from the most ungodly to the most godly (ideally). This merism has the effect of including all the citizens of Judah in Joel"s call. Joel"s reference to "my God" and "your God" in this verse ties him closely to the priests; their concerns and their relationship to Yahweh were ideally the same.

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 1:13 mean?

Gird yourselves and lament you priests Wail you who minister before the altar come lie all night in sackcloth You who minister to my God for Are withheld from the house of your God the grain offering and the drink offering
חִגְר֨וּ וְסִפְד֜וּ הַכֹּהֲנִ֗ים הֵילִ֙ילוּ֙ מְשָׁרְתֵ֣י ! מִזְבֵּ֔חַ בֹּ֚אוּ לִ֣ינוּ בַשַּׂקִּ֔ים מְשָׁרְתֵ֖י אֱלֹהָ֑י כִּ֥י נִמְנַ֛ע מִבֵּ֥ית אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֖ם מִנְחָ֥ה וָנָֽסֶךְ

חִגְר֨וּ  Gird  yourselves 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: חָגַר  
Sense: to gird, gird on, gird oneself, put on a belt.
וְסִפְד֜וּ  and  lament 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: סָפַד  
Sense: to wail, lament, mourn.
הַכֹּהֲנִ֗ים  you  priests 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: כֹּהֵן  
Sense: priest, principal officer or chief ruler.
הֵילִ֙ילוּ֙  Wail 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: יָלַל  
Sense: (Hiphil) to howl, wail, make a howling.
מְשָׁרְתֵ֣י  you  who  minister  before 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Participle, masculine plural construct
Root: שָׁרַת  
Sense: (Piel) to minister, serve, minister to.
! מִזְבֵּ֔חַ  the  altar 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מִזְבֵּחַ  
Sense: altar.
בֹּ֚אוּ  come 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
לִ֣ינוּ  lie  all  night 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: לוּן 
Sense: to lodge, stop over, pass the night, abide.
בַשַּׂקִּ֔ים  in  sackcloth 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: שַׂק  
Sense: mesh, sackcloth, sack, sacking.
מְשָׁרְתֵ֖י  You  who  minister  to 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Participle, masculine plural construct
Root: שָׁרַת  
Sense: (Piel) to minister, serve, minister to.
אֱלֹהָ֑י  my  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common singular
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
נִמְנַ֛ע  Are  withheld 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: מָנַע  
Sense: to withhold, hold back, keep back, refrain, deny, keep restrain, hinder.
מִבֵּ֥ית  from  the  house 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.
אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֖ם  of  your  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
מִנְחָ֥ה  the  grain  offering 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: מִנְחָה  
Sense: gift, tribute, offering, present, oblation, sacrifice, meat offering.
וָנָֽסֶךְ  and  the  drink  offering 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: נֶסֶךְ 
Sense: drink offering, libation, molten image, something poured out.