The Meaning of Joel 1:17 Explained

Joel 1:17

KJV: The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.

YLT: Rotted have scattered things under their clods, Desolated have been storehouses, Broken down have been granaries, For withered hath the corn.

Darby: The seeds are rotten under their clods, the granaries are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.

ASV: The seeds rot under their clods; the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the grain is withered.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The seed  is rotten  under their clods,  the garners  are laid desolate,  the barns  are broken down;  for the corn  is withered. 

What does Joel 1:17 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 1:17 mean?

Shrivels the seed under the clods are in shambles Storehouses are broken down Barns for has withered the grain
עָבְשׁ֣וּ פְרֻד֗וֹת תַּ֚חַת מֶגְרְפֹ֣תֵיהֶ֔ם נָשַׁ֙מּוּ֙ אֹֽצָר֔וֹת נֶהֶרְס֖וּ מַמְּגֻר֑וֹת כִּ֥י הֹבִ֖ישׁ דָּגָֽן

עָבְשׁ֣וּ  Shrivels 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: עָבַשׁ  
Sense: (Qal) to shrivel, waste away.
פְרֻד֗וֹת  the  seed 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: פְּרֻדֹת  
Sense: seed, grain of seed.
תַּ֚חַת  under 
Parse: Preposition
Root: מִתְחָה 
Sense: the under part, beneath, instead of, as, for, for the sake of, flat, unto, where, whereas.
מֶגְרְפֹ֣תֵיהֶ֔ם  the  clods 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: מֶגְרָפָה  
Sense: shovel.
נָשַׁ֙מּוּ֙  are  in  shambles 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: שָׁמֵם  
Sense: to be desolate, be appalled, stun, stupefy.
אֹֽצָר֔וֹת  Storehouses 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֹוצָר  
Sense: treasure, storehouse.
נֶהֶרְס֖וּ  are  broken  down 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: הָרַס  
Sense: to tear down, break down, overthrow, beat down, break, break through, destroy, pluck down, pull down, throw down, ruined, destroyer, utterly.
מַמְּגֻר֑וֹת  Barns 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural
Root: מַמְּגוּרָה  
Sense: granary, storehouse.
הֹבִ֖ישׁ  has  withered 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָבֵשׁ  
Sense: to make dry, wither, be dry, become dry, be dried up, be withered.
דָּגָֽן  the  grain 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: דָּגָן  
Sense: wheat, cereal, grain, corn.

What are the major concepts related to Joel 1:17?

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