Bible Strands
Joel 1:12
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Joel addresses farmers, vinedressers, and priests during a catastrophic drought that has destroyed field crops and halted temple grain and drink offerings. He speaks immediately after detailing the perished harvest in Joel 1:11 and before commanding the altar ministers to lament in Joel 1:13.
The words — The Hebrew verb הוֹבִישָׁה (hobishah) literally means "it has dried up" or "has become desiccated," applied directly to the grapevine. The noun גֶּפֶן (gefen) denotes the grapevine, which Joel groups with the fig tree, pomegranate, palm, and apple to catalog total orchard failure.
The thread — This linkage of barren land and extinguished joy runs through Isaiah 16:10 and Isaiah 24:11, where gladness is removed from vineyards and streets. The apple tree motif also contrasts with Song of Solomon 2:3, which uses the same tree to depict shade and delight rather than agricultural collapse.
Why it lands — The text states that every cultivated tree has withered and declares that human joy has dried up alongside them. It demands a concrete response of public lament and recognition that ecological ruin directly signals the loss of communal and spiritual vitality.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 16:10 Joy 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.
- Isaiah 24:11 In the streets they cry out for wine. All joy turns to gloom; rejoicing is exiled from the land.
- Song of Solomon 2:3 Like 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.
- Hosea 9:1 Do 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.
- Joel 1:10 The field is ruined; the land mourns. For the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails.
- Joel 1:16 Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes—joy and gladness from the house of our God?
- Habakkuk 3:17 Though 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,
- Numbers 13:23 When 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.
- Psalms 4:7 You have filled my heart with more joy than when grain and new wine abound.
- Psalms 92:12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.