Book of Joel Chapter 1 Vs. 8

Verses 8-9: The metaphor is significant because the Old Testament speaks of the Lord as the husband of Israel, His wife (Isa. 54:5-8; Jer. 31:32). The covenantal offerings and libations could not be carried out; Israel, the wife of the Lord, was to repent, lest her relationship with the Lord became like that of the young, widowed maiden.

An Invasion of Locusts

Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. Joel 1:8

Lament like a... As with the drunkards, the religious leaders were to wail as a young maiden would upon the death of her youthful husband, wherein she exchanged the silky fabric of a wedding dress and the joy of a wedding feast for the scratchy, coarse clothing of goat’s hair and the cry of a funeral dirge.

אָלָה

'âlâh

aw-law'

A primitive root (rather identical with H422 through the idea of invocation); to bewail: - lament.

The term virgin lacks the notion of virginity in many cases (e.g., Est. 2:17; Eze. 23:3), and when coupled together with the term bridegroom, points to a young maiden widowed shortly after marriage.

בְּתוּלָה

b^ethûlâh

beth-oo-law'

Feminine passive participle of an unused root meaning to separate; a virgin (from her privacy); sometimes (by continuation) a bride; also (figuratively) a city or state: - maid, virgin.

Girded with sackcloth... Fabric generally made of goat’s hair, usually black or dark in color (Rev. 6:12), and usually placed on the bare body around the hips (Gen. 37:34; 1Kgs. 21:27), leaving the chest free for beating (Isa. 32:11-12), and was used in the ancient world to depict sorrow and penitence (Neh. 9:1; Isa. 37:1; Mat. 11:21).

חָגַר

châgar

khaw-gar'

A primitive root; to gird on (as a belt, armor, etc.): - be able to put on, be afraid, appointed, gird, restrain, X on every side.

שַׂק

śaq

sak

From H8264, properly a mesh (as allowing a liquid to run through), that is, coarse loose cloth or sacking (used in mourning and for bagging); hence a bag (for grain, etc.): - sack (-cloth, -clothes).

Because the prophets’ message usually dealt with a call to repentance, it became the principal garment worn by prophets (Mat. 3:4; Rev. 11:3).

This is speaking of their sorrow, when God has removed Himself from them. This is a time of mourning. Israel was the wife of God spiritually. The groom has left them helpless and destitute. He has left them, because of their spiritual adultery (unfaithfulness to Him).

The Land Should Mourn

The grammatical form of mourn in Joel 1:8 (fem. sing.) indicates that the addressee is neither the drunkards in Joel 1:5 nor the farmers in Joel 1:11 (both of which are addressed with masc. pl. forms). The land itself (cf. Joel 2:18) or Jerusalem (called Zion in Joel 2:1, 2:15, 2:23, 2:32) is probably addressed here, being personified as a virgin or young woman (cf. 2Kgs. 19:21, the virgin Daughter of Zion, and Lam. 1:15, The virgin Daughter of Judah). She was told to mourn bitterly, as a bride or bride-to-be would mourn over the unexpected death of the man to whom she was betrothed or married.

There is some debate over the meaning of the term translated virgin b^eṯûlâh. If it refers to an actual virgin, then a betrothed woman, whose marriage had not been consummated, is in view. In this case the man could be called the husband of her youth because of the legally binding nature of betrothal. (Deut. 22:23-24 demonstrates that a betrothed woman could be referred to as both a virgin and a wife.) However, possibly the word simply refers to a young woman (NIV marg.) regardless of her sexual status. If so, newlyweds are in view in Joel 1:8.

Again, Sackcloth (cf. Joel 1:13), a course, dark cloth, was worn in mourning rites as an outward expression of sorrow (cf. Gen. 37:34; 1Kgs. 21:27; Neh. 9:1; Est. 4:1-4; Psm. 69:10-11; Isa. 22:12; 32:11; 37:1-2; Lam. 2:10; Dan. 9:3; Jon. 3:8).