The Meaning of Joel 1:12 Explained

Joel 1:12

KJV: 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.

YLT: The vine hath been dried up, And the fig-tree doth languish, Pomegranate, also palm, and apple-tree, All trees of the field have withered, For dried up hath been joy from the sons of men.

Darby: The vine is dried up, and the fig-tree languisheth; the pomegranate-tree, the palm also and the apple-tree; all the trees of the field are withered, yea, joy is withered away from the children of men.

ASV: The vine is withered, 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: for joy is withered away from the sons of men.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does Joel 1:12 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 1:12 mean?

The vine has dried up and the fig tree has withered the pomegranate tree also the palm tree and the apple tree all the trees of the field are withered surely has withered away joy from the sons of men -
הַגֶּ֣פֶן הוֹבִ֔ישָׁה וְהַתְּאֵנָ֖ה אֻמְלָ֑לָה רִמּ֞וֹן גַּם־ תָּמָ֣ר וְתַפּ֗וּחַ כָּל־ עֲצֵ֤י הַשָּׂדֶה֙ יָבֵ֔שׁוּ כִּֽי־ הֹבִ֥ישׁ שָׂשׂ֖וֹן מִן־ בְּנֵ֥י אָדָֽם ס

הַגֶּ֣פֶן  The  vine 
Parse: Article, Noun, common singular
Root: גֶּפֶן  
Sense: vine, vine tree.
הוֹבִ֔ישָׁה  has  dried  up 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: יָבֵשׁ  
Sense: to make dry, wither, be dry, become dry, be dried up, be withered.
וְהַתְּאֵנָ֖ה  and  the  fig  tree 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: תְּאֵנָה  
Sense: fig, fig tree.
אֻמְלָ֑לָה  has  withered 
Parse: Verb, Pual, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: אָמַל 
Sense: to be weak, to droop, to languish, to be exhausted.
רִמּ֞וֹן  the  pomegranate  tree 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: רִמֹּון  
Sense: pomegranate.
גַּם־  also 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: גַּם  
Sense: also, even, indeed, moreover, yea.
תָּמָ֣ר  the  palm  tree 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: תָּמָר  
Sense: palm tree, date palm.
וְתַפּ֗וּחַ  and  the  apple  tree 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: תַּפּוּחַ  
Sense: apple, apple tree.
עֲצֵ֤י  the  trees 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: עֵץ  
Sense: tree, wood, timber, stock, plank, stalk, stick, gallows.
הַשָּׂדֶה֙  of  the  field 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: שָׂדֶה 
Sense: field, land.
יָבֵ֔שׁוּ  are  withered 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: יָבֵשׁ  
Sense: to make dry, wither, be dry, become dry, be dried up, be withered.
כִּֽי־  surely 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
הֹבִ֥ישׁ  has  withered  away 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָבֵשׁ  
Sense: to make dry, wither, be dry, become dry, be dried up, be withered.
שָׂשׂ֖וֹן  joy 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: שָׂשֹׂון  
Sense: gladness, joy, exultation, rejoicing.
בְּנֵ֥י  the  sons 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
אָדָֽם  of  men 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אָדָם 
Sense: man, mankind.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation