Joel 1:8

“Lament like a virgin, etc.] This is not the continuation of the prophet’s speech to the drunkards; but, as Aben Ezra observes, he either speaks to himself, or to the land the Targum supplies it, O congregation of Israel; the more religious and godly part of the people are here addressed; who were concerned for the pure worship of God, and were as a chaste virgin espoused to Christ, though not yet come, and for whom they were waiting; these are called upon to lament the calamities of the times in doleful strains, like a virgin: girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth; either as one that had been betrothed to a young man, but not married, he dying after the espousals, and before…”

“Lament--O "my land" (Joe 1:6; Isa 24:4). virgin . . . for the husband--A virgin betrothed was regarded as married (Deu 22:23; Mat 1:19). The Hebrew for "husband" is "lord" or "possessor," the husband being considered the master of the wife in the East. of her youth--when the affections are strongest and when sorrow at bereavement is consequently keenest. Suggesting the thought of what Zion's grief ought to be for her separation from Jehovah, the betrothed husband of her early days (Jer 2:2; Eze 16:8; Hos 2:7; compare Pro 2:17; Jer 3:4).”

“Lament like a virgin - The prophet addresses the congregation of Israel, as one espoused to God ; “‘Lament thou,’ daughter of Zion,” or the like. He bids her lament, with the bitterest of sorrows, as one who, in her virgin years, was just knit into one with the husband of her youth, and then at once was, by God’s judgment, on the very day of her espousal, ere yet she ceased to be a virgin, parted by death. The mourning which God commands is not one of conventional or becoming mourning, but that of one who has put away all joy from her, and takes the rough garment of penitence, girding the haircloth upon her, enveloping and embracing, and therewith, wearing the whole frame. The haircloth was…”

“The husband of her youth - Espoused to her, but snatched away by an untimely death. Joel 1:9”

“1:8 Weep like a bride (literally a virgin): Judah is compared to a young betrothed woman whose marriage is never consummated due to the death of her husband.”

“Lament: Joe 1:13-15, Joe 2:12-14; Isa 22:12, Isa 24:7-12, Isa 32:11; Jer 9:17-19; Jam 4:8, Jam 4:9; Jam 5:1 the husband: Pro 2:17; Jer 3:4; Mal 2:15 Joel 1:9”

“The whole nation is to mourn over this devastation. Joe 1:8. "Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. Joe 1:9. The meat-offering and the drink-offering are destroyed from the house of Jehovah. The priests, the servant of Jehovah. mourn. Joe 1:10. The field is laid waste, the ground mourns: for the corn is laid waste: the new wine is spoiled, the oil decays. Joe 1:11. Turn pale, ye husbandmen; howl, ye vinedressers, over wheat and barley: for the harvest of the field is perished. Joe 1:12. The vine is spoiled, and the fig-tree faded; the pomegranate, also the palm and the apple tree: all the trees of the field are withered away; yea, joy has expired from the…”