Joel 1:9

Old Testament Minor Prophet ASV (1901)

What does Joel 1:9 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “The meal-offering and the drink-offering are cut off from the house of Jehovah; the priests, Jehovah`s ministers, mourn.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

The meal-offering and the drink-offering are cut off from the house of Jehovah; the priests, Jehovah`s ministers, mourn.
Joel 1:9 — American Standard Version

Context — Joel 1

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
9The meal-offering and the drink-offering are cut off from the house of Jehovah; the priests, Jehovah`s ministers, mourn.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord, etc.] The meat offering was made of fine flour, oil, and frankincense; and the drink offering was of wine; and, because of the want of corn and wine, these were not brought to the temple as usual; and which was matter of great grief to religious persons, and especially to the priests, as follows: the priests, the Lord’s ministers, mourn; partly because they had no work to do, and could not answer to their character, the ministers of the Lord, in ministering about holy things, and bringing the sacrifices and offerings of the people to him; and partly because of their want of food, their livelihood greatly…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“The greatest sorrow to the mind of a religious Jew, and what ought to impress the whole nation with a sense of God's displeasure, is the cessation of the usual temple-worship. meat offering--Hebrew, mincha; "meat" not in the English sense "flesh," but the unbloody offering made of flour, oil, and frankincense. As it and the drink offering or libation poured out accompanied every sacrificial flesh offering, the latter is included, though not specified, as being also "cut off," owing to there being no food left for man or beast. priests . . . mourn--not for their own loss of sacrificial perquisites (Num 18:8-15), but because they can no longer offer the appointed offerings to Jehovah, to whom…”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off - The meat offering and drink offering were part of every sacrifice. If the materials for these, the grain and wine, ceased, through locusts or drought or the wastings of war, the sacrifice must become mangled and imperfect. The priests were to mourn for the defects of the sacrifice; they lost also their own subsistence, since the altar was, to them, in place of all other inheritance. The meat and drink offerings were emblems of the materials of the holy eucharist, by which Malachi foretold that, when God had rejected the offering of the Jews, there should be a “pure offering” among the pagan Joel 1:11. When then holy communions become…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“The drink - offering - By the destruction of the vines, all wine (out of which they ought to offer the drink - offering) failed. Joel 1:10”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“1:9 The locust plague threatened the people of Judah with starvation and brought the regular daily animal sacrifices and offerings of grain and wine at the Temple in Jerusalem to a halt (cp. Exod 29:38-41; Num 28:2-8).”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“meat: Joe 1:13, Joe 1:16, Joe 2:14; Hos 9:4 the priests: Joe 2:17; Lam 1:4, Lam 1:16 the Lord's: Exo 28:1; Ch2 13:10; Isa 61:6 Joel 1:10”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification