Introduction
In this part of the chapter, the prophet Yoel shifts from describing the plague to issuing a call to action. Having depicted the locusts that consumed the grain and the vine, he turns to the kohanim and to the people: Gird yourselves in sackcloth, sanctify a fast, gather everyone to the House of Hashem, and cry out. The prophecy has not yet unfolded in full, and the prophet emphasizes that precisely now, before the plague strikes with its full fury, it can still be averted. The chapter concludes with the cry of the prophet himself, who pleads not only for humanity, but even for the domestic animals and beasts that perish on account of man's iniquity.
Two Classes of Kohanim
חִגְרוּ וְסִפְדוּ הַכֹּהֲנִים הֵילִילוּ מְשָׁרְתֵי מִזְבֵּחַ בֹּאוּ לִינוּ בַשַּׂקִּים מְשָׁרְתֵי אֱלֹהָי כִּי נִמְנַע מִבֵּית אֱלֹהֵיכֶם מִנְחָה וָנָסֶךְ׃ - Gird yourselves and lament, O kohanim; wail, O ministers of the altar; come, lodge in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, for the meal-offering and libation are withheld from the House of your God.
"Gird yourselves" means gird on sackcloth, and he immediately adds that a temporary girding is not enough; rather, "come, lodge in sackcloth" - come to the House of Hashem and lament there, and do not remove the sackcloth even at night. Ibn Ezra explains why the expression of girding sackcloth is used here specifically: they no longer had the daily continual offering (Olat Tamid), since no animals remained and there was nothing left to sacrifice; therefore, all that remained for the kohanim was to mourn and gird themselves in sackcloth.
The Malbim explains that girding sackcloth signifies prayer, but he does not stop there. "Lament" (safdu) refers to a eulogy over the calamity, to mourn and articulate just how immense and severe the trouble is. From this, he arrives at a marvelous explanation: the prophet addresses two distinct classes of kohanim here. One group he commands to gird sackcloth and pray, and the second group he commands to lament. After all, a lamentation is uttered over the dead; it expresses despair - it is over, nothing can be done, and one can only eulogize.
Who are these two classes? There was a class of righteous kohanim, "ministers of my God," who served Hashem with complete and pure intention, for the sake of Heaven, entirely for the honor of the Creator, may He be blessed. In contrast, there was a class of kohanim who were merely "ministers of the altar" - they performed the service and left. An offering needed to be brought on the altar, so they sacrificed it, and that was that. This explains the parallelism in the verse: "ministers of the altar" refers to the lower group, while "ministers of my God" refers to the elevated group. To those of the lower level the prophet says "lament" and "wail" - you can only wail like those who have despaired, for wailing is not supplication, and your prayer is not desired. But to the ministers of my God, who serve with full intention, he says "gird yourselves" - you must pray; do not settle for lamentation and the wailing of despair, but truly plead before Hashem to rescind the decree.
And to the righteous he adds: "Come, lodge in sackcloth, O ministers of my God" - since in your righteousness you pray, do not slacken from prayer; even go to sleep in sackcloth, so that prayer is always upon your lips. For repentance, prayer, and charity avert the evil of the decree, and perhaps prayer will avert the decree of famine that follows the locusts and the drought.
And why specifically should the kohanim pray? Are there no people? Are the people not destined to suffer? To this the end of the verse replies: "For meal-offering and libation are withheld from the House of your God." The locusts caused the wheat to spoil and become worm-infested, and the wine was ruined, so there was no longer any meal-offering or libations - and among the kohanim, the sensitivity and grief were especially profound.
Sanctify a Fast, Proclaim a Solemn Assembly
קַדְּשׁוּ־צוֹם קִרְאוּ עֲצָרָה אִסְפוּ זְקֵנִים כֹּל יֹשְׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ בֵּית יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם וְזַעֲקוּ אֶל־יְהֹוָה׃ - Sanctify a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly; gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the House of Hashem your God, and cry out to Hashem.
"Sanctify a fast" - summon the people to a fast, as Targum Yonatan renders: "Decree a fast," decree a fast upon the people. And regarding the phrase "proclaim a solemn assembly (atzerah)," there are two interpretations, and both are true. The first interpretation is that of Ibn Ezra and Radak: *atzerah* stems from the concept of cessation (*atzirah*) from labor, as in "it shall be a solemn assembly (*atzeret*) for you." The second interpretation, cited by Ibn Ezra in the name of Yefet, and likewise explained by Rashi and the Malbim: *atzerah* is an expression of gathering, as in "an assembly (*atzeret*) of treacherous men," which means a gathering of traitors.
The Radak cites an interesting observation from his father elsewhere: even the word tzom (fast) does not only carry the familiar meaning of abstaining from food, but also connotes gathering and congregating. Proof of this is found in the anatomical term tzomet hagiddim (the junction of the sinews) - just as a crossroads or junction (tzomet) is a place where many roads converge, so tzomet hagiddim is a place where many sinews converge. A tzomet is therefore a focal point of gathering, and similarly tzom means to assemble and gather the people together. Since it was customary that whenever the people were assembled and gathered together they would also fast and abstain from food, the word tzom came to denote a fast, though at its root it signifies gathering together.
In simple terms, the prophet tells them: you must assemble the entire nation for prayer and supplication, to cry out to Hashem, so that perhaps He will remove from you the dreadful plague of locusts and the drought. He tells them all of this ahead of time, for once the plague strikes, it is far more difficult to halt, whereas as long as it has not yet arrived, stopping it is still much more attainable.
The Malbim explains that this is a command to the Kohanim: Hashem commands the Kohanim to sanctify a fast and declare an assembly for the people. The instruction addressed to them is to gather the nation to pray over this matter - to gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land, and cry out to Hashem. Why specifically "gather the elders"? Because the practice was to seat the elder before the Ark, and the elder would deliver stirring words of admonition to inspire the people to repent. For this reason, he instructs them to gather the elders as well.
As Destruction from Shaddai It Shall Come
אֲהָהּ לַיּוֹם כִּי קָרוֹב יוֹם יְהֹוָה וּכְשֹׁד מִשַּׁדַּי יָבוֹא׃ - Alas for the day! For the day of Hashem is near, and as destruction from the Almighty (Shaddai) it shall come.
"Alas" (Ahah) is an expression of groaning and anguish. "The day of Hashem is near" - the day when Hashem executes judgment and exacts retribution is at hand. "And as destruction from Shaddai it shall come" - it will come like a plunderer (shoded), and Shaddai is a holy Name of God, meaning the devastation will come from Hashem.
The Radak cites in the name of Mar HaNagid that mishaddai means from the mighty, as in the verse, "like the sound of abundant waters, like the voice of the Almighty" (Yechezkel 1:24) - meaning a mighty destroyer from whom there is no escape. This is quite likely related to the well-known Hebrew idiom where a Divine Name is appended to something to denote greatness: to describe mighty mountains, Scripture says harrei El ("mountains of God"); to describe a fierce flame, it says shalhevet-Yah ("a flame of the Lord"); and so on in many examples. Here too, to indicate that the plunderer will be exceedingly powerful, it says k'shod mi-Shaddai. It is also a play on words, as the letters shin-dalet in shod (destruction) are the same letters found in Shaddai.
The Malbim explains that crying out is necessary for two reasons. First, the day is near. The prophet stresses that there is no time: "For the day of Hashem is near," so do not be complacent. Second, "as destruction from Shaddai it shall come." Often, a person hesitates to act, thinking to himself: we will cross that bridge when we come to it, let us see how we handle it, everything is under control, don't worry, it will be fine, we'll manage. To this the prophet responds: no. This is not something from which one can escape; it comes directly from Hashem, and the calamity will be severe. Even if naturally such a disaster was not bound to occur, it will come by special decree from the Almighty.
Why specifically the Name Shaddai, rather than the Four-Letter Name or Elokim? Because Shaddai is the Name expressing He "Who said to His world, Enough (Dai)", Who overrules (meshaded) the laws of nature. The Name Shaddai conveys that the Holy One, Blessed is He, governs nature: He told the sea how far it may advance, and as the universe was expanding like unraveling balls of yarn, the Holy One, Blessed is He, said to it, "Enough!" It is well known that scientists today likewise speak of an expanding universe. Thus, the impending decree is not bound by nature; it is a decree from on High, from Shaddai Who upends the order of nature, and who can stand before the wrath of Hashem? Do not say, therefore, "we will manage when it arrives," for ultimately no one will be able to cope once it comes.
Before Our Very Eyes - The Prophet's Perspective
הֲלוֹא נֶגֶד עֵינֵינוּ אֹכֶל נִכְרָת מִבֵּית אֱלֹהֵינוּ שִׂמְחָה וָגִיל׃ - Is not food cut off before our very eyes, joy and gladness from the House of our God?
For we see before our very eyes that the ripened grain and the food are being cut off, as the locusts will come, devour them, and obliterate them. And since food is cut off, joy and gladness are inevitably cut off from the House of our God as well, for people used to bring offerings and celebrate the harvest festival, and great was the joy of the harvest, as the verse says, "as the joy of harvest" (Yeshayahu 9:2). When there is no produce, there is neither joy nor gladness in the House of our God.
And what does "before our eyes" mean? After all, this is a prophecy, and the locusts have not yet arrived. Rather, as explained several times, and as the Malbim explains here: the prophet is a chozeh (seer), meaning that in his mind's eye he sees the reality unfold. Therefore he says that it is "before our eyes" - this is not merely an announcement of something that will happen in the future, but rather he sees it in a vision right before his eyes. In this way, he tells them: do not think this is unfounded speculation that might happen or might not; the matter stands right before our very eyes.
Yet seemingly there is a difficulty: he should have said "before my eyes," so why did he say "before our eyes"? This can be resolved based on what the classic sources explain: prophecy is a divine flow descending from Heaven, and all the other prophets would receive it as well. However, only the specific prophet commanded to deliver it was tasked with transmitting it to the people, and he was forbidden to suppress his prophecy, just as another prophet was forbidden to transmit a prophecy he was not authorized to convey. This is why it is stated throughout the Torah, "And Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying (leimor)": if you received an instruction to say, speak; and if you did not receive an instruction to say, do not speak.
According to this, we can say that "before our eyes" does not refer to the prophet alone, for he was not the only prophet. Our Sages say that the Jewish people had twice as many prophets as those who left Egypt - 1,200,000 prophets - and if this is divided across generations, certainly there were dozens, if not hundreds, of prophets in his generation as well. Indeed, we see that Eliyahu hid a hundred prophets in a cave, and this was after Izevel had killed the prophets and only a hundred remained in the cave. This shows that there were many prophets; thus, he could say "before our eyes" - all the prophets would see what this prophet was prophesying.
The Malbim adds: when food was cut off from the House of our God, joy and gladness were cut off with it, for when the libations were poured, song was sung in the Beis HaMikdash. And now that we have seen that the vine is cut off and languishing, there are no libations, and if there are no libations, there is no song in the Beis HaMikdash.
Rotten Grains - The Destruction of the Storehouses
עָבְשׁוּ פְרֻדוֹת תַּחַת מֶגְרְפֹתֵיהֶם נָשַׁמּוּ אֹצָרוֹת נֶהֶרְסוּ מַמְּגֻרוֹת כִּי הֹבִישׁ דָּגָן׃ - The seeds have rotted under their clods, the storehouses are desolate, the granaries are ruined, for the grain has dried up.
Avshu is like afshu with the letter peh, related to mildew and rot (ipush), for the bilabial letters (bumaf: beis, vav, mem, peh) interchange. Do not be surprised at this, for we find the phrase "habeker la'aniyim" where the meaning is hefker (ownerless property) - showing that beis and peh interchange.
And what are the perudot that rotted? These are the individual seed grains beneath the ground. That is to say, instead of sprouting and growing, the seed hidden in the soil will become moldy and ruined and will not sprout, and whatever does sprout will be devoured by the locusts - resulting in a double curse. The Radak offers another explanation: the seed grains rotted because no rain fell; the seed absorbed just a slight amount of moisture with nothing to make it grow, and therefore it decayed.
And what is megrefoteihem? There are two explanations. Some say that megrefoteihem means clumps of earth (clods). According to this, we find a novel interpretation: regarding the verse, "If a man strikes his neighbor with a stone or with a fist (egrof)" - the Ibn Ezra explains that the letter alef is extra, and the meaning is begrof. What is a gerof? A clod of earth. That is, someone who struck his fellow with a large clump of earth sufficient to cause injury. According to this, it does not refer to the familiar "fist" formed by clenching the fingers, but rather to something resembling a stone. There is also another explanation, following Targum Yonasan, that megrefoteihem means stoppers (megufot). According to his approach, perudot are not grains of wheat in the soil, but rather wine jugs, which grew moldy beneath their stoppers, the stopper being their cover.
"The storehouses are desolate" (nashamu otzarot) - from the language of desolation (shemamah), that the grain storehouses were left desolate. In what sense? The Radak explains that this can be understood in two ways. First, since there is no grain to put inside, they are not used, and thus remain desolate. Second, when a structure is in use, people maintain it, but when it is left unused, it deteriorates and falls into ruin. Here, since they will not be putting grain into the granaries and storehouses, they will literally fall apart, becoming cracked and ruined, for no one maintains them and there is no reason to do so.
And what are mamgurot? A place of storage, as it says, "Is the seed still in the granary (megurah)?" The Malbim notes that this differs from an otzar: an otzar is large, while a megurah is small. One could say that megurah derives from megurim (dwelling), a place where something is brought in, or more plausibly, it derives from ma'agar (reservoir or storage), a place where grain is gathered, and it is smaller than an otzar.
The Radak cites an interesting interpretation in the name of his father, that the first letter mem here is a prepositional prefix (mem hashimush). By the way, the vocalization is mam-gurot (מַמְּגֻרוֹת): although beneath the first mem is a patach, which is a short vowel, and a short vowel followed by a sheva normally creates a sheva nach (silent sheva), which one would expect here - whereas a kamatz, being a long vowel, would turn the subsequent sheva into a sheva na (vocal sheva) - nevertheless, here the second mem has a dagesh, and the dagesh makes the sheva vocal. In any event, the Radak's father explains that the mem should be read as though it had a chirik, making it a preposition meaning "from" rather than an inherent root letter, as in me-habayit ("from the house"), mimenu, or misham. According to this, "neheresu mi-megurot" means that some of the granaries were ruined, but not all of them. Just as one might say, "Some of the houses were destroyed" - all of them? No, some of the houses. Here too, some of the granaries.
The Malbim explains that the stores of grain spoiled and rotted. In his view, "perudot" does not refer to individual seeds, but rather to grain that was piled and concealed in the ground in separate caches, mound by mound, and these rotted beneath the soil - for even though the locusts did not penetrate underground, the grain spoiled in the very places where it was stored. Furthermore, the storehouses, the granaries where the harvest was gathered, were desolated.
The Malbim adds further that although we explained that megrefoteihem comes from the root of clods of earth or a stopper (megufah), it is closer to the plain sense to interpret it in its familiar rabbinic meaning, from the root of a rake or shovel (magrefah), as found in Scripture: "The Kishon River swept them away [gerafam]" - showing that the root denotes raking or sweeping. The magrefah is the implement used to rake, sweep, and clear away refuse. As for avshu ("rotted"), he explains it as related to ba'ashu ("decayed and reeked"), through an interchange and transposition of letters. That is, the ayin is replaced by an aleph: avshu becomes abshu, and transposing the aleph yields ba'ashu, just as we find with salmah and simlah ("garment"). Thus, it denotes putrefaction, spoilage, and a foul stench: when they would shovel away the caches of ruined food, it gave off a vile odor - as a result of the locusts that putrefied it and the rot that afflicted the food supply.
How the Beast Groans
מַה־נֶּאֶנְחָה בְהֵמָה נָבֹכוּ עֶדְרֵי בָקָר כִּי אֵין מִרְעֶה לָהֶם גַּם־עֶדְרֵי הַצֹּאן נֶאְשָׁמוּ׃ - How the beast groans! The herds of cattle are bewildered because they have no pasture; even the flocks of sheep bear the guilt.
The prophet begins with a general term, behemah (beast or domestic animal), which encompasses all animals, and then specifies: herds of cattle, flocks of sheep. He describes how severe the affliction will be, causing both cattle and sheep to suffer. Navochu means bewildered and confused, like a person in distress and disorientation, as in the verse, "They are entangled [nevuchim] in the land, the wilderness has enclosed them."
And why does he add "even the flocks of sheep"? What is the significance of this "even"? The Radak explains that flocks of sheep often manage to find food and drink in places where cattle cannot. The reason is simple: cattle can graze only on level ground, whereas sheep are able to ascend steep hills and climb, possessing far greater mobility. Yet despite all this, they too were devastated; they too were desolated. This comes to show you: see how intense the catastrophe will be, that even the sheep cannot find food and water.
The Malbim explains "mah" not as an exclamation - "How the beast groans!" - but rather as a question, which offers a profound insight. The prophet wonders and pleads: Master of the Universe, if man has sinned, what sin has the beast committed? "Why [mah] does the beast groan?" is read as "Why [lamah] does the beast groan?" Why should the herds of cattle wander in bewilderment for lack of pasture? And have the flocks of sheep borne guilt [ne'eshamu], as though guilt were found in them? Did they too sin? Why has Hashem punished them?
To You, Hashem, I Call
אֵלֶיךָ יְהֹוָה אֶקְרָא כִּי אֵשׁ אָכְלָה נְאוֹת מִדְבָּר וְלֶהָבָה לִהֲטָה כָּל־עֲצֵי הַשָּׂדֶה׃ - To You, Hashem, I call, for a fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and a flame has consumed all the trees of the field.
The Malbim continues his line of thought: You might answer me that the primary punishment was decreed upon man, and what can be done if the beasts live among human settlements and the famine strikes the inhabited land? Naturally everyone hungers, and even the animals have nothing to eat, since they are man's property and perish along with him - especially as this is a decree against man himself: since you acted improperly, it was decreed that your livestock be destroyed, so that the suffering of the beast is simply the consequence of man's punishment.
Nevertheless, the prophet says: I still cry out to You, Hashem, and question: "For a fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness" - the fire is consuming even the wilderness pastures, where there is no human settlement at all! "And a flame has consumed all the trees of the field" - even though the trees of the field are far from human habitation. Thus the question echoes with even greater force: Why were these punished? If you say that animals suffer because they belong to man and live alongside him - these wild places are neither his property nor in his domain!
This is the explanation according to the Malbim. The Radak and other commentators of the plain meaning, however, explain that this is a depiction of the sheer magnitude of the catastrophe: "To You, Hashem, I call" - I turn to Hashem and cry out: Master of the Universe, see the depth of the affliction! Fire is devouring the wilderness pastures, a flame sweeps through them, and we have no one to deliver us except Hashem alone.
Now, what fire and flame are being spoken of here, when until now we have been talking about locusts? The Radak explains that this was like fire and flame - that is, a metaphorical expression for the locust swarm that consumed and covered everything. People say, "The locusts arrived and burned everything down" - not with literal fire, but as a figure of speech. The Ibn Ezra finds this difficult to accept; he cites this in the name of "some say" but states that it is incorrect, explaining that there were two separate calamities: one of locusts and one of drought. This also resolves the question of how to connect flame to locusts, since later we see that there was a drought - rather, both occurred. It is very possible that "a fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness" refers to the locusts spreading like wildfire, while "the watercourses have dried up" below refers to the drought. Both explanations are plausible, for when there is a drought, fire spreads easily, the dryness is intense, and every small spark ignites massive blazes.
Even the Beasts of the Field Long for You
גַּם־בַּהֲמוֹת שָׂדֶה תַּעֲרוֹג אֵלֶיךָ כִּי יָבְשׁוּ אֲפִיקֵי מָיִם וְאֵשׁ אָכְלָה נְאוֹת הַמִּדְבָּר׃ - Even the beasts of the field long for You, for the watercourses have dried up, and fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness.
"For the watercourses have dried up" - there will be a drought. Even in drought, wild beasts can usually find grazing in places that retain a little moisture, but here the prophet tells us that the drought will be so severe that even the rivers and watercourses will dry up. And while animals need food, they need drink even more. Thus, even if they manage to find a bit of forage in the mountains, from where will they drink? Therefore, "even the beasts of the field long for You, for the watercourses have dried up"; they have nothing to drink, and fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness.
The grassy areas in the wilderness dried up, and concerning them it is said that fire consumed them. The Radak explains: it is as if fire consumed them, because they dried up and were effectively scorched by the sun.
The Malbim continues along his approach, explaining that the prophet stands in astonishment: Master of the Universe, what did the beasts and animals do? Why do they deserve this? "Even the beasts of the field long for You" - even the wild creatures that are not in man's domain cry out; they long and cry out against injustice, as if to say: Why have the watercourses dried up? Why do I have no water to drink? Why has fire consumed the pastures of the wilderness, leaving no grazing? Over this the prophet says, "To You, Hashem, I call" - what is the sin of the wild beasts, and why should they be punished for the iniquity of man? If man has sinned, what have the beasts and animals done?
In Summary:
In this section, Yoel calls upon the Kohanim and the people to take action before the strike arrives. The righteous Kohanim, "the ministers of my God," are urged to gird themselves in sackcloth, spend the night in it, and not relent in prayer, whereas the "ministers of the Altar," whose service lacked inner intention, have nothing left but eulogy and wailing. They are summoned to sanctify a fast and declare an assembly - to gather and assemble all the people and the elders into the House of Hashem and cry out, for the Day of Hashem is near, and destruction comes from Shad-ai, Who upends the order of nature, and there is no escape. In his mind's eye, the prophet sees food cut off, joy and song ceased from the House of Hashem, the grain rotting, the storehouses desolate, and the cattle and flocks groaning without pasture and without water. In the end, his final plea is a cry for mercy over all of creation: if man has sinned, what have the beasts and animals done?