Joel 1:2

 Joel 1:2

Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?

a. ASV: Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or in the days of your fathers? [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

b. YLT: Hear this, ye aged ones, And give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land, Hath this been in your days? Or in the days of your fathers? [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified: Hear this, you aged men, and give ear, all you inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing as this occurred in your days or even in the days of your fathers? [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. NLT: Hear this, you leaders of the people. Listen, all who live in the land. In all your history, has anything like this happened before? [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

e. The Israel Bible: Listen to this, O elders, Give ear, all inhabitants of the land. Has the like of this happened in your days Or in the days of your fathers? [The English Translation was adapted by Israel 365 from the JPS Tanakh. Copyright Ⓒ 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society. All rights reserved.]

f. Torah, Judaism and Jewish information on the web: www.chabad.org; Online English Translation of the Tanakh (Jewish Bible): Hear this, you elders, and hearken, all you inhabitants of the land. Did this come about in your days or in the days of your forefathers? [English Translation, Ⓒ Copyright The Judaica Press All rights reserved.]

1. “Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days…”

a. Hear [Strong: 8085 shama` shaw-mah' a primitive root; to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.):--X attentively, call (gather) together, X carefully, X certainly, consent, consider, be content, declare, X diligently, discern, give ear, (cause to, let, make to) hear(-ken, tell), X indeed, listen, make (a) noise, (be) obedient, obey, perceive, (make a) proclaim(-ation), publish, regard, report, shew (forth), (make a) sound, X surely, tell, understand, whosoever (heareth), witness.]

b. this [Strong: 2063 zo'th zothe' irregular feminine of 2089; this (often used adverb):-- hereby (-in, -with), it, likewise, the one (other, same), she, so (much), such (deed), that, therefore, these, this (thing), thus.]

c. [ye] old [men] [Strong: 2205 zaqen zaw-kane' from 2204; old:--aged, ancient (man), elder(-est), old (man, men and...women), senator.]

d. [and] give ear [Strong: 238 'azan aw-zan' a primitive root; probably to expand; but used only as a denominative from 241; to broaden out the ear (with the hand), i.e. (by implication) to listen:--give (perceive by the) ear, hear(-ken).]

e. all [Strong: 3605 kol kole or (Jer. 33:8) kowl {kole}; from 3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):--(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-)thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).

f. [ye] inhabitants [Strong: 3427 yashab yaw-shab' a primitive root; properly, to sit down (specifically as judge. in ambush, in quiet); by implication, to dwell, to remain; causatively, to settle, to marry:--(make to) abide(-ing), continue, (cause to, make to) dwell(-ing), ease self, endure, establish, X fail, habitation, haunt, (make to) inhabit(-ant), make to keep (house), lurking, X marry(-ing), (bring again to) place, remain, return, seat, set(- tle), (down-)sit(-down, still, -ting down, -ting (place) -uate), take, tarry.]

g. [of the] land [Strong: 776 'erets eh'-rets from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land):--X common, country, earth, field, ground, land, X natins, way, + wilderness, world.]

h. [Hath] this this [Strong: 2063 zo'th zothe' irregular feminine of 2089; this (often used adverb):-- hereby (-in, -with), it, likewise, the one (other, same), she, so (much), such (deed), that, therefore, these, this (thing), thus.]

i. been [Strong: 1961 hayah haw-yaw a primitive root (Compare 1933); to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):--beacon, X altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit (one-)self, require, X use.]

j. [in your] days [Strong: 3117 yowm yome from an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb):--age, + always, + chronicals, continually(-ance), daily, ((birth-), each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), + elder, X end, + evening, + (for) ever(-lasting, -more), X full, life, as (so) long as (... live), (even) now, + old, + outlived, + perpetually, presently, + remaineth, X required, season, X since, space, then, (process of) time, + as at other times, + in trouble, weather, (as) when, (a, the, within a) while (that), X whole (+ age), (full) year(-ly), + younger.]

2. “...or even in the days of your fathers?”

a. [or] even [Strong: 518 'im eem a primitive particle; used very widely as demonstrative, lo!; interrog., whether?; or conditional, if, although; also Oh that!, when; hence, as a negative, not:--(and, can-, doubtless, if, that) (not), + but, either, + except, + more(-over if, than), neither, nevertheless, nor, oh that, or, + save (only, -ing), seeing, since, sith, + surely (no more, none, not), though, + of a truth, + unless, + verily, when, whereas, whether, while, + yet.]

b. [in your] days [Strong: 3117 yowm yome from an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb):--age, + always, + chronicals, continually(-ance), daily, ((birth-), each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), + elder, X end, + evening, + (for) ever(-lasting, -more), X full, life, as (so) long as (... live), (even) now, + old, + outlived, + perpetually, presently, + remaineth, X required, season, X since, space, then, (process of) time, + as at other times, + in trouble, weather, (as) when, (a, the, within a) while (that), X whole (+ age), (full) year(-ly), + younger.

c. [of your] fathers [Strong: 1 'ab awb a primitive word; father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote application):--chief, (fore-)father(-less), X patrimony, principal.]

1). What we are seeing in our nation and in the world we have never seen before.