Discovery BoxJoel 1:18 
Context1:18 Listen to the cattle groan! 1
The herds of livestock wander around in confusion 2
because they have no pasture.
Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.
Joel 1:20
Context1:20 Even the wild animals 3 cry out to you; 4
for the river beds 5 have dried up;
fire has destroyed 6 the grassy pastures. 7
Joel 2:12
Context2:12 “Yet even now,” the Lord says,
“return to me with all your heart –
with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
Tear your hearts, 8
not just your garments!”
1 tn Heb “how the cattle groan!”
2 tn Heb “the herds of cattle are confused.” The verb בּוּךְ (bukh, “be confused”) sometimes refers to wandering aimlessly in confusion (cf. Exod 14:3).
3 tn Heb “beasts of the field.”
4 tn Heb “long for you.” Animals of course do not have religious sensibilities as such; they do not in any literal sense long for Yahweh. Rather, the language here is figurative (metonymy of cause for effect). The animals long for food and water (so BDB 788 s.v. עָרַג), the ultimate source of which is Yahweh.
5 tn Heb “sources of water.”
6 tn Heb “consumed.”
7 tn Heb “the pastures of the wilderness.”
8 sn The figurative language calls for genuine repentance, and not merely external ritual that goes through the motions.
