Joel 1:7

They ¹  have destroyed our ²  vines; ³  they have turned our ⁴  fig trees into mere splinters. They have completely stripped off the bark ⁵  and thrown them aside; the ⁶  twigs are stripped bare. ⁷ 

It has laid waste my vines and ruined my fig-trees. It has stripped off their bark and thrown it away, leaving their branches white.

It has made my vine a waste And my fig tree splinters. It has stripped them bare and cast them away; Their branches have become white.

They have destroyed my grapevines and fig trees, stripping their bark and leaving the branches white and bare.

It has ruined my vineyards, stripped my orchards, And clear-cut the country. The landscape's a moonscape.

By him my vine is made waste and my fig-tree broken: he has taken all its fruit and sent it down to the earth; its branches are made white.

It has laid waste my vines, and splintered my fig trees; it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down; their branches have turned white.

He has laid waste My vine, And ruined My fig tree; He has stripped it bare and thrown it away; Its branches are made white.

They ¹  have destroyed our ²  vines; ³  they have turned our ⁴  fig trees into mere splinters. They have completely stripped off the bark ⁵  and thrown them aside; the ⁶  twigs are stripped bare. ⁷ 

¹ tn Heb “it.” Throughout vv. 6-7 the Hebrew uses singular forms to describe the locust swarm, but the translation uses plural forms because several details of the text make more sense in English as if they are describing the appearance and effects of individual locusts.

² tn Heb “my.”

³ tn Both “vines” and “fig trees” are singular in the Hebrew text, but are regarded as collective singulars.

⁴ tn Heb “my.”

⁵ tn Heb “it has completely stripped her.”

⁶ tn Heb “her.”

⁷ tn Heb “grow white.”

sn Once choice leafy vegetation is no longer available to them, locusts have been known to consume the bark of small tree limbs, leaving them in an exposed and vulnerable condition. It is apparently this whitened condition of limbs that Joel is referring to here.