John Gill Commentary Joel 1:6

"For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the jaw-teeth of a lioness." — Joel 1:6 (ASV)

For a nation is come up upon my land
A nation of locusts, so called from their great numbers, and coming from foreign parts; just as the ants are called a "people", and the conies a "folk", (Proverbs 30:25Proverbs 30:26); and which were an emblem of the nation of the Chaldeans, which came up from Babylon, and invaded the land of Judea; called by the Lord "my land", because he has chosen it for the habitation of his people; here he himself has long dwelt, and has been served and worshipped in it: though Kimchi thinks these are the words of the inhabitants of the land, or of the prophet; but if it can be thought they are any other than the words of God, they rather seem to be expressed by the drunkards in particular, howling for want of wine, and observing the reason of it:

strong, and without number ;
this description seems better to agree with the Assyrians or Chaldeans, who were a mighty and powerful people, as well as numerous; though locusts, notwithstanding they are weak, singly taken, yet, coming in large bodies, carry all before them, and there is no stopping them:

whose teeth [are] the teeth of a lion, and he has the cheek teeth of a great lion ;
or "the grinders" ^F13 of such an one; being hard, strong, and sharp, to bite off the tops, boughs, and branches of trees: Pliny^F14

says, locusts will gnaw with their teeth the doors of houses; so the teeth of locusts are described in (Revelation 9:8); this may denote the strength, cruelty, and voraciousness of the Chaldean army.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F13: (tweltm) "molares", Pagninus, Mercerus, Burkius.
• F14: Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 29.