Joe 1:6 | NETfull | STEP | For a nation has invaded our land. There are so many of them they are too numerous to count. Their teeth are like those of a lion; they tear apart their prey like a lioness.

Joel 1:6

6 For a nation ^{▼▼ As becomes increasingly clear in what follows, this nation is to be understood figuratively. It refers to the locust invasion as viewed from the standpoint of its methodical, destructive advance across the land (BDB 156 s.v. גּוֹי 2). This term is used figuratively to refer to animals one other time (Zeph 2:14).} has invaded ^{▼▼ Heb “has come up against.”} our ^{▼▼ Heb “my.”} land.
There are so many of them they are too numerous to count. ^{▼▼ Heb “[It] is huge and there is not number.”}
Their teeth are like those ^{▼▼ Heb “its teeth are the teeth of a lion.”} of a lion;
they tear apart their prey like a lioness. ^{▼▼ Heb “its incisors are those of a lioness.” The sharp, cutting teeth are metonymical for the action of tearing apart and eating prey. The language is clearly hyperbolic. Neither locusts nor human invaders literally have teeth of this size. The prophet is using exaggerated and picturesque language to portray in vivid terms the enormity of the calamity. English versions vary greatly on the specifics: KJV “cheek teeth”; ASV “jaw-teeth”; NAB “molars”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “fangs.”}