Joel 1:17

The seed is rotten. The Hebrew of the first sentence of this verse is uncertain. The words here translated “seed,” “rotten,” and “clods” all appear only this once in the OT, and their meaning is obscure. Instead of “seed” some think “dried figs” should be read; others, “watercourses.” The word for “is rotten,” ‘abash, if it is to be compared with the Arabic ‘abisa, means “to shrivel.” For “clods” some read “shovels.” The LXX supports none of these suggestions. It reads, “the heifers leap at their mangers.” But this leaves the passage no less obscure.