2, 3. A spirited introduction calling attention.
old men—the best judges in question concerning the past (De 32:7; Job 32:7).
Hath this been, &c.—that is, Hath any so grievous a calamity as this ever been before? No such plague of locusts had been since the ones in Egypt. Ex 10:14 is not at variance with this verse, which refers to Judea, in which Joel says there had been no such devastation before.