Jamieson, Fausset and Brown on Joel 1:2-3

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.