Text -- Joel 2:8 (NET)

2:8 They do not jostle one another; each of them marches straight ahead. They burst through the city defenses and do not break ranks.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Joe 2:8

¹ tn “each one does not crowd his brother.”

² tn Heb “each warrior walks in his own course.”

³ tn Heb “they fall upon.” This line has been interpreted in two different ways: (1) although they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded (KJV), or (2) when they “burst through” the city’s defenses, they will not break ranks (RSV, NASB, NIV, NIrV).

⁴ tn Heb “missile” or “javelin.” This term appears to function as a synecdoche for the city’s defenses as a whole (cf. NASB, NIV, TEV). Some scholars instead understand the reference to be an aqueduct by which the locusts (or armies) entered the city.