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Text -- Joel 2:8-32 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
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 .
2:9 They rush into the city ; they scale its walls . They climb up into the houses ; they go in through the windows like a thief .
2:10 The earth quakes before them; the sky reverberates . The sun and the moon grow dark ; the stars refuse to shine .
2:11 The voice of the Lord thunders as he leads his army . Indeed , his warriors are innumerable ; Surely his command is carried out ! Yes , the day of the Lord is awesome and very terrifying – who can survive it?
An Appeal for Repentance
2:12 “Yet even now ,” the Lord says , “return to me with all your heart – with fasting , weeping , and mourning . Tear your hearts, not just your garments!”
2:13 Return to the Lord your God , for he is merciful and compassionate , slow to anger and boundless in loyal love – often relenting from calamitous punishment .
2:14 Who knows ? Perhaps he will be compassionate and grant a reprieve , and leave blessing in his wake– a meal offering and a drink offering for you to offer to the Lord your God !
2:15 Blow the trumpet in Zion . Announce a holy fast ; proclaim a sacred assembly !
2:16 Gather the people ; sanctify an assembly ! Gather the elders ; gather the children and the nursing infants . Let the bridegroom come out from his bedroom and the bride from her private quarters .
2:17 Let the priests , those who serve the Lord , weep from the vestibule all the way back to the altar . Let them say , “Have pity , O Lord , on your people ; please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked , to become a proverb among the nations . Why should it be said among the peoples , “Where is their God ?”
The Lord’s Response
2:18 Then the Lord became zealous for his land ; he had compassion on his people .
2:19 The Lord responded to his people , “Look ! I am about to restore your grain as well as fresh wine and olive oil . You will be fully satisfied . I will never again make you an object of mockery among the nations .
2:20 I will remove the one from the north far from you. I will drive him out to a dry and desolate place . Those in front will be driven eastward into the Dead Sea , and those in back westward into the Mediterranean Sea . His stench will rise up as a foul smell .” Indeed , the Lord has accomplished great things .
2:21 Do not fear , my land ! Rejoice and be glad , because the Lord has accomplished great things !
2:22 Do not fear , wild animals ! For the pastures of the wilderness are again green with grass . Indeed , the trees bear their fruit ; the fig tree and the vine yield to their fullest .
2:23 Citizens of Zion , rejoice ! Be glad because of what the Lord your God has done! For he has given to you the early rains as vindication . He has sent to you the rains – both the early and the late rains as formerly .
2:24 The threshing floors are full of grain ; the vats overflow with fresh wine and olive oil .
2:25 I will make up for the years that the ‘arbeh-locust consumed your crops– the yeleq-locust , the hasil-locust , and the gazam-locust – my great army that I sent against you.
2:26 You will have plenty to eat , and your hunger will be fully satisfied ; you will praise the name of the Lord your God , who has acted wondrously in your behalf. My people will never again be put to shame .
2:27 You will be convinced that I am in the midst of Israel . I am the Lord your God ; there is no other. My people will never again be put to shame .
An Outpouring of the Spirit
2:28 After all of this I will pour out my Spirit on all kinds of people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy . Your elderly will have revelatory dreams ; your young men will see prophetic visions .
2:29 Even on male and female servants I will pour out my Spirit in those days .
2:30 I will produce portents both in the sky and on the earth – blood , fire , and columns of smoke .
2:31 The sunlight will be turned to darkness and the moon to the color of blood , before the day of the Lord comes – that great and terrible day!
2:32 It will so happen that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered . For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who survive , just as the Lord has promised ; the remnant will be those whom the Lord will call .
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Joe 2:8; Joe 2:8; Joe 2:8; Joe 2:8; Joe 2:9; Joe 2:9; Joe 2:10; Joe 2:10; Joe 2:10; Joe 2:10; Joe 2:11; Joe 2:11; Joe 2:11; Joe 2:11; Joe 2:11; Joe 2:11; Joe 2:11; Joe 2:12; Joe 2:13; Joe 2:13; Joe 2:14; Joe 2:14; Joe 2:14; Joe 2:15; Joe 2:16; Joe 2:17; Joe 2:17; Joe 2:17; Joe 2:18; Joe 2:19; Joe 2:19; Joe 2:19; Joe 2:20; Joe 2:20; Joe 2:20; Joe 2:20; Joe 2:20; Joe 2:22; Joe 2:22; Joe 2:23; Joe 2:23; Joe 2:23; Joe 2:23; Joe 2:23; Joe 2:25; Joe 2:25; Joe 2:25; Joe 2:25; Joe 2:25; Joe 2:26; Joe 2:28; Joe 2:28; Joe 2:28; Joe 2:28; Joe 2:28; Joe 2:30; Joe 2:31; Joe 2:32; Joe 2:32; Joe 2:32; Joe 2:32; Joe 2:32
NET Notes: Joe 2:8 Heb “missile” or “javelin.” This term appears to function as a synecdoche for the city’s defenses as a whole (cf. NASB, ...
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NET Notes: Joe 2:11 Heb “endure.” The MT and LXX read “endure,” while one of the Qumran manuscripts (4QXXIIc) has “bear.”
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NET Notes: Joe 2:12 The figurative language calls for genuine repentance, and not merely external ritual that goes through the motions.
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NET Notes: Joe 2:14 The phrase “for you to offer” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
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NET Notes: Joe 2:16 Mosaic law allowed men recently married, or about to be married, to be exempt for a year from certain duties that were normally mandatory, such as mil...
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NET Notes: Joe 2:18 The time-frame entertained by the verbs of v.18 constitutes a crux interpretum in this chapter. The Hebrew verb forms used here are preterites with va...
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NET Notes: Joe 2:19 One of the Qumran manuscripts (4QXXIIc) inserts “and you will eat” before “and you will be fully satisfied” (the reading of th...
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NET Notes: Joe 2:20 The Hebrew text does not have “the Lord.” Two interpretations are possible. This clause may refer to the enemy described in the immediatel...
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NET Notes: Joe 2:22 Heb “their strength.” The trees and vines will produce a maximum harvest, in contrast to the failed agricultural conditions previously des...
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NET Notes: Joe 2:23 For half the year Palestine is generally dry. The rainy season begins with the early rains usually in late October to early December, followed by the ...
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NET Notes: Joe 2:25 Here Joel employs military language to describe the locusts. In the prophet’s thinking this invasion was far from being a freak accident. Rather...
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NET Notes: Joe 2:30 Or “in the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens&...
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NET Notes: Joe 2:31 Heb “to blood,” but no doubt this is intended to indicate by metonymy the color of blood rather than the substance itself. The blood red c...
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