Joel 1:2

A Locust Plague Foreshadows the Day of the Lord

1:2 Listen to this, you elders;

pay attention, all inhabitants of the land.

Has anything like this ever happened in your whole life

or in the lifetime of your ancestors?

Joel 3:4

3:4 Why are you doing these things to me, Tyre and Sidon?

Are you trying to get even with me, land of Philistia?

I will very quickly repay you for what you have done!


sn Elders here refers not necessarily to men advanced in years, but to leaders within the community.

tn Heb “give ear.”

tn Heb “days.” The term “days” functions here as a synecdoche for one’s lifespan.

tn Heb “days.”

tn Heb “fathers.”

tn Heb “What [are] you [doing] to me, O Tyre and Sidon?”

tn Or “districts.”

tn Heb “quickly, speedily, I will return your recompense on your head.” This is an idiom for retributive justice and an equitable reversal of situation.