2:29 Even on male and female servants
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
3:1 (4:1) 1 For look! In those 2 days and at that time
I will return the exiles 3 to Judah and Jerusalem. 4
2:32 It will so happen that
everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered. 5
For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem 6 there will be those who survive, 7
just as the Lord has promised;
the remnant 8 will be those whom the Lord will call. 9
2:20 I will remove the one from the north 10 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, 11
and those in back westward into the Mediterranean Sea. 12
His stench will rise up as a foul smell.” 13
Indeed, the Lord 14 has accomplished great things.
1:9 No one brings grain offerings or drink offerings
to the temple 15 of the Lord anymore. 16
So the priests, those who serve the Lord, are in mourning.
2:11 The voice of the Lord thunders 17 as he leads his army. 18
Indeed, his warriors 19 are innumerable; 20
Surely his command is carried out! 21
Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome 22
and very terrifying – who can survive 23 it?
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. 24
1:6 For a nation 25 has invaded 26 our 27 land.
There are so many of them they are too numerous to count. 28
Their teeth are like those 29 of a lion;
they tear apart their prey like a lioness. 30
2:17 Let the priests, those who serve the Lord, weep
from the vestibule all the way back to the altar. 31
Let them say, “Have pity, O Lord, on your people;
please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked,
to become a proverb 32 among the nations.
Why should it be said 33 among the peoples,
“Where is their God?”
1 sn Joel 3:1 in the English Bible is 4:1 in the Hebrew text (BHS). See also the note at 2:28.
2 tc The MT and LXX read “in those days,” while MurXII reads “in that day.”
3 tc The Kethib reads אָשִׁיב (’ashiv, “return the captivity [captives]), while the Qere is אָשׁוּב (’ashuv, “restore the fortunes”). Many modern English versions follow the Qere reading. Either reading seems to fit the context. Joel refers to an exile of the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem in 3:2-6 and their return from exile in 3:7. On the other hand, 2:25-26 describes the reversal of judgment and restoration of the covenant blessings. However, the former seems to be the concern of the immediate context.
4 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
1 tn While a number of English versions render this as “saved” (e.g., NIV, NRSV, NLT), this can suggest a “spiritual” or “theological” salvation rather than the physical deliverance from the cataclysmic events of the day of the Lord described in the context.
2 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
3 tn Heb “deliverance”; or “escape.” The abstract noun “deliverance” or “escape” probably functions here as an example of antimeria, referring to those who experience deliverance or escape with their lives: “escaped remnant” or “surviving remnant” (Gen 32:8; 45:7; Judg 21:17; 2 Kgs 19:30, 31; Isa 4:2; 10:20; 15:9; 37:31, 32; Ezek 14:22; Obad 1:17; Ezra 9:8, 13-15; Neh 1:2; 1 Chr 4:43; 2 Chr 30:6).
4 tn Heb “and among the remnant.”
5 tn The participle used in the Hebrew text seems to indicate action in the imminent future.
1 sn The allusion to the one from the north is best understood as having locusts in view. It is not correct to say that this reference to the enemy who came form the north excludes the possibility of a reference to locusts and must be understood as human armies. Although locust plagues usually approached Palestine from the east or southeast, the severe plague of 1915, for example, came from the northeast.
2 tn Heb “his face to the eastern sea.” In this context the eastern sea is probably the Dead Sea.
3 tn Heb “and his rear to the western sea.” The western sea refers to the Mediterranean Sea.
4 sn Heb “and his foul smell will ascend.” The foul smell probably refers to the unpleasant odor of decayed masses of dead locusts. The Hebrew word for “foul smell” is found only here in the Old Testament. The Hebrew word for “stench” appears only here and in Isa 34:3 and Amos 4:10. In the latter references it refers to the stench of dead corpses on a field of battle.
5 tn The Hebrew text does not have “the
1 tn Heb “house.” So also in vv. 13, 14, 16.
2 tn Heb “grain offering and drink offering are cut off from the house of the
1 tn Heb “the
2 tn Heb “before his army.”
3 tn Heb “military encampment.”
4 tn Heb “very large.”
5 tn Heb “he makes his word powerful.”
6 tn Or “powerful.” Heb “great.”
7 tn Heb “endure.” The MT and LXX read “endure,” while one of the Qumran manuscripts (4QXXIIc) has “bear.”
1 sn 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 military obligation (cf. Deut 20:7; 24:5). However, Joel pictures a time of such urgency that normal expectations must give way to higher requirements.
1 sn As becomes increasingly clear in what follows, this nation is to be understood figuratively. It refers to the locust invasion as viewed from the standpoint of its methodical, destructive advance across the land (BDB 156 s.v. גּוֹי 2). This term is used figuratively to refer to animals one other time (Zeph 2:14).
2 tn Heb “has come up against.”
3 tn Heb “my.”
4 tn Heb “[It] is huge and there is not number.”
5 tn Heb “its teeth are the teeth of a lion.”
6 tn Heb “its incisors are those of a lioness.” The sharp, cutting teeth are metonymical for the action of tearing apart and eating prey. The language is clearly hyperbolic. Neither locusts nor human invaders literally have teeth of this size. The prophet is using exaggerated and picturesque language to portray in vivid terms the enormity of the calamity. English versions vary greatly on the specifics: KJV “cheek teeth”; ASV “jaw-teeth”; NAB “molars”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “fangs.”
1 tn Heb “between the vestibule and the altar.” The vestibule was located at the entrance of the temple and the altar was located at the other end of the building. So “between the vestibule and the altar” is a merism referring to the entire structure. The priestly lament permeates the entire house of worship.
2 tn For the MT reading לִמְשָׁל (limshol, an infinitive, “to rule”), one should instead read לְמָשָׁל (lÿmashal, a noun, “to a byword”). While the consonantal Hebrew text permits either, the context suggests that the concern here is more one of not wanting to appear abandoned by God to ongoing economic depression rather than one of concern over potential political subjection of Israel (cf. v. 19). The possibility that the form in the MT is an infinitive construct of the denominative verb II מָשַׁל (mashal, “to utter a proverb”) does not seem likely because of the following preposition (Hebrew בְּ [bÿ], rather than עַל [’al]).
3 tn Heb “Why will they say?”