Discovery BoxEzekiel 30:3
Context30:3 For the day is near,
the day of the Lord is near;
it will be a day of storm clouds, 1
it will be a time of judgment 2 for the nations.
Isaiah 50:10
Context50:10 Who among you fears the Lord?
Who obeys 3 his servant?
Whoever walks in deep darkness, 4
without light,
should trust in the name of the Lord
and rely on his God.
Jeremiah 13:16
Context13:16 Show the Lord your God the respect that is due him. 5
Do it before he brings the darkness of disaster. 6
Do it before you stumble 7 into distress
like a traveler on the mountains at twilight. 8
Do it before he turns the light of deliverance you hope for
into the darkness and gloom of exile. 9
Joel 2:1-3
Context2:1 Blow the trumpet 10 in Zion;
sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear,
for the day of the Lord is about to come.
2:2 It will be 13 a day of dreadful darkness, 14
a day of foreboding storm clouds, 15
like blackness 16 spread over the mountains.
It is a huge and powerful army 17 –
there has never been anything like it ever before,
and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come! 18
2:3 Like fire they devour everything in their path; 19
a flame blazes behind them.
The land looks like the Garden of Eden 20 before them,
but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness –
for nothing escapes them! 21
Amos 5:18-20
Context5:18 Woe 22 to those who wish for the day of the Lord!
Why do you want the Lord’s day of judgment to come?
It will bring darkness, not light.
5:19 Disaster will be inescapable, 23
as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,
then escaped 24 into a house,
leaned his hand against the wall,
and was bitten by a poisonous snake.
5:20 Don’t you realize the Lord’s day of judgment will bring 25 darkness, not light –
gloomy blackness, not bright light?
Zephaniah 1:15
Context1:15 That day will be a day of God’s anger, 26
a day of distress and hardship,
a day of devastation and ruin,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and dark skies,
Acts 2:19-21
Context2:19 And I will perform wonders in the sky 27 above
and miraculous signs 28 on the earth below,
blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
2:20 The sun will be changed to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the great and glorious 29 day of the Lord comes.
2:21 And then 30 everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ 31
[30:3] 1 tn Heb “a day of clouds.” The expression occurs also in Joel 2:2 and Zeph 1:15; it recalls the appearance of God at Mount Sinai (Exod 19:9, 16, 18).
[30:3] 2 tn Heb “a time.” The words “of judgment” have been added in the translation for clarification (see the following verses).
[50:10] 3 tn Heb “[who] listens to the voice of his servant?” The interrogative is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
[50:10] 4 tn The plural indicates degree. Darkness may refer to exile and/or moral evil.
[13:16] 5 tn Heb “Give glory/respect to the
[13:16] 6 tn The words “of disaster” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to explain the significance of the metaphor to readers who may not be acquainted with the metaphorical use of light and darkness for salvation and joy and distress and sorrow respectively.
[13:16] 7 tn Heb “your feet stumble.”
[13:16] 8 tn Heb “you stumble on the mountains at twilight.” The added words are again supplied in the translation to help explain the metaphor to the uninitiated reader.
[13:16] 9 tn Heb “and while you hope for light he will turn it into deep darkness and make [it] into gloom.” The meaning of the metaphor is again explained through the addition of the “of” phrases for readers who are unacquainted with the metaphorical use of these terms.
[2:1] 10 tn The word translated “trumpet” here (so most English versions) is the Hebrew שׁוֹפָר (shofar). The shophar was a wind instrument made from a cow or ram’s horn and used as a military instrument for calling people to attention in the face of danger or as a religious instrument for calling people to occasions of communal celebration.
[2:1] 12 sn The interpretation of 2:1-11 is very difficult. Four views may be mentioned here. (1) Some commentators understand this section to be describing a human invasion of Judah on the part of an ancient army. The exact identity of this army (e.g., Assyrian or Babylonian) varies among interpreters depending upon issues of dating for the book of Joel. (2) Some commentators take the section to describe an eschatological scene in which the army according to some is human, or according to others is nonhuman (i.e., angelic). (3) Some interpreters argue for taking the section to refer to the potential advent in the fall season of a severe east wind (i.e., Sirocco) that would further exacerbate the conditions of the land described in chapter one. (4) Finally, some interpreters understand the section to continue the discussion of locust invasion and drought described in chapter one, partly on the basis that there is no clear exegetical evidence in 2:1-11 to suggest a shift of referent from that of chapter one.
[2:2] 13 tn The phrase “It will be” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style.
[2:2] 14 tn Heb “darkness and gloom.” These two terms probably form a hendiadys here. This picture recalls the imagery of the supernatural darkness in Egypt during the judgments of the exodus (Exod 10:22). These terms are also frequently used as figures (metonymy of association) for calamity and divine judgment (Isa 8:22; 59:9; Jer 23:12; Zeph 1:15). Darkness is often a figure (metonymy of association) for death, dread, distress and judgment (BDB 365 s.v. חשֶׁךְ 3).
[2:2] 15 tn Heb “a day of cloud and darkness.”
[2:2] 16 tc The present translation here follows the proposed reading שְׁחֹר (shÿkhor, “blackness”) rather than the MT שַׁחַר (shakhar, “morning”). The change affects only the vocalization; the Hebrew consonants remain unchanged. Here the context calls for a word describing darkness. The idea of morning or dawn speaks instead of approaching light, which does not seem to fit here. The other words in the verse (e.g., “darkness,” “gloominess,” “cloud,” “heavy overcast”) all emphasize the negative aspects of the matter at hand and lead the reader to expect a word like “blackness” rather than “dawn.” However, NIrV paraphrases the MT nicely: “A huge army of locusts is coming. They will spread across the mountains like the sun when it rises.”
[2:2] 17 tn Heb “A huge and powerful people”; KJV, ASV “a great people and a strong.” Many interpreters understand Joel 2 to describe an invasion of human armies, either in past history (e.g., the Babylonian invasion of Palestine in the sixth century
[2:2] 18 tn Heb “it will not be repeated for years of generation and generation.”
[2:3] 19 tn Heb “a fire devours before it.”
[2:3] 20 tn Heb “like the garden of Eden, the land is before them.”
[2:3] 21 tn Heb “and surely a survivor there is not for it.” The antecedent of the pronoun “it” is apparently עַם (’am, “people”) of v. 2, which seems to be a figurative way of referring to the locusts. K&D 26:191-92 thought that the antecedent of this pronoun was “land,” but the masculine gender of the pronoun does not support this.
[5:18] 22 tn The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”) was used when mourning the dead (see the note on the word “dead” in 5:16). The prophet here either engages in role playing and mourns the death of the nation in advance or sarcastically taunts those who hold to this misplaced belief.
[5:19] 23 tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[5:19] 24 tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).
[5:20] 25 tn Heb “Will not the day of the Lord be.”
[1:15] 26 tn Heb “a day of wrath.” The word “God’s” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[2:19] 27 tn Or “in the heaven.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven” depending on the context. Here, in contrast to “the earth below,” a reference to the sky is more likely.
[2:19] 28 tn Here the context indicates the miraculous nature of the signs mentioned; this is made explicit in the translation.
[2:20] 29 tn Or “and wonderful.”
[2:21] 30 tn Grk “And it will be that.”
[2:21] 31 sn A quotation from Joel 2:28-32.
