Joel 1:15

1:15 How awful that day will be! ¹ 

For the day of the Lord is near;

it will come as destruction from the Divine Destroyer. ² 

Joel 1:2

A Locust Plague Foreshadows the Day of the Lord

1:2 Listen to this, you elders; ³ 

pay attention, ⁴  all inhabitants of the land.

Has anything like this ever happened in your whole life ⁵ 

or in the lifetime ⁶  of your ancestors? ⁷ 

Joel 2:31

2:31 The sunlight will be turned to darkness

and the moon to the color of blood, ⁸ 

before the day of the Lord comes –

that great and terrible day!

Joel 2:29

2:29 Even on male and female servants

I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

Joel 3:14

3:14 Crowds, great crowds are in the valley of decision,

for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision! ⁹ 

Joel 3:1

The Lord Plans to Judge the Nations

3:1 (4:1) ¹⁰  For look! In those ¹¹  days and at that time

I will return the exiles ¹²  to Judah and Jerusalem. ¹³ 

Joel 2:2

2:2 It will be ¹⁴  a day of dreadful darkness, ¹⁵ 

a day of foreboding storm clouds, ¹⁶ 

like blackness ¹⁷  spread over the mountains.

It is a huge and powerful army ¹⁸  –

there has never been anything like it ever before,

and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come! ¹⁹ 

Joel 2:1

The Locusts’ Devastation

2:1 Blow the trumpet ²⁰  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.

Indeed, ²¹  it is near! ²² 

Joel 2:11

2:11 The voice of the Lord thunders ²³  as he leads his army. ²⁴ 

Indeed, his warriors ²⁵  are innumerable; ²⁶ 

Surely his command is carried out! ²⁷ 

Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome ²⁸ 

and very terrifying – who can survive ²⁹  it?

Joel 3:18

3:18 On that day ³⁰  the mountains will drip with sweet wine, ³¹ 

and the hills will flow with milk. ³² 

All the dry stream beds ³³  of Judah will flow with water.

A spring will flow out from the temple ³⁴  of the Lord,

watering the Valley of Acacia Trees. ³⁵ 

Joel 2:15

2:15 Blow the trumpet ³⁶  in Zion.

Announce a holy fast;

proclaim a sacred assembly!

Joel 1:14

1:14 Announce a holy fast; ³⁷ 

proclaim a sacred assembly.

Gather the elders and ³⁸  all the inhabitants of the land

to the temple of the Lord your God,

and cry out to the Lord.

Joel 2:20

2:20 I will remove the one from the north ³⁹  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, ⁴⁰ 

and those in back westward into the Mediterranean Sea. ⁴¹ 

His stench will rise up as a foul smell.” ⁴² 

Indeed, the Lord ⁴³  has accomplished great things.

[1:15]  ¹ tn Heb “Alas for the day!”

[1:15]  ² tn There is a wordplay in Hebrew here with the word used for “destruction” (שׁוֹד, shod) and the term used for God (שַׁדַּי, shadday). The exact meaning of “Shaddai” in the OT is somewhat uncertain, although the ancient versions and many modern English versions tend to translate it as “Almighty” (e.g., Greek παντοκράτωρ [pantokratwr], Latin omnipotens). Here it might be rendered “Destroyer,” with the thought being that “destruction will come from the Divine Destroyer,” which should not be misunderstood as a reference to the destroying angel. The name “Shaddai” (outside Genesis and without the element “El” [“God”]) is normally used when God is viewed as the sovereign king who blesses/protects or curses/brings judgment. The name appears in the introduction to two of Balaam’s oracles (Num 24:4, 16) of blessing upon Israel. Naomi employs the name when accusing the Lord of treating her bitterly by taking the lives of her husband and sons (Ruth 1:20-21). In Ps 68:14, Isa 13:6, and the present passage, Shaddai judges his enemies through warfare, while Ps 91:1 depicts him as the protector of his people. In Ezek 1:24 and 10:5 the sound of the cherubs’ wings is compared to Shaddai’s powerful voice. The reference may be to the mighty divine warrior’s battle cry which accompanies his angry judgment.

[1:2]  ³ sn Elders here refers not necessarily to men advanced in years, but to leaders within the community.

[1:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “give ear.”

[1:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “days.” The term “days” functions here as a synecdoche for one’s lifespan.

[1:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “days.”

[1:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “fathers.”

[2:31]  ⁵ tn 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 color suggests a visual impression here – something that could be caused by fires, volcanic dust, sandstorms, or other atmospheric phenomena.

[3:14]  ⁷ sn The decision referred to here is not a response on the part of the crowd, but the verdict handed out by the divine judge.

[3:1]  ⁹ sn Joel 3:1 in the English Bible is 4:1 in the Hebrew text (BHS). See also the note at 2:28.

[3:1]  ¹⁰ tc The MT and LXX read “in those days,” while MurXII reads “in that day.”

[3:1]  ¹¹ 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.

[3:1]  ¹² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:2]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Heb “a day of cloud and darkness.”

[2:2]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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 b.c.) or in an eschatological setting. More probably, however, the language of this chapter referring to “people” and “armies” is a hypocatastic description of the locusts of chapter one. Cf. TEV “The great army of locusts advances like darkness.”

[2:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “it will not be repeated for years of generation and generation.”

[2:1]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Or “for.”

[2:1]  ¹⁵ 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.

[2:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the Lord gives his voice.”

[2:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “before his army.”

[2:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “military encampment.”

[2:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “very large.”

[2:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “he makes his word powerful.”

[2:11]  ²⁰ tn Or “powerful.” Heb “great.”

[2:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “endure.” The MT and LXX read “endure,” while one of the Qumran manuscripts (4QXXII^c) has “bear.”

[3:18]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and it will come about in that day.”

[3:18]  ¹⁸ tn Many English translations read “new wine” or “sweet wine,” meaning unfermented wine, i.e., grape juice.

[3:18]  ¹⁹ sn The language used here is a hyperbolic way of describing both a bountiful grape harvest (“the mountains will drip with juice”) and an abundance of cattle (“the hills will flow with milk”). In addition to being hyperbolic, the language is also metonymical (effect for cause).

[3:18]  ²⁰ tn Or “seasonal streams.”

[3:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “house.”

[3:18]  ²² tn Heb “valley of Shittim.” The exact location of the Valley of Acacia Trees is uncertain. The Hebrew word שִׁטִּים (shittim) refers to a place where the acacia trees grow, which would be a very arid and dry place. The acacia tree can survive in such locations, whereas most other trees require more advantageous conditions. Joel’s point is that the stream that has been mentioned will proceed to the most dry and barren of locations in the vicinity of Jerusalem.

[2:15]  ¹⁹ tn See the note on this term in 2:1.

[1:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “consecrate a fast” (so NASB).

[1:14]  ²² tc The conjunction “and” does not appear in MT or LXX, but does appear in some Qumran texts (4QXII^c and 4QXII^g).

[2:20]  ²³ 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.

[2:20]  ²⁴ tn Heb “his face to the eastern sea.” In this context the eastern sea is probably the Dead Sea.

[2:20]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and his rear to the western sea.” The western sea refers to the Mediterranean Sea.

[2:20]  ²⁶ 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.

[2:20]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew text does not have “the Lord.” Two interpretations are possible. This clause may refer to the enemy described in the immediately preceding verses, in which case it would have a negative sense: “he has acted in a high-handed manner.” Or it may refer to the Lord, in which case it would have a positive sense: “the Lord has acted in a marvelous manner.” This is clearly the sense of the same expression in v. 21, where in fact “the Lord” appears as the subject of the verb. It seems best to understand the clause the same way in both verses.