Joel 1:18

1:18 Listen to the cattle groan! ¹ 

The herds of livestock wander around in confusion ² 

because they have no pasture.

Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.

Joel 2:17

2:17 Let the priests, those who serve the Lord, weep

from the vestibule all the way back to the altar. ³ 

Let them say, “Have pity, O Lord, on your people;

please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked,

to become a proverb ⁴  among the nations.

Why should it be said ⁵  among the peoples,

“Where is their God?”

Joel 3:4

3:4 Why are you doing these things to me, Tyre and Sidon? ⁶ 

Are you trying to get even with me, land of Philistia? ⁷ 

I will very quickly repay you for what you have done! ⁸ 

[1:18]  ¹ tn Heb “how the cattle groan!”

[1:18]  ² tn Heb “the herds of cattle are confused.” The verb בּוּךְ (bukh, “be confused”) sometimes refers to wandering aimlessly in confusion (cf. Exod 14:3).

[2:17]  ³ 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.

[2:17]  ⁴ 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]).

[2:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “Why will they say?”

[3:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “What [are] you [doing] to me, O Tyre and Sidon?”

[3:4]  ⁶ tn Or “districts.”

[3:4]  ⁷ 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.