Joel 1:2

A Locust Plague Foreshadows the Day of the Lord

1:2 Listen to this, you elders; ¹ 

pay attention, ²  all inhabitants of the land.

Has anything like this ever happened in your whole life ³ 

or in the lifetime ⁴  of your ancestors? ⁵ 

Joel 2:3

2:3 Like fire they devour everything in their path; ⁶ 

a flame blazes behind them.

The land looks like the Garden of Eden ⁷  before them,

but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness –

for nothing escapes them! ⁸ 

Joel 3:17

The Lord’s Presence in Zion

3:17 You will be convinced ⁹  that I the Lord am your God,

dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain.

Jerusalem ¹⁰  will be holy –

conquering armies ¹¹  will no longer pass through it.

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

[1:2]  ² tn Heb “give ear.”

[1:2]  ³ tn Heb “days.” The term “days” functions here as a synecdoche for one’s lifespan.

[1:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “days.”

[1:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “fathers.”

[2:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “a fire devours before it.”

[2:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “like the garden of Eden, the land is before them.”

[2:3]  ⁸ 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.

[3:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “know.”

[3:17]  ¹² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “strangers” or “foreigners.” In context, this refers to invasions by conquering armies.