Joel 1:4

1:4 What the gazam-locust left the ‘arbeh-locust consumed, ¹ 

what the ‘arbeh-locust left the yeleq-locust consumed,

and what the yeleq-locust left the hasil-locust consumed! ² 

Joel 2:5

2:5 They sound like ³  chariots rumbling ⁴  over mountain tops,

like the crackling ⁵  of blazing fire consuming stubble,

like the noise of ⁶  a mighty army ⁷  being drawn up for battle. ⁸ 

Joel 1:20

1:20 Even the wild animals ⁹  cry out to you; ¹⁰ 

for the river beds ¹¹  have dried up;

fire has destroyed ¹²  the grassy pastures. ¹³ 

Joel 2:25

2:25 I will make up for the years ¹⁴ 

that the ‘arbeh-locust ¹⁵  consumed your crops ¹⁶  –

the yeleq-locust, the hasil-locust, and the gazam-locust –

my great army ¹⁷  that I sent against you.

Joel 1:19

1:19 To you, O Lord, I call out for help, ¹⁸ 

for fire ¹⁹  has burned up ²⁰  the grassy pastures, ²¹ 

flames have razed ²²  all the trees in the fields.

Joel 2:3

2:3 Like fire they devour everything in their path; ²³ 

a flame blazes behind them.

The land looks like the Garden of Eden ²⁴  before them,

but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness –

for nothing escapes them! ²⁵ 

[1:4]  ¹ tn Heb “eaten.” This verb is repeated three times in v. 4 to emphasize the total devastation of the crops by this locust invasion.

[1:4]  ² tn The four Hebrew terms used in this verse are of uncertain meaning. English translations show a great deal of variation in dealing with these: (1) For ָגּזָם (gazam) KJV has “palmerworm,” NEB “locust,” NAB “cutter”, NASB “gnawing locust,” NIV “locust swarm,” NKJV “chewing locust,” NRSV, NLT “cutting locust(s),” NIrV “giant locusts”; (2) for אַרְבֶּה (’arbeh) KJV has “locust,” NEB “swarm,” NAB “locust swarm,” NASB, NKJV, NRSV, NLT “swarming locust(s),” NIV “great locusts,” NIrV “common locusts”; (3) for יֶלֶק (yeleq) KJV has “cankerworm,” NEB “hopper,” NAB “grasshopper,” NASB “creeping locust,” NIV, NIrV “young locusts,” NKJV “crawling locust,” NRSV, NLT “hopping locust(s)”; (4) for חָסִיל (khasil) KJV has “caterpillar,” NEB “grub,” NAB “devourer,” NASB, NLT “stripping locust(s),” NIV, NIrV “other locusts,” NKJV “consuming locust,” NRSV “destroying locust.” It is debated whether the Hebrew terms describe different species of locusts or similar insects or different developmental stages of the same species, or are virtual synonyms. While the last seems more likely, given the uncertainty over their exact meaning, the present translation has transliterated the Hebrew terms in combination with the word “locust.”

[2:5]  ³ tn Heb “like the sound of.”

[2:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “jostling” or “leaping.” There is question whether this pictures chariots rumbling over the mountains (e.g., 2 Sam 6:14,16; 1 Chr 15:29; Nah 3:2) or the locusts flying – or “leaping” – over the mountains (e.g., Job 21:11); see BDB 955 s.v. רָקַד.

[2:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “sound.”

[2:5]  ⁶ tn The phrase “the noise of” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is implied by the parallelism, so it has been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[2:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “people.”

[2:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “being arrayed of battle.”

[1:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “beasts of the field.”

[1:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “long for you.” Animals of course do not have religious sensibilities as such; they do not in any literal sense long for Yahweh. Rather, the language here is figurative (metonymy of cause for effect). The animals long for food and water (so BDB 788 s.v. עָרַג), the ultimate source of which is Yahweh.

[1:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “sources of water.”

[1:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “consumed.”

[1:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “the pastures of the wilderness.”

[2:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “I will restore to you the years.”

[2:25]  ⁸ sn The same four terms for locust are used here as in 1:4, but in a different order. This fact creates some difficulty for the notion that the four words refer to four distinct stages of locust development.

[2:25]  ⁹ tn The term “your crops” does not appear in the Hebrew, but has been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[2:25]  ¹⁰ sn Here Joel employs military language to describe the locusts. In the prophet’s thinking this invasion was far from being a freak accident. Rather, the Lord is pictured here as a divine warrior who leads his army into the land as a punishment for past sin and as a means of bringing about spiritual renewal on the part of the people.

[1:19]  ⁹ tn The phrase “for help” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:19]  ¹⁰ sn Fire here and in v. 20 is probably not to be understood in a literal sense. The locust plague, accompanied by conditions of extreme drought, has left the countryside looking as though everything has been burned up (so also in Joel 2:3).

[1:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “consumed.” This entire line is restated at the end of v. 20.

[1:19]  ¹² tn Heb “the pastures of the wilderness.”

[1:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “a flame has set ablaze.” This fire was one of the effects of the drought.

[2:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a fire devours before it.”

[2:3]  ¹² tn Heb “like the garden of Eden, the land is before them.”

[2:3]  ¹³ 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.