Joel 2:19

2:19 The Lord responded ¹  to his people,

“Look! I am about to restore your grain ² 

as well as fresh wine and olive oil.

You will be fully satisfied. ³ 

I will never again make you an object of mockery among the nations.

Joel 1:8

A Call to Lament

1:8 Wail ⁴  like a young virgin ⁵  clothed in sackcloth,

lamenting the death of ⁶  her husband-to-be. ⁷ 

Joel 2:17

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

from the vestibule all the way back to the altar. ⁸ 

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

please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked,

to become a proverb ⁹  among the nations.

Why should it be said ¹⁰  among the peoples,

“Where is their God?”

Joel 2:25

2:25 I will make up for the years ¹¹ 

that the ‘arbeh-locust ¹²  consumed your crops ¹³  –

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

my great army ¹⁴  that I sent against you.

Joel 3:9

Judgment in the Valley of Jehoshaphat

3:9 Proclaim this among the nations:

“Prepare for a holy war!

Call out the warriors!

Let all these fighting men approach and attack! ¹⁵ 

Joel 3:11

3:11 Lend your aid ¹⁶  and come,

all you surrounding nations,

and gather yourselves ¹⁷  to that place.”

Bring down, O Lord, your warriors! ¹⁸ 

Joel 3:21

3:21 I will avenge ¹⁹  their blood which I had not previously acquitted.

It is the Lord who dwells in Zion!

Joel 2:9

2:9 They rush into ²⁰  the city;

they scale ²¹  its walls.

They climb up into the houses;

they go in through the windows like a thief.

Joel 1:4

1:4 What the gazam-locust left the ‘arbeh-locust consumed, ²² 

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

and what the yeleq-locust left the hasil-locust consumed! ²³ 

Joel 2:16

2:16 Gather the people;

sanctify an assembly!

Gather the elders;

gather the children and the nursing infants.

Let the bridegroom come out from his bedroom

and the bride from her private quarters. ²⁴ 

Joel 2:23

2:23 Citizens of Zion, ²⁵  rejoice!

Be glad because of what the Lord your God has done! ²⁶ 

For he has given to you the early rains ²⁷  as vindication.

He has sent ²⁸  to you the rains –

both the early and the late rains ²⁹  as formerly.

Joel 2:32

2:32 It will so happen that

everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered. ³⁰ 

For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem ³¹  there will be those who survive, ³² 

just as the Lord has promised;

the remnant ³³  will be those whom the Lord will call. ³⁴ 

Joel 3:2

3:2 Then I will gather all the nations,

and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. ³⁵ 

I will enter into judgment ³⁶  against them there

concerning my people Israel who are my inheritance, ³⁷ 

whom they scattered among the nations.

They partitioned my land,

[2:19]  ¹ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[2:19]  ² tn Heb “Look! I am sending grain to you.” The participle used in the Hebrew text seems to suggest imminent action.

[2:19]  ³ tc One of the Qumran manuscripts (4QXXII^c) inserts “and you will eat” before “and you will be fully satisfied” (the reading of the MT, LXX).

[1:8]  ⁴ sn The verb is feminine singular, raising a question concerning its intended antecedent. A plural verb would be expected here, the idea being that all the inhabitants of the land should grieve. Perhaps Joel is thinking specifically of the city of Jerusalem, albeit in a representative sense. The choice of the feminine singular verb form has probably been influenced to some extent by the allusion to the young widow in the simile of v. 8.

[1:8]  ⁵ tn Or “a young woman” (TEV, CEV). See the note on the phrase “husband-to-be” in the next line.

[1:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “over the death of.” The term “lamenting” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[1:8]  ⁷ sn Heb “the husband of her youth.” The woman described here may already be married, so the reference is to the death of a husband rather than a fiancé (a husband-to-be). Either way, the simile describes a painful and unexpected loss to which the national tragedy Joel is describing may be compared.

[2:17]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “Why will they say?”

[2:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I will restore to you the years.”

[2:25]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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.

[3:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “draw near and go up.”

[3:11]  ¹⁶ tn This Hebrew verb is found only here in the OT; its meaning is uncertain. Some scholars prefer to read here עוּרוּ (’uru, “arouse”) or חוּשׁוּ (khushu, “hasten”).

[3:11]  ¹⁷ tc The present translation follows the reading of the imperative הִקָּבְצוּ (hiqqavÿtsu) rather than the perfect with vav (ו) consecutive וְנִקְבָּצוּ (vÿniqbbatsu) of the MT.

[3:11]  ¹⁸ tc Some commentators prefer to delete the line “Bring down, O Lord, your warriors,” understanding it to be a later addition. But this is unnecessary. Contrary to what some have suggested, a prayer for the Lord’s intervention is not out of place here.

[3:21]  ¹⁹ tc The present translation follows the reading וְנִקַּמְתִּי (vÿniqqamti, “I will avenge”) rather than וְנִקֵּתִי (vÿniqqeti, “I will acquit”) of the MT.

[2:9]  ²² tn Heb “dart about in.”

[2:9]  ²³ tn Or “they run upon its wall.”

[1:4]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ 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.”

[2:16]  ²⁸ sn Mosaic law allowed men recently married, or about to be married, to be exempt for a year from certain duties that were normally mandatory, such as military obligation (cf. Deut 20:7; 24:5). However, Joel pictures a time of such urgency that normal expectations must give way to higher requirements.

[2:23]  ³¹ tn Heb “sons of Zion.”

[2:23]  ³² tn Heb “be glad in the Lord your God.”

[2:23]  ³³ tn Normally the Hebrew word הַמּוֹרֶה (hammoreh) means “the teacher,” but here and in Ps 84:7 it refers to “early rains.” Elsewhere the word for “early rains” is יוֹרֶה (yoreh). The phrase here הַמּוֹרֶה לִצְדָקָה (hammoreh litsdaqah) is similar to the expression “teacher of righteousness” (Heb., מוֹרֶה הַצֶּדֶק , moreh hatsedeq) found in the Dead Sea Scrolls referring to a particular charismatic leader, although the Qumran community seems not to have invoked this text in support of that notion.

[2:23]  ³⁴ tn Heb “caused to come down.”

[2:23]  ³⁵ sn For half the year Palestine is generally dry. The rainy season begins with the early rains usually in late October to early December, followed by the latter rains in March and April. Without these rains productive farming would not be possible, as Joel’s original readers knew only too well.

[2:32]  ³⁴ tn While a number of English versions render this as “saved” (e.g., NIV, NRSV, NLT), this can suggest a “spiritual” or “theological” salvation rather than the physical deliverance from the cataclysmic events of the day of the Lord described in the context.

[2:32]  ³⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:32]  ³⁶ tn Heb “deliverance”; or “escape.” The abstract noun “deliverance” or “escape” probably functions here as an example of antimeria, referring to those who experience deliverance or escape with their lives: “escaped remnant” or “surviving remnant” (Gen 32:8; 45:7; Judg 21:17; 2 Kgs 19:30, 31; Isa 4:2; 10:20; 15:9; 37:31, 32; Ezek 14:22; Obad 1:17; Ezra 9:8, 13-15; Neh 1:2; 1 Chr 4:43; 2 Chr 30:6).

[2:32]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and among the remnant.”

[2:32]  ³⁸ tn The participle used in the Hebrew text seems to indicate action in the imminent future.

[3:2]  ³⁷ sn There is a play on words here. Jehoshaphat in Hebrew means “the Lord has judged,” and the next line in v. 2 further explicates this thought. The location of this valley is uncertain (cf. v. 12). Many interpreters have understood the Valley of Jehoshaphat to be the Kidron Valley, located on the east side of old Jerusalem. Since this is described as a scene of future messianic activity and judgment, many Jews and Muslims have desired to be buried in the vicinity, a fact attested to in modern times by the presence of many graves in the area. A variation of this view is mentioned by Eusebius, Onomasticon 1:10. According to this view, the Valley of Jehoshaphat is located in the Hinnom Valley, on the south side of the old city. Yet another view is held by many modern scholars, who understand the reference to this valley to be one of an idealized and nonliteral scene of judgment.

[3:2]  ³⁸ tn Heb “I will execute judgment.”

[3:2]  ³⁹ tn Heb “concerning my people and my inheritance Israel.”