Joel 2:26

2:26 You will have plenty to eat,

and your hunger will be fully satisfied; ¹ 

you will praise the name of the Lord your God,

who has acted wondrously in your behalf.

My people will never again be put to shame.

Joel 2:32

2:32 It will so happen that

everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered. ² 

For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem ³  there will be those who survive, ⁴ 

just as the Lord has promised;

the remnant ⁵  will be those whom the Lord will call. ⁶ 

Joel 2:17

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

from the vestibule all the way back to the altar. ⁷ 

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

please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked,

to become a proverb ⁸  among the nations.

Why should it be said ⁹  among the peoples,

“Where is their God?”

[2:26]  ¹ tn Heb “you will surely eat and be satisfied.”

[2:32]  ² 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]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:32]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “and among the remnant.”

[2:32]  ⁶ tn The participle used in the Hebrew text seems to indicate action in the imminent future.

[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?”