Joel 2:6-11

2:6 People ¹  writhe in fear when they see them. ² 

All of their faces turn pale with fright. ³ 

2:7 They ⁴  charge ⁵  like warriors;

they scale walls like soldiers. ⁶ 

Each one proceeds on his course;

they do not alter ⁷  their path.

2:8 They do not jostle one another; ⁸ 

each of them marches straight ahead. ⁹ 

They burst through ¹⁰  the city defenses ¹¹ 

and do not break ranks.

2:9 They rush into ¹²  the city;

they scale ¹³  its walls.

They climb up into the houses;

they go in through the windows like a thief.

2:10 The earth quakes ¹⁴  before them; ¹⁵ 

the sky reverberates. ¹⁶ 

The sun and the moon grow dark;

the stars refuse to shine. ¹⁷ 

2:11 The voice of the Lord thunders ¹⁸  as he leads his army. ¹⁹ 

Indeed, his warriors ²⁰  are innumerable; ²¹ 

Surely his command is carried out! ²² 

Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome ²³ 

and very terrifying – who can survive ²⁴  it?

[2:6]  ¹ tn Or “nations.”

[2:6]  ² tn Heb “before it.”

[2:6]  ³ tn Heb “all faces gather beauty”; or “all faces gather a glow.” The Hebrew word פָּארוּר (pa’rur) is found in the OT only here and in Nah 2:11. Its meaning is very uncertain. Some scholars associate it with a root that signifies “glowing”; hence “all faces gather a glow of dread.” Others associate the word with פָּרוּר (parur, “pot”); hence “all faces gather blackness.” Still others take the root to signify “beauty”; hence “all faces gather in their beauty” in the sense of growing pale due to fear. This is the view assumed here.

[2:7]  ⁴ sn Since the invaders are compared to warriors, this suggests that they are not actually human, but instead an army of locusts.

[2:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “run.”

[2:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “men of battle.”

[2:7]  ⁷ tc The translation reads יְעַבְּתוּן (yÿ’abbÿtun) for MT יְעַבְּטוּן (yÿ’abbÿtun). The verb found in MT (עָבַט, ’avat) means “take or give a pledge” (cf. Deut 15:6, 8; 24:10) and does not fit the context. Some scholars have proposed various emendations: (1) יְעָוְּתוּן (yÿ’avvÿtun, “they make crooked”); (2) יָטּוּן (yattun, “they turn aside”); (3) יָעַוּוּן (ya’avvun, “they err”); and (4) יְעָבְּתוּן (adopted in the present translation) from the root I עָבַת (’avat, “to twist, pervert”) or II עָבַת (’avat, “to change, abandon”). KBL adopt the latter option, but the only biblical evidence for this is the problematic reference in Joel 2:7. Another option is to view it as a variant of the root חבט (khavat, “turn aside from”), a meaning attested for the Arabic cognate. The difference in spelling would be due to the interchange of the guttural letters khet (ח) and ayin (ע). This may lay behind LXX rendering ἐκκλίνωσιν (ekklinwsin; cf. Syriac Peshitta nstwn and Vg declinabunt). See S. F. Whitley, “‘bt in Joel 2, 7,” Bib 65 (1984): 101-2.

[2:8]  ⁷ tn “each one does not crowd his brother.”

[2:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “each warrior walks in his own course.”

[2:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “they fall upon.” This line has been interpreted in two different ways: (1) although they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded (KJV), or (2) when they “burst through” the city’s defenses, they will not break ranks (RSV, NASB, NIV, NIrV).

[2:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “missile” or “javelin.” This term appears to function as a synecdoche for the city’s defenses as a whole (cf. NASB, NIV, TEV). Some scholars instead understand the reference to be an aqueduct by which the locusts (or armies) entered the city.

[2:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “dart about in.”

[2:9]  ¹¹ tn Or “they run upon its wall.”

[2:10]  ¹³ sn Witnesses of locust invasions have described the visual effect of large numbers of these creatures crawling over one another on the ground. At such times the ground is said to appear to be in motion, creating a dizzying effect on some observers. The reference in v. 10 to the darkening of the sun and moon probably has to do with the obscuring of visibility due to large numbers of locusts swarming in the sky.

[2:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “before it.”

[2:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “trembles.”

[2:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “gather their brightness.”

[2:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the Lord gives his voice.”

[2:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “before his army.”

[2:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “military encampment.”

[2:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “very large.”

[2:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he makes his word powerful.”

[2:11]  ²¹ tn Or “powerful.” Heb “great.”

[2:11]  ²² tn Heb “endure.” The MT and LXX read “endure,” while one of the Qumran manuscripts (4QXXII^c) has “bear.”