Joel 2:8

2:8 They do not jostle one another; ¹ 

each of them marches straight ahead. ² 

They burst through ³  the city defenses ⁴ 

and do not break ranks.

Joel 3:11

3:11 Lend your aid ⁵  and come,

all you surrounding nations,

and gather yourselves ⁶  to that place.”

Bring down, O Lord, your warriors! ⁷ 

Joel 2:7

2:7 They ⁸  charge ⁹  like warriors;

they scale walls like soldiers. ¹⁰ 

Each one proceeds on his course;

they do not alter ¹¹  their path.

Joel 3:20

3:20 But Judah will reside securely forever,

and Jerusalem will be secure ¹²  from one generation to the next.

Joel 2:20

2:20 I will remove the one from the north ¹³  far from you.

I will drive him out to a dry and desolate place.

Those in front will be driven eastward into the Dead Sea, ¹⁴ 

and those in back westward into the Mediterranean Sea. ¹⁵ 

His stench will rise up as a foul smell.” ¹⁶ 

Indeed, the Lord ¹⁷  has accomplished great things.

Joel 1:9

1:9 No one brings grain offerings or drink offerings

to the temple ¹⁸  of the Lord anymore. ¹⁹ 

So the priests, those who serve the Lord, are in mourning.

Joel 1:13

1:13 Get dressed ²⁰  and lament, you priests!

Wail, you who minister at the altar!

Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you servants of my God,

because no one brings grain offerings or drink offerings

to the temple of your God anymore. ²¹ 

Joel 2:3

2:3 Like fire they devour everything in their path; ²² 

a flame blazes behind them.

The land looks like the Garden of Eden ²³  before them,

but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness –

for nothing escapes them! ²⁴ 

Joel 2:11

2:11 The voice of the Lord thunders ²⁵  as he leads his army. ²⁶ 

Indeed, his warriors ²⁷  are innumerable; ²⁸ 

Surely his command is carried out! ²⁹ 

Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome ³⁰ 

and very terrifying – who can survive ³¹  it?

[2:8]  ¹ tn “each one does not crowd his brother.”

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

[2:8]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[3:11]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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.

[2:7]  ⁹ sn Since the invaders are compared to warriors, this suggests that they are not actually human, but instead an army of locusts.

[2:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “run.”

[2:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “men of battle.”

[2:7]  ¹² 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.

[3:20]  ¹³ tn The phrase “will be secure” does not appear in the Hebrew, but are supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[2:20]  ¹⁷ sn The allusion to the one from the north is best understood as having locusts in view. It is not correct to say that this reference to the enemy who came form the north excludes the possibility of a reference to locusts and must be understood as human armies. Although locust plagues usually approached Palestine from the east or southeast, the severe plague of 1915, for example, came from the northeast.

[2:20]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “his face to the eastern sea.” In this context the eastern sea is probably the Dead Sea.

[2:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and his rear to the western sea.” The western sea refers to the Mediterranean Sea.

[2:20]  ²⁰ sn Heb “and his foul smell will ascend.” The foul smell probably refers to the unpleasant odor of decayed masses of dead locusts. The Hebrew word for “foul smell” is found only here in the Old Testament. The Hebrew word for “stench” appears only here and in Isa 34:3 and Amos 4:10. In the latter references it refers to the stench of dead corpses on a field of battle.

[2:20]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew text does not have “the Lord.” Two interpretations are possible. This clause may refer to the enemy described in the immediately preceding verses, in which case it would have a negative sense: “he has acted in a high-handed manner.” Or it may refer to the Lord, in which case it would have a positive sense: “the Lord has acted in a marvelous manner.” This is clearly the sense of the same expression in v. 21, where in fact “the Lord” appears as the subject of the verb. It seems best to understand the clause the same way in both verses.

[1:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “house.” So also in vv. 13, 14, 16.

[1:9]  ²² tn Heb “grain offering and drink offering are cut off from the house of the Lord,”

[1:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “put on.” There is no object present in the Hebrew text, but many translations assume “sackcloth” to be the understood object of the verb “put on.” Its absence in the Hebrew text of v. 13 is probably due to metrical considerations. The meter here is 3 + 3, and that has probably influenced the prophet’s choice of words.

[1:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “for grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God.”

[2:3]  ²⁹ tn Heb “a fire devours before it.”

[2:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “like the garden of Eden, the land is before them.”

[2:3]  ³¹ 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.

[2:11]  ³³ tn Heb “the Lord gives his voice.”

[2:11]  ³⁴ tn Heb “before his army.”

[2:11]  ³⁵ tn Heb “military encampment.”

[2:11]  ³⁶ tn Heb “very large.”

[2:11]  ³⁷ tn Heb “he makes his word powerful.”

[2:11]  ³⁸ tn Or “powerful.” Heb “great.”

[2:11]  ³⁹ tn Heb “endure.” The MT and LXX read “endure,” while one of the Qumran manuscripts (4QXXII^c) has “bear.”