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 3:21

3:21 I will avenge ⁵  their blood which I had not previously acquitted.

It is the Lord who dwells in Zion!

Joel 1:16

1:16 Our food has been cut off right before our eyes! ⁶ 

There is no longer any joy or gladness in the temple of our God! 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 2:2-3

2:2 It will be ¹²  a day of dreadful darkness, ¹³ 

a day of foreboding storm clouds, ¹⁴ 

like blackness ¹⁵  spread over the mountains.

It is a huge and powerful army ¹⁶  –

there has never been anything like it ever before,

and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come! ¹⁷ 

2:3 Like fire they devour everything in their path; ¹⁸ 

a flame blazes behind them.

The land looks like the Garden of Eden ¹⁹  before them,

but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness –

for nothing escapes them! ²⁰ 

Joel 2:26-27

2:26 You will have plenty to eat,

and your hunger will be fully satisfied; ²¹ 

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.

2:27 You will be convinced that I am in the midst of Israel.

I am the Lord your God; there is no other.

My people will never again be put to shame.

Joel 3:17

The Lord’s Presence in Zion

3:17 You will be convinced ²²  that I the Lord am your God,

dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain.

Jerusalem ²³  will be holy –

conquering armies ²⁴  will no longer pass through it.

Joel 2:19

2:19 The Lord responded ²⁵  to his people,

“Look! I am about to restore your grain ²⁶ 

as well as fresh wine and olive oil.

You will be fully satisfied. ²⁷ 

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

[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.

[3:21]  ⁵ tc The present translation follows the reading וְנִקַּמְתִּי (vÿniqqamti, “I will avenge”) rather than וְנִקֵּתִי (vÿniqqeti, “I will acquit”) of the MT.

[1:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “Has not the food been cut off right before our eyes?” This rhetorical question expects an affirmative answer; the question has been translated as an affirmation for the sake of clarity and emphasis.

[1:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “joy and gladness from the house of our God?” Verse 16b is a continuation of the rhetorical question begun in v. 16a, but has been translated as an affirmative statement to make the meaning clear. The words “There is no longer any” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:7]  ¹³ sn Since the invaders are compared to warriors, this suggests that they are not actually human, but instead an army of locusts.

[2:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “run.”

[2:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “men of battle.”

[2:7]  ¹⁶ 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.

[2:2]  ¹⁷ tn The phrase “It will be” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style.

[2:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “darkness and gloom.” These two terms probably form a hendiadys here. This picture recalls the imagery of the supernatural darkness in Egypt during the judgments of the exodus (Exod 10:22). These terms are also frequently used as figures (metonymy of association) for calamity and divine judgment (Isa 8:22; 59:9; Jer 23:12; Zeph 1:15). Darkness is often a figure (metonymy of association) for death, dread, distress and judgment (BDB 365 s.v. חשֶׁךְ 3).

[2:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “a day of cloud and darkness.”

[2:2]  ²⁰ tc The present translation here follows the proposed reading שְׁחֹר (shÿkhor, “blackness”) rather than the MT שַׁחַר (shakhar, “morning”). The change affects only the vocalization; the Hebrew consonants remain unchanged. Here the context calls for a word describing darkness. The idea of morning or dawn speaks instead of approaching light, which does not seem to fit here. The other words in the verse (e.g., “darkness,” “gloominess,” “cloud,” “heavy overcast”) all emphasize the negative aspects of the matter at hand and lead the reader to expect a word like “blackness” rather than “dawn.” However, NIrV paraphrases the MT nicely: “A huge army of locusts is coming. They will spread across the mountains like the sun when it rises.”

[2:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “A huge and powerful people”; KJV, ASV “a great people and a strong.” Many interpreters understand Joel 2 to describe an invasion of human armies, either in past history (e.g., the Babylonian invasion of Palestine in the sixth century b.c.) or in an eschatological setting. More probably, however, the language of this chapter referring to “people” and “armies” is a hypocatastic description of the locusts of chapter one. Cf. TEV “The great army of locusts advances like darkness.”

[2:2]  ²² tn Heb “it will not be repeated for years of generation and generation.”

[2:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “a fire devours before it.”

[2:3]  ²² tn Heb “like the garden of Eden, the land is before them.”

[2:3]  ²³ 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.

[2:26]  ²⁵ tn Heb “you will surely eat and be satisfied.”

[3:17]  ²⁹ tn Heb “know.”

[3:17]  ³⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:17]  ³¹ tn Heb “strangers” or “foreigners.” In context, this refers to invasions by conquering armies.

[2:19]  ³³ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[2:19]  ³⁴ tn Heb “Look! I am sending grain to you.” The participle used in the Hebrew text seems to suggest imminent action.

[2:19]  ³⁵ 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).