Joel 3:5

3:5 For you took my silver and my gold

and brought my precious valuables to your own palaces. ¹ 

Joel 1:7

1:7 They ²  have destroyed our ³  vines; ⁴ 

they have turned our ⁵  fig trees into mere splinters.

They have completely stripped off the bark ⁶  and thrown them aside;

the ⁷  twigs are stripped bare. ⁸ 

Joel 2:29

2:29 Even on male and female servants

I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

Joel 3:2-3

3:2 Then I will gather all the nations,

and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. ⁹ 

I will enter into judgment ¹⁰  against them there

concerning my people Israel who are my inheritance, ¹¹ 

whom they scattered among the nations.

They partitioned my land,

3:3 and they cast lots for my people.

They traded ¹²  a boy for a prostitute;

they sold a little girl for wine so they could drink. ¹³ 

Joel 1:6

1:6 For a nation ¹⁴  has invaded ¹⁵  our ¹⁶  land.

There are so many of them they are too numerous to count. ¹⁷ 

Their teeth are like those ¹⁸  of a lion;

they tear apart their prey like a lioness. ¹⁹ 

Joel 2:27-28

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.

An Outpouring of the Spirit

2:28 (3:1) ²⁰  After all of this ²¹ 

I will pour out my Spirit ²²  on all kinds of people. ²³ 

Your sons and daughters will prophesy.

Your elderly will have revelatory dreams; ²⁴ 

your young men will see prophetic visions.

Joel 1:13

1:13 Get dressed ²⁵  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. ²⁶ 

Joel 2:1

The Locusts’ Devastation

2:1 Blow the trumpet ²⁷  in Zion;

sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear,

for the day of the Lord is about to come.

Indeed, ²⁸  it is near! ²⁹ 

Joel 3:17

The Lord’s Presence in Zion

3:17 You will be convinced ³⁰  that I the Lord am your God,

dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain.

Jerusalem ³¹  will be holy –

conquering armies ³²  will no longer pass through it.

Joel 2:25-26

2:25 I will make up for the years ³³ 

that the ‘arbeh-locust ³⁴  consumed your crops ³⁵  –

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

my great army ³⁶  that I sent against you.

2:26 You will have plenty to eat,

and your hunger will be fully satisfied; ³⁷ 

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 3:21

3:21 I will avenge ³⁸  their blood which I had not previously acquitted.

It is the Lord who dwells in Zion!

Joel 2:21

2:21 Do not fear, my land!

Rejoice and be glad,

because the Lord has accomplished great things!

Joel 1:19

1:19 To you, O Lord, I call out for help, ³⁹ 

for fire ⁴⁰  has burned up ⁴¹  the grassy pastures, ⁴² 

flames have razed ⁴³  all the trees in the fields.

[3:5]  ¹ tn Or perhaps, “temples.”

[1:7]  ² tn Heb “it.” Throughout vv. 6-7 the Hebrew uses singular forms to describe the locust swarm, but the translation uses plural forms because several details of the text make more sense in English as if they are describing the appearance and effects of individual locusts.

[1:7]  ³ tn Heb “my.”

[1:7]  ⁴ tn Both “vines” and “fig trees” are singular in the Hebrew text, but are regarded as collective singulars.

[1:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “my.”

[1:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “it has completely stripped her.”

[1:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “her.”

[1:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “grow white.”

[3:2]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will execute judgment.”

[3:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “concerning my people and my inheritance Israel.”

[3:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “gave.”

[3:3]  ⁵ sn Heb “and they drank.” Joel vividly refers to a situation where innocent human life has little value; its only worth is its use in somehow satisfying selfish appetites of wicked people who have control over others (cf. Amos 2:6 and 8:6).

[1:6]  ⁵ sn As becomes increasingly clear in what follows, this nation is to be understood figuratively. It refers to the locust invasion as viewed from the standpoint of its methodical, destructive advance across the land (BDB 156 s.v. גּוֹי 2). This term is used figuratively to refer to animals one other time (Zeph 2:14).

[1:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “has come up against.”

[1:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “my.”

[1:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “[It] is huge and there is not number.”

[1:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “its teeth are the teeth of a lion.”

[1:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “its incisors are those of a lioness.” The sharp, cutting teeth are metonymical for the action of tearing apart and eating prey. The language is clearly hyperbolic. Neither locusts nor human invaders literally have teeth of this size. The prophet is using exaggerated and picturesque language to portray in vivid terms the enormity of the calamity. English versions vary greatly on the specifics: KJV “cheek teeth”; ASV “jaw-teeth”; NAB “molars”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “fangs.”

[2:28]  ⁶ sn Beginning with 2:28, the verse numbers through 3:21 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 2:28 ET = 3:1 HT, 2:29 ET = 3:2 HT, 2:30 ET = 3:3 HT, 2:31 ET = 3:4 HT, 2:32 ET = 3:5 HT, 3:1 ET = 4:1 HT, etc., through 3:21 ET = 4:21 HT. Thus Joel in the Hebrew Bible has 4 chapters, the 5 verses of ch. 3 being included at the end of ch. 2 in the English Bible.

[2:28]  ⁷ tn Heb “Now it will be after this.”

[2:28]  ⁸ sn This passage plays a key role in the apostolic explanation of the coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2:17-21. Peter introduces his quotation of this passage with “this is that spoken by the prophet Joel” (Acts 2:16; cf. the similar pesher formula used at Qumran). The New Testament experience at Pentecost is thus seen in some sense as a fulfillment of this Old Testament passage, even though that experience did not exhaustively fulfill Joel’s words. Some portions of Joel’s prophecy have no precise counterpart in that experience. For example, there is nothing in the experience recorded in Acts 2 that exactly corresponds to the earthly and heavenly signs described in Joel 3:3-4. But inasmuch as the messianic age had already begun and the “last days” had already commenced with the coming of the Messiah (cf. Heb 1:1-2), Peter was able to point to Joel 3:1-5 as a text that was relevant to the advent of Jesus and the bestowal of the Spirit. The equative language that Peter employs (“this is that”) stresses an incipient fulfillment of the Joel passage without precluding or minimizing a yet future and more exhaustive fulfillment in events associated with the return of Christ.

[2:28]  ⁹ tn Heb “all flesh.” As a term for humanity, “flesh” suggests the weakness and fragility of human beings as opposed to God who is “spirit.” The word “all” refers not to all human beings without exception (cf. NAB, NASB “all mankind”; NLT “all people”), but to all classes of human beings without distinction (cf. NCV).

[2:28]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “your old men will dream dreams.”

[1:13]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “for grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God.”

[2:1]  ⁸ tn The word translated “trumpet” here (so most English versions) is the Hebrew שׁוֹפָר (shofar). The shophar was a wind instrument made from a cow or ram’s horn and used as a military instrument for calling people to attention in the face of danger or as a religious instrument for calling people to occasions of communal celebration.

[2:1]  ⁹ tn Or “for.”

[2:1]  ¹⁰ sn The interpretation of 2:1-11 is very difficult. Four views may be mentioned here. (1) Some commentators understand this section to be describing a human invasion of Judah on the part of an ancient army. The exact identity of this army (e.g., Assyrian or Babylonian) varies among interpreters depending upon issues of dating for the book of Joel. (2) Some commentators take the section to describe an eschatological scene in which the army according to some is human, or according to others is nonhuman (i.e., angelic). (3) Some interpreters argue for taking the section to refer to the potential advent in the fall season of a severe east wind (i.e., Sirocco) that would further exacerbate the conditions of the land described in chapter one. (4) Finally, some interpreters understand the section to continue the discussion of locust invasion and drought described in chapter one, partly on the basis that there is no clear exegetical evidence in 2:1-11 to suggest a shift of referent from that of chapter one.

[3:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “know.”

[3:17]  ¹⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “strangers” or “foreigners.” In context, this refers to invasions by conquering armies.

[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.

[2:26]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you will surely eat and be satisfied.”

[3:21]  ¹² tc The present translation follows the reading וְנִקַּמְתִּי (vÿniqqamti, “I will avenge”) rather than וְנִקֵּתִי (vÿniqqeti, “I will acquit”) of the MT.

[1:19]  ¹³ tn The phrase “for help” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:19]  ¹⁴ sn Fire here and in v. 20 is probably not to be understood in a literal sense. The locust plague, accompanied by conditions of extreme drought, has left the countryside looking as though everything has been burned up (so also in Joel 2:3).

[1:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “consumed.” This entire line is restated at the end of v. 20.

[1:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the pastures of the wilderness.”

[1:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a flame has set ablaze.” This fire was one of the effects of the drought.