Yoel 1:13

1:13 Get dressed ¹  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. ² 

Yoel 2:11

2:11 The voice of the Lord thunders ³  as he leads his army. ⁴ 

Indeed, his warriors ⁵  are innumerable; ⁶ 

Surely his command is carried out! ⁷ 

Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome ⁸ 

and very terrifying – who can survive ⁹  it?

Yoel 2:17

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

from the vestibule all the way back to the altar. ¹⁰ 

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

please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked,

to become a proverb ¹¹  among the nations.

Why should it be said ¹²  among the peoples,

“Where is their God?”

Yoel 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.

Yoel 3:2

3:2 Then I will gather all the nations,

and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. ¹⁸ 

I will enter into judgment ¹⁹  against them there

concerning my people Israel who are my inheritance, ²⁰ 

whom they scattered among the nations.

They partitioned my land,

Yoel 3:17

The Lord’s Presence in Zion

3:17 You will be convinced ²¹  that I the Lord am your God,

dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain.

Jerusalem ²²  will be holy –

conquering armies ²³  will no longer pass through it.

[1:13]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “for grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God.”

[2:11]  ³ tn Heb “the Lord gives his voice.”

[2:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “before his army.”

[2:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “military encampment.”

[2:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “very large.”

[2:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “he makes his word powerful.”

[2:11]  ⁸ tn Or “powerful.” Heb “great.”

[2:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “endure.” The MT and LXX read “endure,” while one of the Qumran manuscripts (4QXXII^c) has “bear.”

[2:17]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Heb “Why will they say?”

[2:20]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “his face to the eastern sea.” In this context the eastern sea is probably the Dead Sea.

[2:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and his rear to the western sea.” The western sea refers to the Mediterranean Sea.

[2:20]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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.

[3:2]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “I will execute judgment.”

[3:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “concerning my people and my inheritance Israel.”

[3:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “know.”

[3:17]  ²² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:17]  ²³ tn Heb “strangers” or “foreigners.” In context, this refers to invasions by conquering armies.