Yoel 1:3

1:3 Tell your children ¹  about it,

have your children tell their children,

and their children the following generation. ² 

Yoel 2:10

2:10 The earth quakes ³  before them; ⁴ 

the sky reverberates. ⁵ 

The sun and the moon grow dark;

the stars refuse to shine. ⁶ 

Yoel 2:31

2:31 The sunlight will be turned to darkness

and the moon to the color of blood, ⁷ 

before the day of the Lord comes –

that great and terrible day!

[1:3]  ¹ tn Heb “sons.” This word occurs several times in this verse.

[1:3]  ² sn The circumstances that precipitated the book of Joel surrounded a locust invasion in Palestine that was of unprecedented proportions. The locusts had devastated the country’s agrarian economy, with the unwelcome consequences extending to every important aspect of commercial, religious, and national life. To further complicate matters, a severe drought had exhausted water supplies, causing life-threatening shortages for animal and human life (cf. v. 20). Locust invasions occasionally present significant problems in Palestine in modern times. The year 1865 was commonly known among Arabic-speaking peoples of the Near East as sent el jarad, “year of the locust.” The years 1892, 1899, and 1904 witnessed significant locust invasions in Palestine. But in modern times there has been nothing equal in magnitude to the great locust invasion that began in Palestine in February of 1915. This modern parallel provides valuable insight into the locust plague the prophet Joel points to as a foreshadowing of the day of the Lord. For an eyewitness account of the 1915 locust invasion of Palestine see J. D. Whiting, “Jerusalem’s Locust Plague,” National Geographic 28 (December 1915): 511-50.

[2:10]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “before it.”

[2:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “trembles.”

[2:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “gather their brightness.”

[2:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “to blood,” but no doubt this is intended to indicate by metonymy the color of blood rather than the substance itself. The blood red color suggests a visual impression here – something that could be caused by fires, volcanic dust, sandstorms, or other atmospheric phenomena.