Yoel 2:21

2:21 Do not fear, my land!

Rejoice and be glad,

because the Lord has accomplished great things!

Yoel 2:26

2:26 You will have plenty to eat,

and your hunger will be fully satisfied; ¹ 

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.

Yoel 2:11

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

Indeed, his warriors ⁴  are innumerable; ⁵ 

Surely his command is carried out! ⁶ 

Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome ⁷ 

and very terrifying – who can survive ⁸  it?

Yoel 2:20

2:20 I will remove the one from the north ⁹  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, ¹⁰ 

and those in back westward into the Mediterranean Sea. ¹¹ 

His stench will rise up as a foul smell.” ¹² 

Indeed, the Lord ¹³  has accomplished great things.

[2:26]  ¹ tn Heb “you will surely eat and be satisfied.”

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

[2:11]  ³ tn Heb “before his army.”

[2:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “military encampment.”

[2:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “very large.”

[2:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “he makes his word powerful.”

[2:11]  ⁷ tn Or “powerful.” Heb “great.”

[2:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “endure.” The MT and LXX read “endure,” while one of the Qumran manuscripts (4QXXII^c) has “bear.”

[2:20]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “his face to the eastern sea.” In this context the eastern sea is probably the Dead Sea.

[2:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and his rear to the western sea.” The western sea refers to the Mediterranean Sea.

[2:20]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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.