Teks -- Joel 2:1-5 (NET)

The Locusts’ Devastation

2:1 Blow the trumpet 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, it is near! 2:2 It will be a day of dreadful darkness, a day of foreboding storm clouds, like blackness spread over the mountains. It is a huge and powerful army– there has never been anything like it ever before, and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come! 2:3 Like fire they devour everything in their path; a flame blazes behind them. The land looks like the Garden of Eden before them, but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness– for nothing escapes them! 2:4 They look like horses; they charge ahead like war horses. 2:5 They sound like chariots rumbling over mountain tops, like the crackling of blazing fire consuming stubble, like the noise of a mighty army being drawn up for battle.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Wesley: Joe 2:1 - Blow ye

The prophet continues his exhortation to the priests, who were appointed to summon the solemn assemblies.

Wesley: Joe 2:2 - A day of darkness

A time of exceeding great troubles and calamities. And this passage may well allude to the day of judgment, and the calamities which precede that day.

Wesley: Joe 2:2 - As the morning

As the morning spreads itself over all the hemisphere and first upon the high mountains, so shall the approaching calamities overspread this people.

Wesley: Joe 2:2 - A great people

This seems more directly to intend the Babylonians.

Wesley: Joe 2:3 - A fire

The Chaldeans, as a fire shall utterly consume all things.

Wesley: Joe 2:3 - Behind them

What is left behind is as burnt with a flame.

Wesley: Joe 2:3 - As Eden

Fruitful and pleasant.

JFB: Joe 2:1 - Blow . . . trumpet

To sound an alarm of coming war (Num 10:1-10; Hos 5:8; Amo 3:6); the office of the priests. Joe 1:15 is an anticipation of the fuller prophecy in this chapter.

JFB: Joe 2:2 - darkness . . . gloominess . . . clouds . . . thick darkness

Accumulation of synonyms, to intensify the picture of calamity (Isa 8:22). Appropriate here, as the swarms of locusts intercepting the sunlight suggested darkness as a fit image of the coming visitation.

JFB: Joe 2:2 - as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people

Substitute a comma for a colon after mountains: As the morning light spreads itself over the mountains, so a people numerous [MAURER] and strong shall spread themselves. The suddenness of the rising of the morning light, which gilds the mountain tops first, is less probably thought by others to be the point of comparison to the sudden inroad of the foe. MAURER refers it to the yellow splendor which arises from the reflection of the sunlight on the wings of the immense hosts of locusts as they approach. This is likely; understanding, however, that the locusts are only the symbols of human foes. The immense Assyrian host of invaders under Sennacherib (compare Isa 37:36) destroyed by God (Joe 2:18, Joe 2:20-21), may be the primary objects of the prophecy; but ultimately the last antichristian confederacy, destroyed by special divine interposition, is meant (see on Joe 3:2).

JFB: Joe 2:2 - there hath not been ever the like

(Compare Joe 1:2; Exo 10:14).

JFB: Joe 2:3 - before . . . behind

That is, on every side (1Ch 19:10).

JFB: Joe 2:3 - fire . . . flame

Destruction . . . desolation (Isa 10:17).

JFB: Joe 2:3 - as . . . Eden . . . wilderness

Conversely (Isa 51:3; Eze 36:35).

JFB: Joe 2:4 - appearance . . . of horses

(Rev 9:7). Not literal, but figurative locusts. The fifth trumpet, or first woe, in the parallel passage (Rev 9:1-11), cannot be literal: for in Rev 9:11 it is said, "they had a king over them, the angel of the bottomless pit"--in the Hebrew, Abaddon ("destroyer"), but in the Greek, Apollyon--and (Rev 9:7) "on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men." Compare Joe 2:11, "the day of the Lord . . . great and very terrible"; implying their ultimate reference to be connected with Messiah's second coming in judgment. The locust's head is so like that of a horse that the Italians call it cavalette. Compare Job 39:20, "the horse . . . as the grasshopper," or locust.

JFB: Joe 2:4 - run

The locust bounds, not unlike the horse's gallop, raising and letting down together the two front feet.

JFB: Joe 2:5 - Like the noise of chariots

Referring to the loud sound caused by their wings in motion, or else the movement of their hind legs.

JFB: Joe 2:5 - on the tops of mountains

MAURER connects this with "they," that is, the locusts, which first occupy the higher places, and thence descend to the lower places. It may refer (as in English Version) to "chariots," which make most noise in crossing over rugged heights.

Clarke: Joe 2:1 - Blow ye the trumpet in Zion

Blow ye the trumpet in Zion - This verse also shows that the temple was still standing. All assemblies of the people were collected by the sound of the trumpet

Clarke: Joe 2:1 - The day of the Lord cometh

The day of the Lord cometh - This phrase generally means a day of judgment or punishment.

Clarke: Joe 2:2 - A day of darkness, etc

A day of darkness, etc - The depredations of the locusts are described from the second to the eleventh verse, and their destruction in the twentieth. Dr. Shaw, who saw locusts in Barbary in 1724 and 1725, thus describes them: -

"I never observed the mantes, bald locusts, to be gregarious. But the locusts, properly so called, which are so frequently mentioned by sacred as well as profane writers, are sometimes so beyond expression. Those which I saw in 1724 and 1725 were much bigger than our common grasshopper; and had brown spotted wings, with legs and bodies of a bright yellow. Their first appearance was toward the latter end of March, the wind having been for some time south. In the middle of April their numbers were so vastly increased that, in the heat of the day, they formed themselves into large and numerous swarms; flew in the air like a succession of clouds; and, as the prophet Joel expresses it, (Joe 2:10) they darkened the sun. When the wind blew briskly, so that these swarms were crowded by others, or thrown one upon another, we had a lively idea of that comparison of the psalmist, (Psa 109:23), of being ‘ tossed up and down as the locust.’ In the month of May, when the ovaries of those insects were ripe and turgid, each of these swarms began gradually to disappear; and retired into the Mettijiah, and other adjacent plains, where they deposited their eggs. These were no sooner hatched in June, than each of these broods collected itself into a compact body of a furlong or more in square; and, marching immediately forward in the direction of the sea, they let nothing escape them; eating up every thing that was green and juicy, not only the lesser kinds of vegetables, but the vine likewise; the fig tree, the pomegranate, the palm, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, Joe 1:12; in doing which they kept their ranks like men of war; climbing over, as they advanced, every tree or wall that was in their way. Nay, they entered into our very houses and bedchambers, like so many thieves. The inhabitants, to stop their progress, made a variety of pits and trenches all over their fields and gardens, which they filled with water; or else they heaped up in them heath, stubble, and such like combustible matter, which were severally set on fire upon the approach of the locusts. But this was all to no purpose, for the trenches were quickly filled up, and the fires extinguished, by infinite swarms succeeding one another; while the front was regardless of danger, and the rear pressed on so close, that a retreat was altogether impossible. A day or two after one of these broods was in motion, others were already hatched to march and glean after them; gnawing off the very bark, and the young branches, of such trees as had before escaped with the loss only of their fruit and foliage. So justly have they been compared by the prophet Joel (Joe 2:3) to a great army; who further observes, that ‘ the land is as the garden of Eden before them and behind them a desolate wilderness.’

"Having lived near a month in this manner (like a μυριοστομον ξιφος, or sword with ten thousand edges, to which they have been compared), upon the ruin and destruction of every vegetable substance which came in their way, they arrived at their full growth, and threw old their nympha state by casting their outward skin. To prepare themselves for this change, they clung by their hinder feet to some bush, twig, or corner of a stone; and immediately, by using an undulating motion, their heads would first break out, and then the rest of their bodies. The whole transformation was performed in seven or eight minutes, after which they lay for a short time in a torpid and seemingly languishing condition; but as soon ad the sun and air had hardened their wings, by drying up the moisture which remained upon them, after casting their sloughs, they reassumed their former voracity, with an addition both of strength and agility. Yet they did not continue long in this state before they were entirely dispersed, as their parents were before, after they had laid their eggs; and as the direction of the marches and flights of them both was always to the northward, and not having strength, as they have sometimes had, to reach the opposite shores of Italy France, or Spain, it is probable they perished in the sea, a grave which, according to these people, they have in common with other winged creatures."- Travels, 4to. edition pp. 187, 188

Clarke: Joe 2:2 - A day of darkness

A day of darkness - They sometimes obscure the sun. And Thuanus observes of an immense crowd, that "they darkened the sun at mid-day.

Clarke: Joe 2:2 - As the morning spread upon the mountains

As the morning spread upon the mountains - They appeared suddenly: as the sun, in rising behind the mountains, shoots his rays over them. Adanson, in his voyage to Senegal, says: "Suddenly there came over our heads a thick cloud which darkened the air, and deprived us or the rays of the sun. We soon found that it was owing to a cloud of locusts."Some clouds of them are said to have darkened the sun for a mile, and others for the space of twelve miles! See the note on Joe 2:10 (note).

Clarke: Joe 2:3 - A fire devoureth before them

A fire devoureth before them - They consume like a general conflagration. "They destroy the ground, not only for the time, but burn trees for two years after."Sir Hans Sloane, Nat. Hist. of Jamaica, vol. i., p. 29

Clarke: Joe 2:3 - Behind them a flame burneth

Behind them a flame burneth - "Wherever they feed,"says Ludolf, in his History of Ethiopia, "their leavings seem as if parched with fire.

Clarke: Joe 2:3 - Nothing shall escape them

Nothing shall escape them - "After devouring the herbage,"says Adanson, "with the fruits and leaves of trees, they attacked even the buds and the very bark; they did not so much as spare the reeds with which the huts were thatched."

Clarke: Joe 2:4 - The appearance of horses

The appearance of horses - The head of the locust is remarkably like that of the horse; and so Ray on Insects describes them: Caput oblongum, equi instar, prona spectans - "They have an oblong head, like to that of a horse, bending downward."On this account the Italians call them cavaletta , cavalry. Bochart remarks, from an Arabic writer, that the locusts resemble ten different kinds of animals

1.    The Horse in its head

2.    The Elephant in its eyes

3.    The Bull in its neck

4.    The Stag in its horns

5.    The Lion in its breast

6.    The Scorpion in its belly

7.    The Eagle in its wings

8.    The Camel in its thighs

9.    The Ostrich in its feet. An

10.    The Serpent in its tail

Vid. Hieroz., vol. ii., p. 475, edit. 1692

But its most prominent resemblance is to the horse, which the prophet mentions; and which the Arabic writer puts in the first place, as being the chief.

Clarke: Joe 2:5 - Like the noise of chariots

Like the noise of chariots - Bochart also remarks: -

"The locusts fly with a great noise, so as to be heard six miles off, and while they are eating the fruits of the earth, the sound of them is like that of a flame driven by the wind.

Ibid., p. 478.

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Calvin: Joe 2:1 - Sound the trumpet,

This chapter contains serious exhortations, mixed with threatening; but the Prophet threatens for the purpose of correcting the indifference of the people, whom we have seen to have been very tardy to consider God’s judgments. Now the reason why I wished to join together these eleven verses was, because the design of the Prophet in them is no other than to stir up by fear the minds of the people. The object of the narrative then is, to make the people sensible, that it was now no time for taking rest; for the Lord, having long tolerated their wickedness, was now resolved to pour upon them in full torrent his whole fiery. This is the sum of the whole. Let us now come to the words.

Sound the trumpet, he says, in Zion; cry out in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the earth tremble. The Prophet begins with an exhortation. We know, indeed that he alludes to the usual custom sanctioned by the law; for as on festivals trumpets were sounded to call the people, so also it was done when anything extraordinary happened. Hence the Prophet addresses not each individually; but as all had done wickedly, from the least to the greatest, he bids the whole assembly to be called, that they might in common own themselves to be guilty before God, and deprecate his vengeance. It is the same as though the Prophet had said that there was no one among the people who could exempt himself from blame, for iniquity had prevailed through the whole body. But this passage shows that when any judgment of God is impending, and tokens of it appear, this remedy ought to be used, namely, that all must publicly assemble and confess themselves worthy of punishments and at the same time flee to the mercy of God. This, we know, was, as I have already said, formerly enjoined on the people; and this practice has not been abolished by the gospel. And it hence appears how much we have departed from the right and lawful order of things; for at this day it would be new and unusual to proclaim a fast. How so? Because the greater part are become hardened; and as they know not commonly what repentance is, so they understand not what the profession of repentance means; for they understand not what sin is, what the wrath of God is, what grace is. It is then no wonder that they are so secure, and that when praying for pardon is mentioned, it is a thing wholly unknown at this day. But though people in general are thus stupid, it is yet our duty to learn from the Prophets what has always been the actual mode of proceeding among the people of God, and to labor as much as we can, that this may be known, so that when there shall come an occasion for a public repentance, even the most ignorant may understand that this practice has ever prevailed in the Church of God, and that it did not prevail through inconsiderate zeal of men, but through the will of God himself.

But he bids the inhabitants of the land to tremble. By these words he intimates, that we are not to trifle with God by vain ceremonies but to deal with him in earnest. When therefore, the trumpets sound, our hearts ought to tremble; and thus the reality is to be connected with the outward signs. And this ought to be carefully noticed; for the world is ever disposed to have an eye to some outward service, and thinks that a satisfaction is given to God, when some external rite is observed. But we do nothing but mock God, when we present him with ceremonies, while there is no corresponding sincere feeling in the heart; and this is what we shall find handled in another place.

The Prophet now adds threatening, that he might stir up the minds of the people: For coming, he says, is the day of Jehovah for nigh it is. By these words he first intimates that we are not to wait until God strikes us, but that as soon as he shows signs of his wrath, we ought to anticipate his judgment. When God then warns us of his displeasure, we ought instantly to solicit pardon: nigh, he says, is the day of Jehovah. What follows has a regard to the end which we have mentioned; for the Prophet paints the terrible judgment of God with the view of rousing minds wholly stupid and indifferent.

Calvin: Joe 2:2 - NO PHRASE

And then he says, A day of darkness and of thick darkness, a day of clouds and of obscurity, as the dawn which expands over the mountains. By calling it a dark and gloomy day, he wished to show that there would be no hope of deliverance; for, according to the common usage of Scripture, we know that by light is designated a cheerful and happy state, or the hope of deliverance from any affliction: but the Prophet now extinguishes, as it were, every hope in this world, when he declares that the day of Jehovah would be dark, that is, without hope of restoration. This is his meaning. When he says afterwards, As the dawn which expands, etc. , he mentions this to signify the celerity with which it would come; for we know how sudden is the rising of the dawn on the mountains: the dawn spreads in a moment on the mountains, where darkness was before. For the light penetrates not immediately either into valleys or even into plains; but if any one looks at the summits of mountains, he will see that the dawn rises quickly. It is then the settle as though the Prophet said, “The day of the Lord is nigh, for the Lord can suddenly stretch forth his hand, as the dawn spreads over the mountains.”

He then mentions its character, A people great and strong to whom there has not been the like from the beginning, or from ages and after whom there will be no more the like, to the years of a generation and a generation. Here the Prophet specifies the kind of judgment that would be, of which he had generally spoken before; and he shows that what he had hitherto recorded of God’s vengeance ought not to be so understood as that God would descend openly and visibly from heaven, but that the Assyrians would be the ministers and executioners of his vengeance. In short, the Prophet shows here that the coming of that people ought to have been as much dreaded as if God had put forth his hand and executed on his people the vengeance deserved by their sins. And by these words he teaches us, that men gain nothing by being blind to the judgments of God; for God will notwithstanding execute his works and use the instrumentality of men; for men are the scourges by which he chastises his own people. The Chaldeans and the Assyrians were unbelievers; yet God used them for the purpose of correcting the Jews. This the Prophet now shows, that is, that God was the avenger in these very Assyrians, for he employed them as the ministers and executioners of his judgment. We see at the same time that the Prophet describes here the terrible wrath of God to shake off from the Jews their tardiness; for he saw that they were not moved by all his threatening, and ever laid hold on some new flattering pretenses. This is the reason why he gives such a long description.

Calvin: Joe 2:3 - Before them,

Before them, he says, the fire will devour, and after them the flame will burn. He means that the vengeance of God would be such as would consume the whole people: for God has in various ways begun to chastise the people, but, as we have seen, without any advantage. The Prophet then says here that the last stroke remained, and that the Lord would wholly destroy men so refractory, and whom he could not hitherto restore to a sound mind by moderate punishments. For he had in a measure spared them, though he had treated them sharply and severely, and given them time to repent. Hence, when the Prophet saw that they were wholly irreclaimable, he says, that it now only remained that the Lord should at once utterly consume them.

He adds, As the garden of Eden the land is before them, and after them it is the land of solitude; and so ( and also) there will be no escape from them. Here the Prophet warns the Jews, that though they inhabited a most pleasant country and one especially fruitful, there was no reason for them to flatter themselves, for God could convert the fairest lands into a waste. He therefore compares Judea to the garden of Eden or to Paradise. But such also was the state of Sodom, as Moses shows. What did it avail the Sodomites that they dwelt as in Paradise, that they inhabited a rich and fertile land, and thought themselves to be nourished as in the bosom of God? So also now the Prophet says, “Though the land is like Paradise, yet when the enemy shall march through it, a universal waste shall follow, a scattering shall everywhere follow, there shall be no cultivation, no pleasantness, no appearance of inhabited land, for the enemy will destroy every thing ” His purpose was to prevent the Jews, by confiding in God’s blessing, which they had hitherto experienced, from heedlessly disregarding in future his vengeance; for his wrath would in a moment consume and devour whatever fruitfulness the land had hitherto possessed. This is the meaning. He therefore concludes that there would be no escape from these enemies, the Assyrians, because they would come armed with a command to reduce to nothing the whole land.

Calvin: Joe 2:4 - NO PHRASE

He afterwards adds many similitudes, which any one of himself can sufficiently understand: I shall not therefore be long in explaining them, and many words would be superfluous. As the appearance of horses their appearance, and as horsemen, so will they run. This verse sets forth again the suddenness of vengeance, as though the Prophet had said, that long distance would be no obstacle, for the Assyrians would quickly move and occupy Judea; for distance deceived the Jews, and they thought that there would be a long respite to them. Hence the Prophet here removes this vain confidence, when he says that they would be like horses and horsemen. He then adds, —

Calvin: Joe 2:5 - Like the sound of chariots // Like the sound, he says, of the flame of fire,

Like the sound of chariots They expound מרכבות merecabut, chariots, though the Hebrews rather think them to be harnesses or saddles as we call them; but yet I prefer to view them as chariots; for what the Prophet says, that they shall leap on the tops of mountains like the sound of chariots, would not be suitably applied to the trappings of horses. They then shall leap on tops of mountains — but how? as chariots, that is, they shall come with great force, or make a great and terrible noise. And he speaks of the tops of mountains for there we know the noise is greater when there is any commotion. The Prophet, therefore, does in every way amplify God’s vengeance, that he might awaken the Jews, who by their indifference had too long provoked the Lord’s wrath.

Like the sound, he says, of the flame of fire, or of a fiery flame, devouring the stubble. He compares the Assyrians to a flame, which consumes all things; and he compares the Jews to stubble, though they thought themselves fortified by many forces and strongholds.

Defender: Joe 2:2 - the like

The description of the invading host in this chapter goes well beyond even a legitimate metaphorical description of an invading swarm of locusts, as terrible as that can be. Such locust plagues have occurred many times in the Middle East and elsewhere. They might well compare to the great armies that will invade the Holy Land in the last days, but the comparison does not emphasize the reality described here.

The prophecy may refer to the armies of Gog, which shall "come like a storm, ... like a cloud to cover the land" (Eze 38:9). Or it may refer to the time seen by the prophet Zechariah, who, while also speaking of "the day of the Lord," declared that (probably at the very end of the great tribulation period), God "will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle" (Zec 14:2)."

Defender: Joe 2:3 - garden of Eden

This is an incidental confirmation that Joel and the people of his time still believed in the historicity of the garden of Eden."

Defender: Joe 2:4 - appearance of horses

Invading locusts could hardly be described as having the appearance of horses, but a modern-day invasion of tanks might well be described this way by one who had never seen tanks, except in this vision. Or perhaps this is a more literal reference to the demonic horse-like creatures that will sweep over the world in the last days when they are unleashed with the sounding of God's sixth trumpet (Rev 9:13-19)."

TSK: Joe 2:1 - Blow // trumpet // and sound // in my // let // for the

Blow : Joe 2:15; Num 10:3, Num 10:8; Jer 4:5; Hos 8:1

trumpet : or, cornet, 1Ch 15:28; Hos 5:8

and sound : Num 10:5-7, Num 10:9; Eze 33:3, Eze 33:6; Amo 3:6; Zep 1:16

in my : Joe 3:17; Psa 87:1; Dan 9:16, Dan 9:20; Zep 3:11; Zec 8:3

let : Ezr 9:3, Ezr 9:4; Psa 119:120; Isa 66:2, Isa 66:5; Jer 5:22, Jer 16:7, Jer 16:10; Dan 6:26; Phi 2:12

for the : Joe 1:15; Isa 2:12; Eze 7:5-7, Eze 7:10,Eze 7:12, Eze 12:23; Amo 8:2; Oba 1:15; Mal 4:1; 1Th 5:2; Jam 5:8; 1Pe 4:7

TSK: Joe 2:2 - A day of darkness // as // a great // there // many generations

A day of darkness : ""The quantity of these insects,""says a French author,""is incredible to all who have not themselves witnessed their astonishing numbers; the whole earth is covered with them for the space of several leagues. The noise they make in browsing on the trees and herbage may be heard at a great distance, and resembles that of an army in secret. Wherever their myriads spread, the verdure of the country disappears; trees and plants, stripped of their leaves and reduced to their naked boughs and stems, cause the dreary image of winter to succeed in an instant to the rich scenery of spring. When these clouds of locusts take their flight, to surmount any obstacles or to traverse more rapidly a desert soil, the heavens may literally be said to be obscured by them.""Joe 2:10,Joe 2:31, Joe 3:14, Joe 3:15; Exo 20:21; Psa 97:2; Isa 5:30, Isa 8:22; Jer 13:16; Amo 5:18-20; Zep 1:14, Zep 1:15; Heb 12:18; Jud 1:13

as : Amo 4:13

a great : Joe 2:5, Joe 2:11, Joe 2:25, Joe 1:6

there : Joe 1:2, Joe 1:3; Exo 10:6, Exo 10:14; Dan 12:1; Mar 13:19

many generations : Heb. generation and generation, Deu 32:7; Psa 10:6 *marg.

TSK: Joe 2:3 - fire // the land // and behind

fire : Joe 1:19, Joe 1:20; Psa 50:3; Amo 7:4

the land : Gen 2:8, Gen 13:10; Isa 51:3; Eze 31:8, Eze 31:9

and behind : Joe 1:4-7; Exo 10:5, Exo 10:15; Jer 5:17; Zec 7:14

TSK: Joe 2:4

Rev 9:7

TSK: Joe 2:5 - the noise // like the noise of a // a strong

the noise : Nah 2:3, Nah 2:4, Nah 3:2, Nah 3:3; Rev 9:9

like the noise of a : Isa 5:24, Isa 30:30; Mat 3:12

a strong : Joe 2:2

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Joe 2:1 - Blow ye the trumpet // In Zion // Sound // In my holy mountain // Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble // For the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand

Blow ye the trumpet: the prophet continueth his advice or exhortation to the priests, who were by office appointed to summon the solemn assemblies, and to call them together by sound of trumpet or cornet; and so would he have the priests to gather the people together to fast, and weep, and pray.

In Zion which taken largely is the same with Jerusalem, though strictly taken it is the hill on which the city of David, or his royal palace, did stand.

Sound an alarm; give notice that all may be prepared against the enemy, let it be known that the enemy is coining, what danger attends his coming, and what provision should be made.

In my holy mountain in Jerusalem, in Moriah, on which the temple did stand.

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble stand in awe of God’ s majesty, fear his displeasure, and do this with a penitent heart, all you that dwell in the land of Canaan, the parched and burnt land.

For the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand: see Joe 1:15 .

Poole: Joe 2:2 - A day of darkness and of gloominess // Thick darkness // As the morning spread upon the mountains // A great people // And a strong // There hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more // Even to the years of many generations

A day of darkness and of gloominess metaphorically taken for a time of exceeding great troubles and calamities, according to the style of the Scriptures, which express prosperity by the metaphor of light, and adversity by darkness. which certainly is intended here; and the synonymous terms are here multiplied, to intimate the extremity and length of these troubles. And this passage may well allude to the day of judgment, and the calamities which shall precede that day.

Thick darkness does undoubtedly imply, as the gradual approach, so the dismal effect of God’ s judgments and the Jews’ miseries. See this word used 2Sa 22:10 , with 12-16 Ps 18:9,11 . It was such terror with which God gave the law, and in such he will punish the transgressors of his law.

As the morning spread upon the mountains as the morning spreads itself suddenly over all the hemisphere, and as it first spreads itself upon the high mountains, so should the approaching calamities overtake this people.

A great people: this seems more directly to intend the Babylonians rather than locusts, yet both are numerous, as the word imports, Heb.: see Joe 1:6 .

And a strong bold to attempt, and mighty in strength to execute; both true of Assyrians or Babylonians, or the locusts.

There hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more: locusts, emblem of the warlike nations, and the spoil done by both, are here described the greatest that ever yet were known; and of the Assyrian or Babylonian spoil made in Judea, the history doth ascertain this.

Even to the years of many generations if ever the like be, it shall not be in many ages to come.

Poole: Joe 2:3 - A fire // before them // Behind them a flame burneth // The land is as the garden of Eden before them // as the garden of Eden // And behind them a desolate wilderness

A fire either the heat of the sun more vehement than usual, or the locusts, or Chaldeans and Babylonians resembled by locusts, as fire, shall devour, utterly consume and eat up,

before them that people, Joe 2:2 .

Behind them a flame burneth what is left behind them is as burnt with a flame; all that the locusts leave behind them is as that which the flame hath scorched, dried, and turned into charcoal; or, all the Chaldeans and Babylonians leave behind them is (as customary with the barbarous invaders) set on fire, and what they cannot bat or carry away they destroy with fire.

The land is as the garden of Eden before them it is every where most fruitful and pleasant, a land where they have not yet come. This is expressed in that proverbial speech,

as the garden of Eden: see Isa 51:3 Eze 36:35 .

And behind them a desolate wilderness but wherever these locusts, or the armies they signify, come, all is turned into a most desolate wilderness. Nothing shall escape; nothing that was for beauty and pleasure, nor any thing for necessity and support of life.

Poole: Joe 2:4 - The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses // And as horsemen, so shall they run

The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses their carriage, for fierceness, agility, and irresistibleness, is like that of horses trained up to the wars, of which Job 39:19 , &c.

And as horsemen, so shall they run: this gives light to the former expression, and by it we see these locusts are not resembled to the horse for shape, but for their nimbleness in motion. And as were these types, so should the armies which were typified be also.

Poole: Joe 2:5 - Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap // Like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble // As a strong people // Set in battle array

Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap such warlike chariots on resounding mountains do, with their rapid motions, and shaking their irons about them, make a great and dreadful noise; so should these locusts in their flight; by which they shall terrify the people before they come to them, for the noise of them may be heard, say some, at six miles’ distance.

Like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble which does with continued crackling burn what is under the flame, and threaten speedy and inevitable ruin to what is before it; all shall be endangered by it, as if surrounded with flaming fire.

As a strong people so Joe 2:2 .

Set in battle array prepared to assault and destroy: in pursuance of this metaphor, see Joe 2:7-11 .

Haydock: Joe 2:1 - The northern // Proudly

The northern enemy. Some understand this of Holofernes and his army, others of the locusts. (Challoner) ---

Protestants, "the northern army. " Hebrew may denote (Haydock) wind. This often drives away locusts. Those here spoken of were drowned in the Mediterranean and Dead Seas. (Calmet) ---

This occasioned a pestilence, (St. Jerome; St. Augustine, City of God iv. 31.) to prevent which the locusts were to be speedily buried, Isaias xxxiii. 4. ---

Proudly. Hebrew, "great things." God, or the locusts are meant.

Haydock: Joe 2:1 - Blow // Tremble // Extemplo turbati // Lord

Blow. The prophets often ordered, to signify what will take place. (Worthington) ---

The people were gathered by the sound of trumpets. The danger from the locusts was imminent; and all are exhorted to avert it, by praying in the temple, &c. ---

Tremble at the sound, Amos iii. 6. (Calmet) ---

Extemplo turbati. (Virgil, Æneid viii.) ---

Lord. That is, the time when he will execute justice on sinners, (Challoner) and suffer affliction to fall upon them. (Worthington) (Chap. i. 15.)

Haydock: Joe 2:2 - Darkness // People // Morning // Beginning

Darkness. This implies great misery, ver. 10. (Calmet) ---

People. The Assyrians or Chaldeans. Others understand all this of the army of locusts laying waste the land. (Challoner) ---

Morning; unexpectedly, (Calmet) and soon. (Haydock) ---

No human force can prevent the ravages of the locusts ---

Beginning, in Palestine. Moses says the same; but speaks of Egypt, Exodus x. 14.

Haydock: Joe 2:3 - Flame // Pleasure

Flame. They destroy all by their bite, chap. i. 12. (Calmet) (Theodoret) ---

Pleasure. Hebrew, "Eden." So luxuriant was Palestine.

Haydock: Joe 2:4 - Horsemen

Horsemen. The head of a locust bears some resemblance with that of a horse, and its flight is rapid, Apocalypse ix. 7. (Calmet)

Haydock: Joe 2:5 - Mountains

Mountains. "The beat their wings so loudly, that they may be taken for other birds." (Pliny, [Natural History?] xi. 29.) ---

They are much larger in hot climates, (chap. i. 6.; Haydock) and may be heard at the distance of two miles, (Bochart) darkening the air for the space of four leagues. Yet this description is poetical, and perhaps an allegory is nowhere better kept up.

Gill: Joe 2:1 - Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain // let all the inhabitants of the land tremble // for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand

Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain,.... This is spoken to the priests, whose business it was to blow the trumpets for calling solemn assemblies to meet in Zion, the temple built there, called from thence the holy mountain of God. Here the trumpet is ordered to be blown with a broken quivering voice, a tarantantara, to give notice of approaching danger by the locusts, or those enemies signified by them, and to prepare for it, and return to God by repentance;

let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; at the judgments of God coming upon them, and the alarm of them:

for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; the time fixed by him to punish a wicked people, and to pour out his wrath and vengeance on them; the day of his visitation, not in love, but in anger.

Gill: Joe 2:2 - A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness // as the morning spread upon the mountains // a great people and a strong // there hath not been ever the like, neither shall any more after it // even to the years of many generations

A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness,.... Alluding to the gloomy and thick darkness caused by the locusts, which sometimes come in prodigious numbers, like thick clouds, and darken the air; so the land of Egypt was darkened by them, Exo 10:15; historians and travellers relate, as Bochart ^f has shown, that these creatures will fly like a cloud, and darken the heavens at noonday, cover the sun, and hinder the rays of it from touching the earth; though all these phrases may be expressive of great afflictions and calamities, which are often in Scripture signified by darkness, as prosperity is by light; see Isa 8:22;

as the morning spread upon the mountains; as the morning light, when it first appears, diffuses itself in a moment throughout the earth, and is first seen on the tops of the mountains ^g; so these locusts, and this calamity threatened, should suddenly and at once come, and be spread over the whole land; and which could no more be resisted than the morning light. The Vulgate Latin version renders it, in connection with the next clause, "as the morning spread upon the mountains, a people much and mighty"; but the accents will not admit of it; though it may seem a little improper that the same thing should be as a dark day, and: the morning light; wherefore Cocceius understands the whole of the day of Christ, which was light to many nations, and darkness to the wicked Jews:

a great people and a strong; numerous and mighty, many in number, mighty in strength; so the locusts are represented as a nation and people for might and multitude, Joe 1:6; an emblem of the Chaldeans and Babylonians, who were a large and powerful people:

there hath not been ever the like, neither shall any more after it,

even to the years of many generations; that is, in the land of Judea; otherwise there might have been the like before in other places, as in Egypt, and since in other countries. Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi, account for it thus; that it was never known, before or since, that four kinds of locusts came together; as for the plague of Egypt, there was but one sort of them, they say; but it is best to understand it of the like not having been in the same country: and such a numerous and powerful army as that of the Chaldeans had not been in Judea, and made such havoc and desolation as that did; nor would any hereafter, for many generations, even until the Romans came and took away their place and nation.

Gill: Joe 2:3 - A fire devoureth before them, and behind them aflame burneth // the land is as the garden of Eden before them // and behind them a desolate wilderness // yea, and nothing shall escape them

A fire devoureth before them, and behind them aflame burneth,.... This is not to be understood of the heat of the sun, or of the great drought that went before and continued after the locusts; but of them themselves, which were like a consuming fire; wherever they came, they devoured all green grass, herbs, and leaves of trees, as fire does stubble; they sucked out the juice and moisture of everything they came at, and what they left behind shrivelled up and withered away, as if it had been scorched with a flame of fire: and so the Assyrians and Chaldeans, they were an emblem of, destroyed all they met with, by fire and sword; cut up the corn and herbage for forage; and what they could not dispense with they set fire to, and left it burning. Sanctius thinks this refers to fire, which the Chaldeans worshipped as God, and carried before their armies as a sacred and military sign; but this seems not likely:

the land is as the garden of Eden before them; abounding with fields and vineyards, set with fruitful trees, planted with all manner of pleasant plants, and all kind of corn growing upon it, and even resembling a paradise:

and behind them a desolate wilderness; all green grass eaten up, the corn of the field devoured, the vines and olives destroyed, the leaves and fruit of them quite gone, and the trees themselves barked; so that there was just the same difference between this country before the calamities described came upon it, and what it was after, as between the garden of Eden, or a paradise, and the most desolate wilderness; such ravages were made by the locusts, and by those they resembled:

yea, and nothing shall escape them; no herb: plant, or tree, could escape the locusts; nor any city, town, or village, nor scarce any particular person, could escape the Chaldean army; but was either killed with the sword, or carried captive, or brought into subjection. The Targum interprets it of no deliverance to the ungodly.

Gill: Joe 2:4 - The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses // and as horsemen, so shall they run

The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses,.... in their running, as Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it; they came with, as much swiftness and eagerness, with as much fierceness and courage, as horses rush into the battle. Bochart ^h has shown, from various writers, that the head of a locust is in shape like that of a horse; and Theodoret on the text observes, that whoever thoroughly examines the head of a locust will easily perceive that it is very like the head of a horse; see Rev 9:7. The Chaldeans are often represented as strong and mighty, fierce and furious, and riding on horses exceeding swift, Jer 4:13;

and as horsemen, so shall they run; with great agility and swiftness. The particle "as" is observed by some, against those interpreters that apply this wholly to the enemies of the Jews, and not the locusts; and it seems indeed best to favour them; but Theodoret observes, that the "as" here may be taken, not as a note of similitude, but as used for the increase and vehemency of the expression.

Gill: Joe 2:5 - Like the noise of chariots on the tops of that mountains shall they leap // like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble // as a strong people set in battle array

Like the noise of chariots on the tops of that mountains shall they leap,.... The motion of the locusts is leaping from place to place; for which the locusts have legs peculiarly made, their hindermost being the longest; wherefore Pliny ⁱ observes, that insects which have their hindermost legs long leap locusts; to which agrees the Scripture description of them: "which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth; even those of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind", Lev 11:21; which words, as Dr. Shaw ^k, observes, may bear this construction: "which have knees upon" or "above their hinder legs, to leap withal upon the earth"; and he observes, that the הארבה, "locust", has the two hindermost of its legs or feet much stronger, larger, and longer, than any of the foremost; in them the knee, or the articulation of the leg and thigh, is distinguished by a remarkable bending or curvature, whereby it is able, whenever prepared to jump, to spring and raise itself with great force and activity; and this fitly resembles the jumping of chariots on mountains and hills, which are uneven, and usually have stones lie scattered about, which, with the chains and irons about chariots, cause a great rattling; and the noise of locusts is compared to the noise of these, which is represented as very great; some say it is to be heard six miles off, as Remigius on the place; and Pliny says ^l, they make such a noise with their wings when they fly, that they are thought to be other winged fowls; see Rev 9:9. Chariots were made use of in war, and the Chaldeans are said to have chariots which should come like a whirlwind, Jer 4:13;

like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble; as they are before compared to fire, and a flame of fire that devoured all things as easily as the fire devours stubble, so here to the crackling noise of it; see Ecc 7:6;

as a strong people set in battle array: that is, as the noise of a mighty army prepared for battle, just going to make the onset, when they lift up their voices aloud, and give a terrible shout; for this clause, as the other two, refer to the noise made by the locusts in their march; an emblem of the terribleness of the Chaldeans in theirs, who were heard before they were seen.