Yoel 1:10-11

1:10 The crops of the fields ¹  have been destroyed. ² 

The ground is in mourning because the grain has perished.

The fresh wine has dried up;

the olive oil languishes.

1:11 Be distressed, ³  farmers;

wail, vinedressers, over the wheat and the barley.

For the harvest of the field has perished.

Yoel 1:19

1:19 To you, O Lord, I call out for help, ⁴ 

for fire ⁵  has burned up ⁶  the grassy pastures, ⁷ 

flames have razed ⁸  all the trees in the fields.

Yoel 1:12

1:12 The vine has dried up;

the fig tree languishes –

the pomegranate, date, and apple ⁹  as well.

In fact, ¹⁰  all the trees of the field have dried up.

Indeed, the joy of the people ¹¹  has dried up!

Yoel 1:4

1:4 What the gazam-locust left the ‘arbeh-locust consumed, ¹² 

what the ‘arbeh-locust left the yeleq-locust consumed,

and what the yeleq-locust left the hasil-locust consumed! ¹³ 

Yoel 2:21

2:21 Do not fear, my land!

Rejoice and be glad,

because the Lord has accomplished great things!

Yoel 1:17

1:17 The grains of seed ¹⁴  have shriveled beneath their shovels. ¹⁵ 

Storehouses have been decimated

and granaries have been torn down, for the grain has dried up.

Yoel 3:13

3:13 Rush forth with ¹⁶  the sickle, for the harvest is ripe!

Come, stomp the grapes, ¹⁷  for the winepress is full!

The vats overflow.

Indeed, their evil is great! ¹⁸ 

Yoel 2:5

2:5 They sound like ¹⁹  chariots rumbling ²⁰  over mountain tops,

like the crackling ²¹  of blazing fire consuming stubble,

like the noise of ²²  a mighty army ²³  being drawn up for battle. ²⁴ 

[1:10]  ¹ tn Heb “the field has been utterly destroyed.” The term “field,” a collective singular for “fields,” is a metonymy for crops produced by the fields.

[1:10]  ² tn Joel uses intentionally alliterative language in the phrases שֻׁדַּד שָׂדֶה (shuddad sadeh, “the field is destroyed”) and אֲבְלָה אֲדָמָה (’avlah ’adamah, “the ground is in mourning”).

[1:11]  ³ tn Heb “embarrassed”; or “be ashamed.”

[1:19]  ⁴ tn The phrase “for help” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:19]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “consumed.” This entire line is restated at the end of v. 20.

[1:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “the pastures of the wilderness.”

[1:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “a flame has set ablaze.” This fire was one of the effects of the drought.

[1:12]  ⁹ tn This Hebrew word וְתַפּוּחַ (vÿtappuakh) probably refers to the apple tree (so most English versions), but other suggestions that scholars have offered include the apricot, citron, or quince.

[1:12]  ¹⁰ tn These words are not in the Hebrew text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the sons of man.”

[1:4]  ¹² tn Heb “eaten.” This verb is repeated three times in v. 4 to emphasize the total devastation of the crops by this locust invasion.

[1:4]  ¹³ tn The four Hebrew terms used in this verse are of uncertain meaning. English translations show a great deal of variation in dealing with these: (1) For ָגּזָם (gazam) KJV has “palmerworm,” NEB “locust,” NAB “cutter”, NASB “gnawing locust,” NIV “locust swarm,” NKJV “chewing locust,” NRSV, NLT “cutting locust(s),” NIrV “giant locusts”; (2) for אַרְבֶּה (’arbeh) KJV has “locust,” NEB “swarm,” NAB “locust swarm,” NASB, NKJV, NRSV, NLT “swarming locust(s),” NIV “great locusts,” NIrV “common locusts”; (3) for יֶלֶק (yeleq) KJV has “cankerworm,” NEB “hopper,” NAB “grasshopper,” NASB “creeping locust,” NIV, NIrV “young locusts,” NKJV “crawling locust,” NRSV, NLT “hopping locust(s)”; (4) for חָסִיל (khasil) KJV has “caterpillar,” NEB “grub,” NAB “devourer,” NASB, NLT “stripping locust(s),” NIV, NIrV “other locusts,” NKJV “consuming locust,” NRSV “destroying locust.” It is debated whether the Hebrew terms describe different species of locusts or similar insects or different developmental stages of the same species, or are virtual synonyms. While the last seems more likely, given the uncertainty over their exact meaning, the present translation has transliterated the Hebrew terms in combination with the word “locust.”

[1:4]  sn Four different words for “locust” are used in this verse. Whether these words represent different life-stages of the locusts, or whether virtual synonyms are being used to underscore the severity of damage caused by the relentless waves of locust invasion, is not entirely certain. The latter seems more likely. Many interpreters have understood the locust plagues described here to be symbolic of invading armies that will devastate the land, but the symbolism could also work the other way, with real plagues of locusts described in the following verses as an invading army.

[1:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “seed.” The phrase “the grains of” does not appear in the Hebrew, but has been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[1:17]  ¹⁵ tc This line is textually uncertain. The MT reads “the seed shrivels in their shovels/clods.” One Qumran manuscript (4QXXII^c) reads “the heifers decay in [their] s[talls].” LXX reads “the heifers leap in their stalls.”

[1:17]  tn These two lines of v. 17 comprise only four words in the Hebrew; three of the four are found only here in the OT. The translation and meaning are rather uncertain. A number of English versions render the word translated “shovels” as “clods,” referring to lumps of soil (e.g., KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[3:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “send.”

[3:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “go down” or “tread.” The Hebrew term רְדוּ (rÿdu) may be from יָרַד (yarad, “to go down”) or from רָדָה (radah, “have dominion,” here in the sense of “to tread”). If it means “go down,” the reference would be to entering the vat to squash the grapes. If it means “tread,” the verb would refer specifically to the action of those who walk over the grapes to press out their juice. The phrase “the grapes” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[3:13]  ¹⁸ sn The immediacy of judgment upon wickedness is likened to the urgency required for a harvest that has reached its pinnacle of development. When the harvest is completely ripe, there can be no delay by the reapers in gathering the harvest. In a similar way, Joel envisions a time when human wickedness will reach such a heightened degree that there can be no further stay of divine judgment (cf. the “fullness of time” language in Gal 4:4).

[2:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “like the sound of.”

[2:5]  sn The repetition of the word of comparison (“like”) in vv. 4-7 should not go unnoticed. The author is comparing the locust invasion to familiar aspects of human invasion. If the preposition has its normal force here, it is similarity and not identity that is intended. In other words, locusts are being likened to human armies, but human armies are not actually present. On the other hand, this Hebrew preposition is also on occasion used to indicate exactitude, a function described by grammarians as kaph veritatis.

[2:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “jostling” or “leaping.” There is question whether this pictures chariots rumbling over the mountains (e.g., 2 Sam 6:14,16; 1 Chr 15:29; Nah 3:2) or the locusts flying – or “leaping” – over the mountains (e.g., Job 21:11); see BDB 955 s.v. רָקַד.

[2:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “sound.”

[2:5]  ²² tn The phrase “the noise of” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is implied by the parallelism, so it has been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[2:5]  ²³ tn Heb “people.”

[2:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “being arrayed of battle.”