Yoel 1:17

1:17 The grains of seed ¹  have shriveled beneath their shovels. ² 

Storehouses have been decimated

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

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 2:12

An Appeal for Repentance

2:12 “Yet even now,” the Lord says,

“return to me with all your heart –

with fasting, weeping, and mourning.

Tear your hearts, ⁷ 

not just your garments!”

[1:17]  ¹ 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]  ² 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).

[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.”

[2:12]  ⁷ sn The figurative language calls for genuine repentance, and not merely external ritual that goes through the motions.