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 2:8

2:8 They do not jostle one another; ³ 

each of them marches straight ahead. ⁴ 

They burst through ⁵  the city defenses ⁶ 

and do not break ranks.

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!”

Yoel 2:30

2:30 I will produce portents both in the sky ⁸  and on the earth –

blood, fire, and columns of smoke.

[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).

[2:8]  ³ tn “each one does not crowd his brother.”

[2:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “each warrior walks in his own course.”

[2:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “they fall upon.” This line has been interpreted in two different ways: (1) although they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded (KJV), or (2) when they “burst through” the city’s defenses, they will not break ranks (RSV, NASB, NIV, NIrV).

[2:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “missile” or “javelin.” This term appears to function as a synecdoche for the city’s defenses as a whole (cf. NASB, NIV, TEV). Some scholars instead understand the reference to be an aqueduct by which the locusts (or armies) entered the city.

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

[2:30]  ⁸ tn Or “in the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.