Yoel 1:18

1:18 Listen to the cattle groan! ¹ 

The herds of livestock wander around in confusion ² 

because they have no pasture.

Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.

Yoel 2:2

2:2 It will be ³  a day of dreadful darkness, ⁴ 

a day of foreboding storm clouds, ⁵ 

like blackness ⁶  spread over the mountains.

It is a huge and powerful army ⁷  –

there has never been anything like it ever before,

and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come! ⁸ 

Yoel 2:26-27

2:26 You will have plenty to eat,

and your hunger will be fully satisfied; ⁹ 

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.

2:27 You will be convinced that I am in the midst of Israel.

I am the Lord your God; there is no other.

My people will never again be put to shame.

Yoel 3:17

The Lord’s Presence in Zion

3:17 You will be convinced ¹⁰  that I the Lord am your God,

dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain.

Jerusalem ¹¹  will be holy –

conquering armies ¹²  will no longer pass through it.

Yoel 2:31

2:31 The sunlight will be turned to darkness

and the moon to the color of blood, ¹³ 

before the day of the Lord comes –

that great and terrible day!

Yoel 1:3

1:3 Tell your children ¹⁴  about it,

have your children tell their children,

and their children the following generation. ¹⁵ 

Yoel 3:15

3:15 The sun and moon are darkened;

the stars withhold ¹⁶  their brightness.

Yoel 1:12

1:12 The vine has dried up;

the fig tree languishes –

the pomegranate, date, and apple ¹⁷  as well.

In fact, ¹⁸  all the trees of the field have dried up.

Indeed, the joy of the people ¹⁹  has dried up!

Yoel 2:13

2:13 Return to the Lord your God,

for he is merciful and compassionate,

slow to anger and boundless in loyal love ²⁰  – often relenting from calamitous punishment. ²¹ 

Yoel 1:16

1:16 Our food has been cut off right before our eyes! ²² 

There is no longer any joy or gladness in the temple of our God! ²³ 

Yoel 2:24

2:24 The threshing floors are full of grain;

the vats overflow with fresh wine and olive oil.

Yoel 2:29

2:29 Even on male and female servants

I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

Yoel 2:19

2:19 The Lord responded ²⁴  to his people,

“Look! I am about to restore your grain ²⁵ 

as well as fresh wine and olive oil.

You will be fully satisfied. ²⁶ 

I will never again make you an object of mockery among the nations.

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, ²⁷ 

not just your garments!”

Yoel 3:6

3:6 You sold Judeans and Jerusalemites to the Greeks,

removing them far from their own country. ²⁸ 

Yoel 3:12

3:12 Let the nations be roused and let them go up

to the valley of Jehoshaphat,

for there I will sit in judgment on all the surrounding nations.

Yoel 3:4

3:4 Why are you doing these things to me, Tyre and Sidon? ²⁹ 

Are you trying to get even with me, land of Philistia? ³⁰ 

I will very quickly repay you for what you have done! ³¹ 

Yoel 1:4

1:4 What the gazam-locust left the ‘arbeh-locust consumed, ³² 

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

and what the yeleq-locust left the hasil-locust consumed! ³³ 

Yoel 1:20

1:20 Even the wild animals ³⁴  cry out to you; ³⁵ 

for the river beds ³⁶  have dried up;

fire has destroyed ³⁷  the grassy pastures. ³⁸ 

Yoel 2:22

2:22 Do not fear, wild animals! ³⁹ 

For the pastures of the wilderness are again green with grass.

Indeed, the trees bear their fruit;

the fig tree and the vine yield to their fullest. ⁴⁰ 

Yoel 3:8

3:8 I will sell your sons and daughters to ⁴¹  the people of Judah. ⁴² 

They will sell them to the Sabeans, ⁴³  a nation far away.

Indeed, the Lord has spoken!

Yoel 1:13

1:13 Get dressed ⁴⁴  and lament, you priests!

Wail, you who minister at the altar!

Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you servants of my God,

because no one brings grain offerings or drink offerings

to the temple of your God anymore. ⁴⁵ 

Yoel 2:20

2:20 I will remove the one from the north ⁴⁶  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, ⁴⁷ 

and those in back westward into the Mediterranean Sea. ⁴⁸ 

His stench will rise up as a foul smell.” ⁴⁹ 

Indeed, the Lord ⁵⁰  has accomplished great things.

Yoel 2:28

An Outpouring of the Spirit

2:28 (3:1) ⁵¹  After all of this ⁵² 

I will pour out my Spirit ⁵³  on all kinds of people. ⁵⁴ 

Your sons and daughters will prophesy.

Your elderly will have revelatory dreams; ⁵⁵ 

your young men will see prophetic visions.

[1:18]  ¹ tn Heb “how the cattle groan!”

[1:18]  ² tn Heb “the herds of cattle are confused.” The verb בּוּךְ (bukh, “be confused”) sometimes refers to wandering aimlessly in confusion (cf. Exod 14:3).

[2:2]  ³ tn The phrase “It will be” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style.

[2:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “darkness and gloom.” These two terms probably form a hendiadys here. This picture recalls the imagery of the supernatural darkness in Egypt during the judgments of the exodus (Exod 10:22). These terms are also frequently used as figures (metonymy of association) for calamity and divine judgment (Isa 8:22; 59:9; Jer 23:12; Zeph 1:15). Darkness is often a figure (metonymy of association) for death, dread, distress and judgment (BDB 365 s.v. חשֶׁךְ 3).

[2:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “a day of cloud and darkness.”

[2:2]  ⁶ tc The present translation here follows the proposed reading שְׁחֹר (shÿkhor, “blackness”) rather than the MT שַׁחַר (shakhar, “morning”). The change affects only the vocalization; the Hebrew consonants remain unchanged. Here the context calls for a word describing darkness. The idea of morning or dawn speaks instead of approaching light, which does not seem to fit here. The other words in the verse (e.g., “darkness,” “gloominess,” “cloud,” “heavy overcast”) all emphasize the negative aspects of the matter at hand and lead the reader to expect a word like “blackness” rather than “dawn.” However, NIrV paraphrases the MT nicely: “A huge army of locusts is coming. They will spread across the mountains like the sun when it rises.”

[2:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “A huge and powerful people”; KJV, ASV “a great people and a strong.” Many interpreters understand Joel 2 to describe an invasion of human armies, either in past history (e.g., the Babylonian invasion of Palestine in the sixth century b.c.) or in an eschatological setting. More probably, however, the language of this chapter referring to “people” and “armies” is a hypocatastic description of the locusts of chapter one. Cf. TEV “The great army of locusts advances like darkness.”

[2:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “it will not be repeated for years of generation and generation.”

[2:26]  ⁹ tn Heb “you will surely eat and be satisfied.”

[3:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “know.”

[3:17]  ¹¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:17]  ¹² tn Heb “strangers” or “foreigners.” In context, this refers to invasions by conquering armies.

[2:31]  ¹³ tn Heb “to blood,” but no doubt this is intended to indicate by metonymy the color of blood rather than the substance itself. The blood red color suggests a visual impression here – something that could be caused by fires, volcanic dust, sandstorms, or other atmospheric phenomena.

[1:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “sons.” This word occurs several times in this verse.

[1:3]  ¹⁵ sn The circumstances that precipitated the book of Joel surrounded a locust invasion in Palestine that was of unprecedented proportions. The locusts had devastated the country’s agrarian economy, with the unwelcome consequences extending to every important aspect of commercial, religious, and national life. To further complicate matters, a severe drought had exhausted water supplies, causing life-threatening shortages for animal and human life (cf. v. 20). Locust invasions occasionally present significant problems in Palestine in modern times. The year 1865 was commonly known among Arabic-speaking peoples of the Near East as sent el jarad, “year of the locust.” The years 1892, 1899, and 1904 witnessed significant locust invasions in Palestine. But in modern times there has been nothing equal in magnitude to the great locust invasion that began in Palestine in February of 1915. This modern parallel provides valuable insight into the locust plague the prophet Joel points to as a foreshadowing of the day of the Lord. For an eyewitness account of the 1915 locust invasion of Palestine see J. D. Whiting, “Jerusalem’s Locust Plague,” National Geographic 28 (December 1915): 511-50.

[3:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “gather in.”

[1:12]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn These words are not in the Hebrew text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the sons of man.”

[2:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and great of loyal love.”

[2:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “and he relents from calamity.”

[1:16]  ²² tn Heb “Has not the food been cut off right before our eyes?” This rhetorical question expects an affirmative answer; the question has been translated as an affirmation for the sake of clarity and emphasis.

[1:16]  ²³ tn Heb “joy and gladness from the house of our God?” Verse 16b is a continuation of the rhetorical question begun in v. 16a, but has been translated as an affirmative statement to make the meaning clear. The words “There is no longer any” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:19]  ²⁴ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[2:19]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Look! I am sending grain to you.” The participle used in the Hebrew text seems to suggest imminent action.

[2:19]  ²⁶ tc One of the Qumran manuscripts (4QXXII^c) inserts “and you will eat” before “and you will be fully satisfied” (the reading of the MT, LXX).

[2:12]  ²⁷ sn The figurative language calls for genuine repentance, and not merely external ritual that goes through the motions.

[3:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “border.”

[3:4]  ²⁹ tn Heb “What [are] you [doing] to me, O Tyre and Sidon?”

[3:4]  ³⁰ tn Or “districts.”

[3:4]  ³¹ tn Heb “quickly, speedily, I will return your recompense on your head.” This is an idiom for retributive justice and an equitable reversal of situation.

[1:4]  ³² 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]  ³³ 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.

[1:20]  ³⁴ tn Heb “beasts of the field.”

[1:20]  ³⁵ tn Heb “long for you.” Animals of course do not have religious sensibilities as such; they do not in any literal sense long for Yahweh. Rather, the language here is figurative (metonymy of cause for effect). The animals long for food and water (so BDB 788 s.v. עָרַג), the ultimate source of which is Yahweh.

[1:20]  ³⁶ tn Heb “sources of water.”

[1:20]  ³⁷ tn Heb “consumed.”

[1:20]  ³⁸ tn Heb “the pastures of the wilderness.”

[2:22]  ³⁹ tn Heb “beasts of the field.”

[2:22]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “their strength.” The trees and vines will produce a maximum harvest, in contrast to the failed agricultural conditions previously described.

[3:8]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “into the hand of.”

[3:8]  ⁴² tn Heb “the sons of Judah.”

[3:8]  ⁴³ sn The Sabeans were Arabian merchants who were influential along the ancient caravan routes that traveled through Arabia. See also Job 1:15; Isa 43:3; 45:14; Ps 72:10.

[1:13]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “put on.” There is no object present in the Hebrew text, but many translations assume “sackcloth” to be the understood object of the verb “put on.” Its absence in the Hebrew text of v. 13 is probably due to metrical considerations. The meter here is 3 + 3, and that has probably influenced the prophet’s choice of words.

[1:13]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “for grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God.”

[2:20]  ⁴⁶ 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]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “his face to the eastern sea.” In this context the eastern sea is probably the Dead Sea.

[2:20]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “and his rear to the western sea.” The western sea refers to the Mediterranean Sea.

[2:20]  ⁴⁹ 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]  ⁵⁰ 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.

[2:28]  ⁵¹ sn Beginning with 2:28, the verse numbers through 3:21 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 2:28 ET = 3:1 HT, 2:29 ET = 3:2 HT, 2:30 ET = 3:3 HT, 2:31 ET = 3:4 HT, 2:32 ET = 3:5 HT, 3:1 ET = 4:1 HT, etc., through 3:21 ET = 4:21 HT. Thus Joel in the Hebrew Bible has 4 chapters, the 5 verses of ch. 3 being included at the end of ch. 2 in the English Bible.

[2:28]  ⁵² tn Heb “Now it will be after this.”

[2:28]  ⁵³ sn This passage plays a key role in the apostolic explanation of the coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2:17-21. Peter introduces his quotation of this passage with “this is that spoken by the prophet Joel” (Acts 2:16; cf. the similar pesher formula used at Qumran). The New Testament experience at Pentecost is thus seen in some sense as a fulfillment of this Old Testament passage, even though that experience did not exhaustively fulfill Joel’s words. Some portions of Joel’s prophecy have no precise counterpart in that experience. For example, there is nothing in the experience recorded in Acts 2 that exactly corresponds to the earthly and heavenly signs described in Joel 3:3-4. But inasmuch as the messianic age had already begun and the “last days” had already commenced with the coming of the Messiah (cf. Heb 1:1-2), Peter was able to point to Joel 3:1-5 as a text that was relevant to the advent of Jesus and the bestowal of the Spirit. The equative language that Peter employs (“this is that”) stresses an incipient fulfillment of the Joel passage without precluding or minimizing a yet future and more exhaustive fulfillment in events associated with the return of Christ.

[2:28]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “all flesh.” As a term for humanity, “flesh” suggests the weakness and fragility of human beings as opposed to God who is “spirit.” The word “all” refers not to all human beings without exception (cf. NAB, NASB “all mankind”; NLT “all people”), but to all classes of human beings without distinction (cf. NCV).

[2:28]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “your old men will dream dreams.”