Yoel 2:2

2:2 It will be ¹  a day of dreadful darkness, ² 

a day of foreboding storm clouds, ³ 

like blackness ⁴  spread over the mountains.

It is a huge and powerful army ⁵  –

there has never been anything like it ever before,

and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come! ⁶ 

Yoel 2:11

2:11 The voice of the Lord thunders ⁷  as he leads his army. ⁸ 

Indeed, his warriors ⁹  are innumerable; ¹⁰ 

Surely his command is carried out! ¹¹ 

Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome ¹² 

and very terrifying – who can survive ¹³  it?

Yoel 3:14

3:14 Crowds, great crowds are in the valley of decision,

for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision! ¹⁴ 

Yoel 1:6

1:6 For a nation ¹⁵  has invaded ¹⁶  our ¹⁷  land.

There are so many of them they are too numerous to count. ¹⁸ 

Their teeth are like those ¹⁹  of a lion;

they tear apart their prey like a lioness. ²⁰ 

Yoel 2:26

2:26 You will have plenty to eat,

and your hunger will be fully satisfied; ²¹ 

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.

Yoel 2:30

2:30 I will produce portents both in the sky ²²  and on the earth –

blood, fire, and columns of smoke.

Yoel 3:13

3:13 Rush forth with ²³  the sickle, for the harvest is ripe!

Come, stomp the grapes, ²⁴  for the winepress is full!

The vats overflow.

Indeed, their evil is great! ²⁵ 

Yoel 2:16

2:16 Gather the people;

sanctify an assembly!

Gather the elders;

gather the children and the nursing infants.

Let the bridegroom come out from his bedroom

and the bride from her private quarters. ²⁶ 

[2:2]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “a day of cloud and darkness.”

[2:2]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “it will not be repeated for years of generation and generation.”

[2:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “the Lord gives his voice.”

[2:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “before his army.”

[2:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “military encampment.”

[2:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “very large.”

[2:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he makes his word powerful.”

[2:11]  ¹² tn Or “powerful.” Heb “great.”

[2:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “endure.” The MT and LXX read “endure,” while one of the Qumran manuscripts (4QXXII^c) has “bear.”

[3:14]  ¹⁴ sn The decision referred to here is not a response on the part of the crowd, but the verdict handed out by the divine judge.

[1:6]  ¹⁵ sn As becomes increasingly clear in what follows, this nation is to be understood figuratively. It refers to the locust invasion as viewed from the standpoint of its methodical, destructive advance across the land (BDB 156 s.v. גּוֹי 2). This term is used figuratively to refer to animals one other time (Zeph 2:14).

[1:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “has come up against.”

[1:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “my.”

[1:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “[It] is huge and there is not number.”

[1:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “its teeth are the teeth of a lion.”

[1:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “its incisors are those of a lioness.” The sharp, cutting teeth are metonymical for the action of tearing apart and eating prey. The language is clearly hyperbolic. Neither locusts nor human invaders literally have teeth of this size. The prophet is using exaggerated and picturesque language to portray in vivid terms the enormity of the calamity. English versions vary greatly on the specifics: KJV “cheek teeth”; ASV “jaw-teeth”; NAB “molars”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “fangs.”

[2:26]  ²¹ tn Heb “you will surely eat and be satisfied.”

[2:30]  ²² tn Or “in the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[3:13]  ²³ tn Heb “send.”

[3:13]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ 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).

[2:16]  ²⁶ sn Mosaic law allowed men recently married, or about to be married, to be exempt for a year from certain duties that were normally mandatory, such as military obligation (cf. Deut 20:7; 24:5). However, Joel pictures a time of such urgency that normal expectations must give way to higher requirements.