Yoel 2:8

2:8 They do not jostle one another; ¹ 

each of them marches straight ahead. ² 

They burst through ³  the city defenses ⁴ 

and do not break ranks.

Yoel 1:6

1:6 For a nation ⁵  has invaded ⁶  our ⁷  land.

There are so many of them they are too numerous to count. ⁸ 

Their teeth are like those ⁹  of a lion;

they tear apart their prey like a lioness. ¹⁰ 

Yoel 2:26-27

2:26 You will have plenty to eat,

and your hunger will be fully satisfied; ¹¹ 

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 2:2

2:2 It will be ¹²  a day of dreadful darkness, ¹³ 

a day of foreboding storm clouds, ¹⁴ 

like blackness ¹⁵  spread over the mountains.

It is a huge and powerful army ¹⁶  –

there has never been anything like it ever before,

and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come! ¹⁷ 

Yoel 2:19

2:19 The Lord responded ¹⁸  to his people,

“Look! I am about to restore your grain ¹⁹ 

as well as fresh wine and olive oil.

You will be fully satisfied. ²⁰ 

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

Yoel 3:17

The Lord’s Presence in Zion

3:17 You will be convinced ²¹  that I the Lord am your God,

dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain.

Jerusalem ²²  will be holy –

conquering armies ²³  will no longer pass through it.

Yoel 3:19

3:19 Egypt will be desolate

and Edom will be a desolate wilderness,

because of the violence they did to the people of Judah, ²⁴ 

in whose land they shed innocent blood.

Yoel 3:15

3:15 The sun and moon are darkened;

the stars withhold ²⁵  their brightness.

Yoel 1:16

1:16 Our food has been cut off right before our eyes! ²⁶ 

There is no longer any joy or gladness in the temple of our God! ²⁷ 

Yoel 2:3

2:3 Like fire they devour everything in their path; ²⁸ 

a flame blazes behind them.

The land looks like the Garden of Eden ²⁹  before them,

but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness –

for nothing escapes them! ³⁰ 

Yoel 1:17

1:17 The grains of seed ³¹  have shriveled beneath their shovels. ³² 

Storehouses have been decimated

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

Yoel 1:4

1:4 What the gazam-locust left the ‘arbeh-locust consumed, ³³ 

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

and what the yeleq-locust left the hasil-locust consumed! ³⁴ 

Yoel 1:12

1:12 The vine has dried up;

the fig tree languishes –

the pomegranate, date, and apple ³⁵  as well.

In fact, ³⁶  all the trees of the field have dried up.

Indeed, the joy of the people ³⁷  has dried up!

Yoel 1:20

1:20 Even the wild animals ³⁸  cry out to you; ³⁹ 

for the river beds ⁴⁰  have dried up;

fire has destroyed ⁴¹  the grassy pastures. ⁴² 

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 ⁴³  – often relenting from calamitous punishment. ⁴⁴ 

Yoel 1:13

1:13 Get dressed ⁴⁵  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. ⁴⁶ 

Yoel 2:11

2:11 The voice of the Lord thunders ⁴⁷  as he leads his army. ⁴⁸ 

Indeed, his warriors ⁴⁹  are innumerable; ⁵⁰ 

Surely his command is carried out! ⁵¹ 

Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome ⁵² 

and very terrifying – who can survive ⁵³  it?

Yoel 2:17

2:17 Let the priests, those who serve the Lord, weep

from the vestibule all the way back to the altar. ⁵⁴ 

Let them say, “Have pity, O Lord, on your people;

please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked,

to become a proverb ⁵⁵  among the nations.

Why should it be said ⁵⁶  among the peoples,

“Where is their God?”

Yoel 3:2

3:2 Then I will gather all the nations,

and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. ⁵⁷ 

I will enter into judgment ⁵⁸  against them there

concerning my people Israel who are my inheritance, ⁵⁹ 

whom they scattered among the nations.

They partitioned my land,

Yoel 3:18

3:18 On that day ⁶⁰  the mountains will drip with sweet wine, ⁶¹ 

and the hills will flow with milk. ⁶² 

All the dry stream beds ⁶³  of Judah will flow with water.

A spring will flow out from the temple ⁶⁴  of the Lord,

watering the Valley of Acacia Trees. ⁶⁵ 

[2:8]  ¹ tn “each one does not crowd his brother.”

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

[2:8]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[1:6]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “has come up against.”

[1:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “my.”

[1:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “[It] is huge and there is not number.”

[1:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “its teeth are the teeth of a lion.”

[1:6]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you will surely eat and be satisfied.”

[2:2]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a day of cloud and darkness.”

[2:2]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “it will not be repeated for years of generation and generation.”

[2:19]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “answered and said.”

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

[2:19]  ²⁰ 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).

[3:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “know.”

[3:17]  ²² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:17]  ²³ tn Heb “strangers” or “foreigners.” In context, this refers to invasions by conquering armies.

[3:19]  ²⁴ tn Heb “violence of the sons of Judah.” The phrase “of the sons of Judah” is an objective genitive (cf. KJV “the violence against the children of Judah”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “violence done to the people of Judah”). It refers to injustices committed against the Judeans, not violence that the Judeans themselves had committed against others.

[3:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “gather in.”

[1:16]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ 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.

[2:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “a fire devours before it.”

[2:3]  ²⁹ tn Heb “like the garden of Eden, the land is before them.”

[2:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and surely a survivor there is not for it.” The antecedent of the pronoun “it” is apparently עַם (’am, “people”) of v. 2, which seems to be a figurative way of referring to the locusts. K&D 26:191-92 thought that the antecedent of this pronoun was “land,” but the masculine gender of the pronoun does not support this.

[1:17]  ³¹ 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]  ³² 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).

[1:4]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ 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.

[1:12]  ³⁵ 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]  ³⁶ tn These words are not in the Hebrew text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:12]  ³⁷ tn Heb “the sons of man.”

[1:20]  ³⁸ tn Heb “beasts of the field.”

[1:20]  ³⁹ 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]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “sources of water.”

[1:20]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “consumed.”

[1:20]  ⁴² tn Heb “the pastures of the wilderness.”

[2:13]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and great of loyal love.”

[2:13]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “and he relents from calamity.”

[1:13]  ⁴⁵ 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]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “for grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God.”

[2:11]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “the Lord gives his voice.”

[2:11]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “before his army.”

[2:11]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “military encampment.”

[2:11]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “very large.”

[2:11]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “he makes his word powerful.”

[2:11]  ⁵² tn Or “powerful.” Heb “great.”

[2:11]  ⁵³ tn Heb “endure.” The MT and LXX read “endure,” while one of the Qumran manuscripts (4QXXII^c) has “bear.”

[2:17]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “between the vestibule and the altar.” The vestibule was located at the entrance of the temple and the altar was located at the other end of the building. So “between the vestibule and the altar” is a merism referring to the entire structure. The priestly lament permeates the entire house of worship.

[2:17]  ⁵⁵ tn For the MT reading לִמְשָׁל (limshol, an infinitive, “to rule”), one should instead read לְמָשָׁל (lÿmashal, a noun, “to a byword”). While the consonantal Hebrew text permits either, the context suggests that the concern here is more one of not wanting to appear abandoned by God to ongoing economic depression rather than one of concern over potential political subjection of Israel (cf. v. 19). The possibility that the form in the MT is an infinitive construct of the denominative verb II מָשַׁל (mashal, “to utter a proverb”) does not seem likely because of the following preposition (Hebrew בְּ [bÿ], rather than עַל [’al]).

[2:17]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “Why will they say?”

[3:2]  ⁵⁷ sn There is a play on words here. Jehoshaphat in Hebrew means “the Lord has judged,” and the next line in v. 2 further explicates this thought. The location of this valley is uncertain (cf. v. 12). Many interpreters have understood the Valley of Jehoshaphat to be the Kidron Valley, located on the east side of old Jerusalem. Since this is described as a scene of future messianic activity and judgment, many Jews and Muslims have desired to be buried in the vicinity, a fact attested to in modern times by the presence of many graves in the area. A variation of this view is mentioned by Eusebius, Onomasticon 1:10. According to this view, the Valley of Jehoshaphat is located in the Hinnom Valley, on the south side of the old city. Yet another view is held by many modern scholars, who understand the reference to this valley to be one of an idealized and nonliteral scene of judgment.

[3:2]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “I will execute judgment.”

[3:2]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “concerning my people and my inheritance Israel.”

[3:18]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “and it will come about in that day.”

[3:18]  ⁶¹ tn Many English translations read “new wine” or “sweet wine,” meaning unfermented wine, i.e., grape juice.

[3:18]  ⁶² sn The language used here is a hyperbolic way of describing both a bountiful grape harvest (“the mountains will drip with juice”) and an abundance of cattle (“the hills will flow with milk”). In addition to being hyperbolic, the language is also metonymical (effect for cause).

[3:18]  ⁶³ tn Or “seasonal streams.”

[3:18]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “house.”

[3:18]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “valley of Shittim.” The exact location of the Valley of Acacia Trees is uncertain. The Hebrew word שִׁטִּים (shittim) refers to a place where the acacia trees grow, which would be a very arid and dry place. The acacia tree can survive in such locations, whereas most other trees require more advantageous conditions. Joel’s point is that the stream that has been mentioned will proceed to the most dry and barren of locations in the vicinity of Jerusalem.