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1Blow the trumpet in Zion;[#tn The word translated “trumpet” here (so most English versions) is the Hebrew שׁוֹפָר (shofar). The shophar was a wind instrument made from a cow or ram’s horn and used as a military instrument for calling people to attention in the face of danger or as a religious instrument for calling people to occasions of communal celebration.]
sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear,
for the day of the Lord is about to come.
Indeed, it is near!
2It will be a day of dreadful darkness,[#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.; #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).]
a day of foreboding storm clouds,
like blackness spread over the mountains.
It is a huge and powerful army –
there has never been anything like it ever before,
and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come!
3Like fire they devour everything in their path;[#tn Heb “a fire devours before it.”]
a flame blazes behind them.
The land looks like the Garden of Eden before them,
but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness –
for nothing escapes them!
4They look like horses;[#tn Heb “Like the appearance of horses [is] its appearance.”sn The fact that a locust’s head resembles a miniature replica of a horse’s head has often been noticed. For example, the German word for locust (Heupferd, “hay horse”) and the Italian word as well (cavaletta, “little horse”) are based on this similarity in appearance.]
they charge ahead like war horses.
5They sound like chariots rumbling over mountain tops,[#tn Heb “like the sound of.”sn The repetition of the word of comparison (“like”) in vv. 4-7 should not go unnoticed. The author is comparing the locust invasion to familiar aspects of human invasion. If the preposition has its normal force here, it is similarity and not identity that is intended. In other words, locusts are being likened to human armies, but human armies are not actually present. On the other hand, this Hebrew preposition is also on occasion used to indicate exactitude, a function described by grammarians as kaph veritatis.; #tn Heb “jostling” or “leaping.” There is question whether this pictures chariots rumbling over the mountains (e.g., 2 Sam 6:14,16; 1 Chr 15:29; Nah 3:2) or the locusts flying – or “leaping” – over the mountains (e.g., Job 21:11); see BDB 955 s.v. רָקַד.]
like the crackling of blazing fire consuming stubble,
like the noise of a mighty army being drawn up for battle.
6People writhe in fear when they see them.[#tn Or “nations.”; #tn Heb “before it.”]
All of their faces turn pale with fright.
7They charge like warriors;[#sn Since the invaders are compared to warriors, this suggests that they are not actually human, but instead an army of locusts.; #tn Heb “run.”]
they scale walls like soldiers.
Each one proceeds on his course;
they do not alter their path.
8They do not jostle one another;[#tn “each one does not crowd his brother.”]
each of them marches straight ahead.
They burst through the city defenses
and do not break ranks.
9They rush into the city;[#tn Heb “dart about in.”]
they scale its walls.
They climb up into the houses;
they go in through the windows like a thief.
10The earth quakes before them;[#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.; #tn Heb “before it.”]
the sky reverberates.
The sun and the moon grow dark;
the stars refuse to shine.
11The voice of the Lord thunders as he leads his army.[#tn Heb “the Lord gives his voice.”; #tn Heb “before his army.”]
Indeed, his warriors are innumerable;
Surely his command is carried out!
Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome
and very terrifying – who can survive it?
12“Yet even now,” the Lord says,
“return to me with all your heart –
with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
Tear your hearts,
not just your garments!”
13Return to the Lord your God,
for he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to anger and boundless in loyal love – often relenting from calamitous punishment.
14Who knows?
Perhaps he will be compassionate and grant a reprieve,
and leave blessing in his wake –
a meal offering and a drink offering for you to offer to the Lord your God!
15Blow the trumpet in Zion.[#tn See the note on this term in 2:1.]
Announce a holy fast;
proclaim a sacred assembly!
16Gather 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.
17Let the priests, those who serve the Lord , weep
from the vestibule all the way back to the altar.
Let them say, “Have pity, O Lord , on your people;
please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked,
to become a proverb among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
“Where is their God?”
18Then the Lord became zealous for his land;[#tn The time-frame entertained by the verbs of v.18 constitutes a crux interpretum in this chapter. The Hebrew verb forms used here are preterites with vav consecutive and are most naturally understood as describing a past situation. However, some modern English versions render these verbs as futures (e.g., NIV, NASV), apparently concluding that the context requires a future reference. According to Joüon 2:363 §112.h, n.1 Ibn Ezra explained the verbs of Joel 2:18 as an extension of the so-called prophetic perfect; as such, a future fulfillment was described with a past tense as a rhetorical device lending certainty to the fulfillment. But this lacks adequate precedent and is very unlikely from a syntactical standpoint. It seems better to take the verbs in the normal past sense of the preterite. This would require a vantage point for the prophet at some time after the people had responded favorably to the Lord’s call for repentance and after the Lord had shown compassion and forgiveness toward his people, but before the full realization of God’s promises to restore productivity to the land. In other words, it appears from the verbs of vv. 18-19 that at the time of Joel’s writing this book the events of successive waves of locust invasion and conditions of drought had almost run their course and the people had now begun to turn to the Lord.]
he had compassion on his people.
19The Lord responded to his people,[#tn Heb “answered and said.”]
“Look! I am about to restore your grain
as well as fresh wine and olive oil.
You will be fully satisfied.
I will never again make you an object of mockery among the nations.
20I will remove the one from the north far from you.[#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.]
I will drive him out to a dry and desolate place.
Those in front will be driven eastward into the Dead Sea,
and those in back westward into the Mediterranean Sea.
His stench will rise up as a foul smell.”
Indeed, the Lord has accomplished great things.
21Do not fear, my land!
Rejoice and be glad,
because the Lord has accomplished great things!
22Do not fear, wild animals![#tn Heb “beasts of the field.”]
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.
23Citizens of Zion, rejoice![#tn Heb “sons of Zion.”]
Be glad because of what the Lord your God has done!
For he has given to you the early rains as vindication.
He has sent to you the rains –
both the early and the late rains as formerly.
24The threshing floors are full of grain;
the vats overflow with fresh wine and olive oil.
25I will make up for the years[#tn Heb “I will restore to you the years.”sn The plural years suggests that the plague to which Joel refers was not limited to a single season. Apparently the locusts were a major problem over several successive years. One season of drought and locust invasion would have been bad enough. Several such years would have been devastating.]
that the ‘arbeh -locust consumed your crops –
the yeleq -locust, the hasil -locust, and the gazam -locust –
my great army that I sent against you.
26You will have plenty to eat,
and your hunger will be fully satisfied;
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.
27You 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.
28(3:1) After all of this[#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.; #tn Heb “Now it will be after this.”]
I will pour out my Spirit on all kinds of people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your elderly will have revelatory dreams;
your young men will see prophetic visions.
29Even on male and female servants
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
30I will produce portents both in the sky and on the earth –[#tn Or “in the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.]
blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
31The sunlight will be turned to darkness
and the moon to the color of blood,
before the day of the Lord comes –
that great and terrible day!
32It will so happen that
everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered.
For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who survive,
just as the Lord has promised;
the remnant will be those whom the Lord will call.