Joel 2:4-14

4 Their ¹appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like war horses, so they run.

5 With a ²noise as of chariots They leap on the tops of the mountains, Like the crackling of a ³flame of fire consuming the stubble, Like a mighty people arranged for battle.

6 Before * them the people are in ⁴anguish; All ⁵faces turn pale.

7 They run like mighty men, They climb the wall like soldiers *; And they each ⁶march in line, Nor do they deviate from their paths.

8 They do not crowd each other, They march everyone in his path; When they burst through the defenses, They do not break ranks.

9 They rush on the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the ⁷houses, They ⁸enter through the windows like a thief.

10 Before them the earth ⁹quakes, The heavens tremble, The ¹⁰sun and the moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness.

11 The LORD ¹¹utters His voice before ¹²His army; Surely His camp is very great, For ¹³strong is he who carries out His word. The ¹⁴day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome, And ¹⁵who can endure it?

12 "Yet even now," declares the LORD, "¹⁶Return to Me with all your heart, And with ¹⁷fasting, weeping and mourning;

13 And ¹⁸rend your heart and not ¹⁹your garments." Now return to the LORD your God, For He is ²⁰gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And ²¹relenting of evil.

14 Who knows ²²whether He will not turn and relent And leave a ²³blessing behind Him, Even ²⁴a grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God?

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Joel 2:4-14 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOEL 2

In this chapter a further account is given of the judgment of the locusts and caterpillars, or of those who are designed by them, Joe 2:1-11; the people of the Jews are called to repentance, humiliation, and fasting, urged from the grace and goodness of God, his jealousy and pity for his people, and the answer of prayer that might he expected from him upon this, even to the removal of the calamity, Joe 2:12-20; a prophecy of good things, both temporal and spiritual, in the times of the Messiah, is delivered out as matter and occasion of great joy, Joe 2:21-27; and another concerning the effusion of the Spirit, which was fulfilled an the day of Pentecost, Joe 2:28-29; and the chapter is concluded with the judgments and desolations that should come upon the land of Judea after this, for their rejection of Christ, though the remnant according to the election of grace should be delivered and saved from the general destruction, Joe 2:30-32.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 24

1. Revelation 9:7
2. Revelation 9:9
3. Isaiah 5:24; Isaiah 30:30
4. Isaiah 13:8; Nahum 2:10
5. Jeremiah 30:6
6. Proverbs 30:27
7. Exodus 10:6
8. Jeremiah 9:21; John 10:1
9. Psalms 18:7; Joel 3:16; Nahum 1:5
10. Isaiah 13:10; Isaiah 34:4; Jeremiah 4:23; Ezekiel 32:7, 8; Joel 2:31; Joel 3:15; Matthew 24:29; Revelation 8:12
11. Psalms 46:6; Isaiah 13:4; Jeremiah 25:30; Joel 3:16
12. Joel 2:25
13. Jeremiah 50:34; Revelation 18:8
14. Jeremiah 30:7; Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1, 31; Joel 3:14; Zephaniah 1:14, 15; Revelation 6:17
15. Ezekiel 22:14; Malachi 3:2
16. Deuteronomy 4:29; Jeremiah 4:1, 2; Ezekiel 33:11; Hosea 12:6
17. Daniel 9:3
18. Psalms 34:18; Psalms 51:17; Isaiah 57:15
19. Genesis 37:34; 2 Samuel 1:11; Job 1:20; Jeremiah 41:5
20. Exodus 34:6
21. Jeremiah 18:8; Jeremiah 42:10; Amos 7:3, 6
22. Jeremiah 26:3; Jonah 3:9
23. Haggai 2:19
24. Joel 1:9, 13

Footnotes 6

[a]. Lit "Like the noise of chariots"
[b]. Lit "noise"
[c]. Or "become flushed"
[d]. Lit "in his ways"
[e]. Lit "fall"
[f]. Lit "weapon," probably "javelin"