Yoel 2:10

10 The eretz shall quake before them; the Shomayim shall tremble; the shemesh and the yarei’ach shall be dark, and the kokhavim shall withdraw their shining;

Yoel 2:10 Meaning and Commentary

Joel 2:10

The earth shall quake before them
The inhabitants of it, because of the desolating judgments they bring with them, and those enemies that are signified by them: the heavens shall tremble;
being obscured by them: the sun and moon shall be dark;
the locusts sometimes come in such large numbers as to intercept the rays of the sun. Pliny F20 says they sometimes darken it; and though some thought they did not fly in the night, because of the cold; this he observes is owing to their ignorance, not considering that they pass over wide seas to distant countries; and this will account for it how the moon also may be darkened by them, and the stars, as follows: and the stars shall withdraw their shining;
though all this may be understood in a figurative sense of the great consternation that all sorts of persons should be in at such calamities coming upon the land, either by locusts, or by enemies; as the king, queen, nobles, and the common people of the land, signified by sun, moon, and stars, heaven and earth.


FOOTNOTES:

F20 Ibid. (Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 29.)

Yoel 2:10 In-Context

8 Neither shall one push another; they shall walk every one in his own column; and when they burst through defenses, they shall not break ranks.
9 They shall run to and fro in the ir (city); they shall run upon the chomah, they shall climb up into the batim (houses); they shall enter in at the windows like the ganav.
10 The eretz shall quake before them; the Shomayim shall tremble; the shemesh and the yarei’ach shall be dark, and the kokhavim shall withdraw their shining;
11 And Hashem shall utter His voice before His army; His machaneh (camp) is very great; for the executor of His devar (word, command) is strong; for the Yom Hashem is gadol and very terrible; and who can endure it?
12 Therefore also now, saith Hashem, turn ye back to Me with all your lev, and with tzom, and with weeping, and with mourning;
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.