Joel 2:10

10 Before them the earth 1quakes, The heavens tremble, The 2sun and the moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness.

Joel 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.)

Joel 2:10 In-Context

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 houses, They enter through the windows like a thief.
10 Before them the earth quakes, The heavens tremble, The sun and the moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness.
11 The LORD utters His voice before His army; Surely His camp is very great, For strong is he who carries out His word. The day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome, And who can endure it?
12 "Yet even now," declares the LORD , "Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning;

Cross References 2

  • 1. Psalms 18:7; Joel 3:16; Nahum 1:5
  • 2. 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
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