Joel 2:21

21 Earth, do not thou dread, make thou full out joy, and be glad; for the Lord magnified that (that) he should do. (O earth/O land, do not thou fear, rejoice, and be happy; for the Lord magnified what he said he would do.)

Joel 2:21 Meaning and Commentary

Joel 2:21

Fear not, O land
O land of Israel, as the Targum, and the inhabitants of it; neither of the locusts, who had so terrified them, and had done so much mischief, and threatened more; nor of their enemies, the Assyrians or Chaldeans, and their powerful armies, or any other; but, on the contrary, be glad, and rejoice;
at the removal of the locusts, and at the destruction of their enemies: for the Lord will do great things;
good things, in opposition to the evil things done by the locusts, as Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech observe; or by the destroying army of the king of Assyria, by delivering the Jews out of the Babylonish captivity; and in the times of the Maccabees, and especially in the times of Christ, which are quickly prophesied of in this chapter; and which prophecies some interpreters begin here, it not being unusual for the prophets to pass directly from things temporal to things spiritual, and especially to the great deliverance and salvation by Christ, and also by temporal blessings to design spiritual ones.

Joel 2:21 In-Context

19 And the Lord answered, and said to his people, Lo! I shall send to you wheat, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be [ful]filled with those; and I shall no more give you (to be a) shame among heathen men. (And the Lord said to his people, Lo! I shall send you corn, or grain, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be fulfilled, or satisfied, with them/and ye shall be filled full with them; and I shall no more allow you to be the reproach of the heathen.)
20 And I shall make him that is at the north far from you; and I shall cast him out into a land without way, and desert; his face against the east sea, and the last part thereof at the last sea; and the stink thereof shall go up, and the root thereof shall ascend, for he did proudly. (And I shall make those who be at the north to go far away from you; and I shall throw them out into a land without a way, and turned into a desert; their front forces shall turn toward the East Sea, or the Dead Sea, and their last parts toward the West Sea, or the Mediterranean Sea; and the stink of their carrion, or of their corpses, shall go up, for I shall go out against them, because of what they did so proudly to thee.)
21 Earth, do not thou dread, make thou full out joy, and be glad; for the Lord magnified that (that) he should do. (O earth/O land, do not thou fear, rejoice, and be happy; for the Lord magnified what he said he would do.)
22 Beasts of the country, do not ye dread, for the fair things of desert burgeoned; for the tree brought his fruit, the fig tree and [the] vinery gave their strength. (Beasts in the fields, do not ye fear, for the beautiful things of the desert have burgeoned/for the pastures of the wilderness have become green; the trees have brought forth their fruit, and the fig trees and the vines gave their harvest.)
23 And the sons of Zion, make ye full out joy, and be ye glad in your Lord God, for he gave to you a teacher of rightfulness, and he shall make morrowtide rain and eventide rain to come down to you, as in the beginning. (And people of Zion, rejoice, and be ye happy in the Lord your God, for he gave you a teacher of righteousness/for he gave you the right amount of rain, and he shall make the morning, or the early, rain and the evening, or the late, rain come down to you, like before.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.