Joel 2:1-11

The Day of Yahweh is Near

1 Blow [the] trumpet^[a] in Zion, and sound the alarm on {my holy mountain}!^[b] Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of Yahweh [is] coming --[it is] indeed near.

2 A day of darkness and gloom, a day of cloud and thick darkness, like the dawn spreads on the mountains, a great and strong army! There has been nothing like it from old, and after it nothing will be again {for generations to come}.^[c]

3 {Before them}^[d] a fire devours, and behind them a flame burns. Like the garden of Eden is the land {before them},^[e] and after them [it is like] a desolate desert, and nothing can escape them.

4 Like [the] appearance of horses is their appearance, and like horsemen they run;

5 like [the] sound of chariots on the tops of the mountains, they leap about; like [the] sound of a flame of fire devouring stubble; like a strong army arranged in rows [for] battle.

6 {From before them}^[f] nations writhe, all faces {turn pale}.^[g]

7 They run like mighty warriors,^[h] they scale the wall like men of war; each goes on its own way, and they do not swerve [from] their paths.

8 They do not jostle {one another}; each goes on its own trail; and through the falling weapons, they are not halted.

9 In the city they rush forth; on the walls they run. Into the houses they climb up; through the windows they enter like [a] thief.

10 {Before them} [the] earth quakes; [the] heavens tremble; [the] sun and [the] moon grow dark, and [the] stars {have withheld} their splendor

11 And Yahweh {utters} his voice before his army, because his encampment [is] very large; strong [is the] one who carries out his decree, for great [is] the day of Yahweh and exceedingly fearful. Who can endure it?

Joel 2:1-11 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew "shofar"
• [b]. Literally "mountain of my holiness"
• [c]. Literally "until years of generations"
• [d]. Literally "before the presence of it"
• [e]. Literally "before the presence of it"
• [f]. Or "From in front of it," or "From the presence of it"
• [g]. Literally "gather paleness"
• [h]. That is, the "great and strong army" (see 2:2)
• [i]. Literally "each man his brother"
• [j]. Hebrew "weapon"
• [k]. Hebrew "wall"
• [l]. Literally "Before the presence of it"
• [m]. Literally "gathered"
• [n]. Literally "gives"