Joel 2:6

6 Before them the people writhe in pain; All faces are drained of color.

Joel 2:6 Meaning and Commentary

Joel 2:6

Before their face the people shall be much pained
Or, "at their presence"; at the sight of them they shall be in pain, as a woman in travail; into such distress an army of locusts would throw them, since they might justly fear all the fruits of the earth would be devoured by them, and they should have nothing left to live upon; and a like consternation and pain the army of the Assyrians or Chaldeans upon sight filled them with, as they expected nothing but ruin and destruction from them: all faces shall gather blackness;
like that of a pot, as the word ^F13 signifies; or such as appears in persons dying, or in fits and swoons; and this here, through fear and hunger; see ( Nahum 2:10 ) ( Lamentations 4:8 ) ( 5:10 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 (rwrap) "fuliginem", Montanus; "luridum ollae colorem", Tigurine version, Tarnovius; "ollam pro nigore ollae", Drusius.

Joel 2:6 In-Context

4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like swift steeds, so they run.

5 With a noise like chariots Over mountaintops they leap, Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble, Like a strong people set in battle array.

6 Before them the people writhe in pain; All faces are drained of color.

7 They run like mighty men, They climb the wall like men of war; Every one marches in formation, And they do not break ranks.

8 They do not push one another; Every one marches in his own column. Though they lunge between the weapons, They are not cut down.

Footnotes

• [a]. Septuagint, Targum, and Vulgate read gather blackness.