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Joel 2

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The Day of the LORD Is Near 1–11

1
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; ​
2
A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. ​
3
A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. ​
4
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
5
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. ​
6
Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.
7
They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:
8
Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. ​
9
They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.
10
The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: ​
11
And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? ​

A Call to Sincere Repentance 12–17

12
Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: ​
13
And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. ​
14
Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God? ​
15
Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
16
Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. ​
17
Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? ​

The LORD Promises Restoration 18–27

18
Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. ​
19
Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen: ​
20
But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things. ​
21
Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things.
22
Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.
23
Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. ​
24
And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil.
25
And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. ​
26
And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
27
And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed. ​

I Will Pour Out My Spirit 28–32

28
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: ​
29
And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. ​
30
And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. ​
31
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
32
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Joel 2

Verse 1

Blow ye the trumpet in Zion — The shophar is the curved horn; by the law the blowing of the silver trumpets gathered 'all the assembly' at the tabernacle door (Num 10:2–3). Here it sounds an alarm for 'the day of the LORD', which Joel 1:15 called 'at hand'; v.15 repeats the same words to call a fast.

Verse 2

a day of darkness and of gloominess — Four Hebrew words for gloom are heaped up: choshek, aphelah, anan, araphel. Zephaniah takes up the phrase (Zeph 1:15), and Amos says 'the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light' (Amos 5:18). The 'great people and a strong' is the nation of Joel 1:6, 'strong, and without number'.

Verse 3

the garden of Eden before them — Eden is the garden the LORD 'planted… in Eden' (Gen 2:8); the land is that green before the invaders and a 'desolate wilderness' (shemamah) after them. 'A fire devoureth' recalls Joel 1:19, 'the fire hath devoured the pastures'. Isaiah reverses the picture: 'her wilderness like Eden' (Isa 51:3).

Verse 5

Like the noise of chariots — The sound of the host is compared to chariots, to fire eating dry stubble (qash, cf. Isa 5:24) and to a 'strong people set in battle array' (arak, to set in order). Revelation 9:9 borrows the likeness for its locusts: 'the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle'.

Verse 8

they shall walk every one in his path — 'Path' is mesillah, a raised highway, and each keeps to his own. The same order is noted of locusts in Prov 30:27: 'The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands'. 'Sword' is shelach, a missile or weapon; none who fall upon it are 'wounded'.

Verse 10

The earth shall quake before them — 'Quake' is ragaz, the verb translated 'tremble' in v.1. The darkened sun and moon return at 2:31, and with the stars at 3:15. Christ uses the same signs of his coming: 'the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light' (Matt 24:29).

Verse 11

the LORD shall utter his voice before his army — The host (chayil, army or force) is his own, and in v.25 the locusts are called 'my great army which I sent among you'. The closing question, 'who can abide it?', is asked again in Mal 3:2, 'who may abide the day of his coming?', and Rev 6:17, 'who shall be able to stand?'

Verse 12

turn ye even to me — Shub, to turn back, the verb of return and repentance; 'saith' is ne'um, the word for a spoken oracle. The call comes after the judgment is described: 'Therefore also now'. It asks for 'all your heart' with fasting, weeping and mourning, as in 2 Chr 7:14, 'humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn'.

Verse 13

rend your heart, and not your garments — Tearing the clothes (beged) was the outward sign of grief; the command is to tear the heart (lebab). The reason is the LORD's own description of himself in Ex 34:6, 'merciful and gracious, longsuffering', repeated here with 'great kindness' (chesed) and 'repenteth him of the evil' (nacham).

Verse 14

Who knoweth if he will return — 'Return' (shub) and 'repent' (nacham) are the verbs of v.13. The same hope is voiced by the king of Nineveh: 'Who can tell if God will turn and repent' (Jon 3:9). The meat offering and drink offering are those 'withholden from the house of your God' in Joel 1:13; a blessing left behind would restore them.

Verse 16

those that suck the breasts — No one is excused from the assembly: people, congregation, elders, children and nursing infants, as when 'all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children' (2 Chr 20:13). Even the bridegroom (chathan) leaves his chamber and the bride her 'closet' (chuppah, a canopy or bridal chamber).

Verse 17

between the porch and the altar — The porch (ulam) is the vestibule of the temple; the priests, 'the ministers of the LORD', stand between it and the altar of sacrifice to weep and pray. Their plea, 'Wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?', is the one in Ps 79:10 and Ps 115:2. 'Spare' is chus, to show pity.

Verse 18

be jealous for his land — Qana, to be zealous, here for the LORD's own land, as in Zech 1:14, 'I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy'. 'Pity' (chamal) is the compassion of a father: 'Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him' (Ps 103:13).

Verse 19

corn, and wine, and oil — Dagan, tirosh, yitshar: grain, new wine and fresh oil, the harvest triad of Deut 11:14, 'thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil'. 'Reproach' is cherpah, the word the priests used in v.17, 'give not thine heritage to reproach'; the LORD now answers that very plea.

Verse 20

the northern army — Tsephoni means 'of the north'. The host is driven into a dry land, 'his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea'. So Egypt's locusts were cast 'into the Red sea' (Ex 10:19). 'Done great things' is gadal, the verb of v.21.

Verse 23

the former rain, and the latter rain — Moreh and malqosh, the early and late rains, promised to obedience in Deut 11:14, 'the first rain and the latter rain'. 'Moderately' renders tsedaqah, elsewhere 'righteousness': the rain is given in right measure. The 'first month' is named with the rain the LORD will bring down for them.

Verse 25

the years that the locust hath eaten — Shalam, to make whole, to repay. The four insects named, arbeh, yeleq, chasil and gazam, are those of Joel 1:4, each eating what the last left. Of them the LORD says 'my great army which I sent among you', so the loss came from him and the restoring comes from him.

Verse 27

in the midst of Israel — Qereb, the inward centre, the promise of Lev 26:11, 'I will set my tabernacle among you', and 26:12, 'I will walk among you, and will be your God'. 'And none else' echoes Isa 45:5, 'there is no God beside me'. The verse ends as v.26 does: 'my people shall never be ashamed'.

Verse 28

I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh — Peter declared of Pentecost, 'this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel' (Acts 2:16). 'Pour out' (shaphak) is used of the Spirit also in Ezek 39:29 and Zech 12:10. 'Afterward' (achar) follows the restoration of vv.19–27; sons and daughters, old and young, all receive.

Verse 29

the servants and… the handmaids — Ebed and shiphchah, bondman and bondwoman, the lowest in the household, are included in the outpouring. The New Testament states the same equality: 'neither bond nor free' (Gal 3:28), and 1 Cor 12:13 names 'bond or free' among those made 'to drink into one Spirit'.

Verse 30

wonders in the heavens and in the earth — Mopheth, a wonder or sign. Peter quotes the verse in Acts 2:19, 'wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke'. 'Pillars of smoke' uses timarah, a column, joined with ashan, smoke.

Verse 32

whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD — Peter ends his Pentecost quotation here (Acts 2:21), and Paul applies it to Jew and Gentile alike: 'whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved' (Rom 10:13). 'Delivered' is malat, to escape; 'deliverance' is peletah, an escaped remnant, for those whom the LORD calls.