Joel 2:10-11

The locusts of Joel 2:2, as was remarked on Joel 2:1, are to a certain extent idealized, and pictured as more alarming and formidable than ordinary locusts; and in these two verses, other extraordinary, awe-inspiring concomitants of their approach are signalized. Earth and heaven tremble before them; sun, moon, and stars withdraw their light; Jehovah at their head utters His voice in thunder. For the preternatural cosmical phenomena accompanying Jehovah's Day, comp. Joel 2:31; Joel 3:15; Isaiah 13:10; Isaiah 13:13 (of the day on which Babylon is to be captured by the Medes); also Amos 8:9; Ezekiel 32:7 f.

Before them the earth trembleth] Amos 8:8; Psalms 77:18; and figuratively 1 Samuel 14:15; Proverbs 30:21.

before them לפניו, not, as in Joel 2:6, מפניו (implying causality): the phenomena here described are not causedby the locusts, but simply herald their approach.

the heavens quake] The heavens being conceived as a solid vault resting upon the earth (comp. on Amos 8:6). Cf. 2 Samuel 22:8 ("And the earth shook and quaked, the foundations of the heavens trembled"); Isaiah 13:13 ("Therefore will I make the heavens to tremble, and the earth shall quakeout of its place").

are dark are black, clothed, as it were in mourning, of which the word (קדר) is often used. Cp. 1 Kings 18:45 ("and the heavens grew blackwith clouds and rain"); Isaiah 50:3 ("I clothe the heavens with blackness"); Ezekiel 32:7 ("I will make their stars black").

and the stars withdraw their shining Joel 3:15.