Joel 2:1-17 A fuller description of the signs of the approaching -Day of Jehovah," followed by a renewed and more emphatic exhortation to repentance. This section of Joel's prophecy is an expansion of the thought of Joel 1:14-15. The signs of the approaching "Day of Jehovah" are more fully describ... [ Continue Reading ]
_Blow ye the_ HORN _in Zion_ see, in justification of this rendering of _shôphâr_, on Amos 2:2. The _horn_is to be sounded, in order to give notice of impending danger, and arouse the people to meet it (cp. on Amos 3:6). _sound an alarm_ The word, though it often has the sense of _shouting_, is use... [ Continue Reading ]
Part I. Chap. Joel 1:2 to Joel 2:17 Description of the present calamity (ch. 1.). The terrible "Day of Jehovah," of which it is the harbinger (Joel 2:1-11), but which may yet be averted by the nation's timely repentance (Joel 2:12-17).... [ Continue Reading ]
The signs of the approaching Day. _A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness_ So Zephaniah 1:15. Four synonyms are combined, for the purpose of emphasizing the darkness, which the prophet has in view. Darkness is, in Hebrew poetry, a common figure for calamity (comp. on Am... [ Continue Reading ]
_A fire devoureth before them_, &c. A hyperbolical description of the destructive march of a swarm of locusts: the country which they have passed over is left as bare as if it had been wasted by fire; and the prophet accordingly imagines poetically a fire as preceding and following them on their cou... [ Continue Reading ]
_as the appearance of horses_, &c. partly on account of their speed and compact array, but chiefly on account of a resemblance which has been often observed between the head of a locust and the head of a horse (hence the Italian name _cavalletta_, and the German name _Heupferd_). Theodoret says, "If... [ Continue Reading ]
Further description of the march of the locusts. They move on like some mighty host: the noise of their approach is heard from afar; they spread terror before them; their advance is irresistible; the keenest weapons, the strongest walls, are alike powerless to arrest their progress.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Like the noise of chariots_, &c. Cf. Revelation 9:9, "And the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to war." The remarkable noise made by a flight of locusts is noticed by many travellers. "Within a hundred paces, I heard the rushing noise occasioned by the fligh... [ Continue Reading ]
The alarm to be caused by their approach, like that occasioned by the advance of some vast horde of invaders. AT THEIR PRESENCE PEOPLES ARE IN ANGUISH] not _people_, but _peoples_, i.e. whole nations. For the verb, comp. Deuteronomy 2:25, R.V.; Ezekiel 30:16, R.V.: it is a strong word, applied often... [ Continue Reading ]
_They_ RUN _like mighty_men] i.e. _like warriors_, which is what the word (_gibbôr_) regularly denotes (2 Samuel 23:8; and comp. on Amos 2:14). _To run_means here _to charge_: cf. Psalms 18:29; Job 15:26. _they_ CLIMB _the wall_ viz. of the city which they essay to enter. _they_ MOVE ALONG _every o... [ Continue Reading ]
The attack, anticipated by the peoples with alarm (Joel 2:6) now follows: the onward movement of the locusts is compared to that of a well-appointed army: nothing impedes their advance; there is no disorder in their ranks; they climb the highest walls, and penetrate into the strongest cities.... [ Continue Reading ]
_they_ MOVE ALONG _every one in his_ HIGHWAY] or _raised way_, specially prepared by throwing up earth, stones, &c., and then levelling the surface (Isaiah 40:3; Isaiah 57:14; Isaiah 62:10). Here figuratively for a definitely marked path. _and_ THEY FALL ABOUT THE WEAPONS WITHOUT BREAKING (their cou... [ Continue Reading ]
_They_ COURSE ABOUT _in the city;_ THEY RUN _upon the wall_ no sooner have they gained an entrance than they make the city their own, and take possession of the walls. The exact force of the word rendered _course about_is not certain: it is used of locusts in Isaiah 33:4 ("like the _attack_of locust... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
_And_ JEHOVAH UTTERETH _his voice_ viz. in thunder, as Psalms 18:13; Psalms 46:6, and regularly: see on Amos 1:2. _before his army_ the locusts, as described in Joel 2:2. Cf. Joel 2:25. _for_, &c. Three co-ordinate clauses, each introduced by _for_, state the reason why Jehovah thunders before His... [ Continue Reading ]
_turn ye even to me_ come back from your self-chosen course of sin, return to Me. On the idea of _turning_(or _returning_) to God in the Old Testament (from which the theological idea of "conversion" was ultimately developed), see on Amos 4:6. _with all your heart_ with the entire force of your mora... [ Continue Reading ]
Nevertheless, it is still not too late to avert the judgement by earnest penitence; for God is gracious and compassionate, and ready to pardon those who turn to Him with their whole heart. Cf. Jeremiah 4:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And rent your heart, and not your garments_ The rending of garments was an expression of exceptional emotion, whether of grief, or terror, or horror, upon occasion of some specially overwhelming misfortune (see e.g. Genesis 37:29; Genesis 37:34; Genesis 44:13; Numbers 14:6; Judges 11:35; 2 Samuel 1... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who knoweth if he will_ lit. _Who knoweth? he will_…, i.e. _Peradventure he will_…, or (R.V.) WHO KNOWETH WHETHER HE WILL NOT …? The same idiom in 2 Samuel 12:22, and (in the same phrase as here) Jonah 3:9. TURN BACK] viz. from the path of judgment upon which he has entered. _and leave a blessing... [ Continue Reading ]
With the view of making the preceding exhortation (Joel 2:12 f.) more practically effective, the prophet here repeats more emphatically the command of Joel 1:14: he bids all ranks and classes assemble in the Temple for a solemn religious service, and prescribes at the same time the words in which th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Blow ye the_ HORN _in Zion_ Repeated _verbatim_from Joel 2:1, though in a different sense, as a call, namely, to a religious gathering, not as a signal of the approach of judgment (cf. on Amos 2:2). _sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly_ as Joel 1:14 _a_(first two clauses).... [ Continue Reading ]
An expansion of the injunctions contained in the rest of Joel 1:14 _a_. _sanctify_ AN ASSEMBLY] i.e. hold a sacred religious meeting. _gather the elders_ THE OLD MEN (R.V. _marg_.). All are to take part in the great public act of national humiliation and supplication, neither old men nor children... [ Continue Reading ]
_weep_ in grief and contrition: cf. Judges 2:4; and on Joel 2:12. _between the porch and the altar_ between the porch on the E. end of the Temple (1 Kings 6:3), and the great altar of burnt-offering in front of it (1 Kings 8:64; 2 Chronicles 8:12) in the -inner court" (1 Kings 6:36), also called -th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then_ WAS JEHOVAH _jealous for his land, and_ HAD PITY ON _his people. And_ JEHOVAH ANSWERED _and_ SAID, &c. The future tenses of the A.V. are grammatically indefensible [42]. Though it is not expressly so stated, it is understood that the prophet's exhortations had the intended effect; the people... [ Continue Reading ]
Part II. Chap. Joel 2:18 to Joel 3:21 Jehovah's answer to His people's prayer of penitence. He will remove from them the plague of locusts, and bestow upon them an abundance of both material and spiritual gifts (Joel 2:18-32); His judgment will alight only upon the nations who are their foes; His o... [ Continue Reading ]
Jehovah's favourable answer: He will no longer suffer His people to be deprived by the locusts of the fruits of the earth, nor give occasion for the heathen to reproach them. will _send_ AM SENDING, the ptcp., as often, of the immediate future. THE _corn, and_ THE MUST, _and_ THE FRESH OIL] which t... [ Continue Reading ]
_from you_ lit. _from upon you_, from being a burden on you; a delicate Hebrew idiom which cannot generally be represented without stiffness in English: comp. on Amos 5:23; and see Exodus 10:17 (-remove _from upon me_," also of locusts). _the northern_army] lit. _the northern one_. The reference, as... [ Continue Reading ]
_O land_ more exactly, O GROUND; i.e. the soil which until now has been "mourning" (Joel 1:10) under the sore visitation. _for_ JEHOVAH HATH DONE _great things_ exactly the same phrase as in Joel 2:20, the past tense, however, being here the "prophetic past" (comp. on Amos 5:2), and describing in r... [ Continue Reading ]
The prophet here speaks himself; and developing in jubilant tones the promise of Joel 2:19, first of all (Joel 2:21) bids in turn the land, the beasts of the field, and the children of Zion, exult on account of the deliverance vouchsafed by Jehovah; and then (Joel 2:24) proceeds to dilate upon the f... [ Continue Reading ]
The beasts of the field, whose sufferings were described in Joel 1:18; Joel 1:20 need now fear no longer: the "pastures of the wilderness," which but recently were burnt up (Joel 1:19), will now soon begin to spring. _spring_ lit. _have young grass_: the verb being cognate with the word for "young... [ Continue Reading ]
_hath given_ another instance of the prophetic perfect. _the former rain … and the latter rain_ Heb. _môreh_, and _malḳôsh:_the rains which marked respectively the beginning and the close of the wet season, coming in Oct. Nov. and March April respectively. The "former rain" moistens the earth and fi... [ Continue Reading ]
The reversal of Joel 1:10-12. _the floors_ i.e. the threshing-floors which, however, were not like our threshing-floors: see the description in the footnote on p. 227. _fats_ i.e. (as we should say) _vats, fat_being an old form of _vat_, A.S. _fœt_, Germ. _Fass_: so constantly in A.V., as Joel 3:13... [ Continue Reading ]
Abundance in place of the deprivations of Joel 1:4. _And I_ The discourse of the prophet passing imperceptibly, as often, into that of Jehovah: cf. e.g. Isaiah 3:4; Isaiah 13:11; Isaiah 56:7; Isaiah 60:7; Isaiah 60:21. _the years_ The expression shews that the visitation of locusts, spoken of in c... [ Continue Reading ]
_and praise_, &c. In acknowledgment of His bounty: cf. (of the Canaanites) Judges 9:27 (R.V. _marg_.). _shall never be ashamed_ or _disappointed_(on Joel 1:11), being worthy of, and accordingly receiving, the protection of their God (cf. Isa. 29:29, Isaiah 49:23; Isaiah 50:7; Psalms 22:5; Psalms 25... [ Continue Reading ]
The restoration of the people's prosperity will further give them the assurance that Jehovah is in their midst, and will continue their defender and deliverer for ever. _in the midst of Israel_ as its present helper and saviour: comp. Exodus 17:7; Numbers 11:20; Numbers 14:14; Deuteronomy 7:21; Deut... [ Continue Reading ]
_afterward_ After the bestowal of the material prosperity promised in Joel 2:23. _pour out_ i.e. send forth, not in scant measure, but abundantly: the measure of spiritual illumination, which was normally restricted to prophets or other favoured individuals, will be extended to all. The prophets reg... [ Continue Reading ]
Even those holding menial positions will share in the same spiritual illumination (comp. in the N.T. 1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11).... [ Continue Reading ]
The signs of approaching judgement which will then appear. _shew_ lit. _give_, as Exodus 7:9; Deuteronomy 6:22. _wonders_ better (for the word used has no connexion with those commonly rendered _wonderful, wondrous_) PORTENTS, extraordinary phenomena natural, or supernatural, as the case might be... [ Continue Reading ]
Celestial portents. The imagery may be suggested partly by eclipses (cf. on Amos 8:9), partly by unusual obscurations of sun or moon through atmospheric disturbances, for instance, sand-storms, cyclones, flights of locusts, &c. "A dreadful whirlwind occurred here [in Allahabad] on June 2, 1838. The... [ Continue Reading ]
Those however who have responded to the grace given to them (Joel 2:28 f.), and are the true servants of Jehovah, will be secure, even in the midst of such alarming manifestations (cf. Joel 3:16 _b_). _call on_ this is the conventional rendering of the Hebrew phrase employed; but it means properly _... [ Continue Reading ]