Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

This is the word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel:

“Hath this been, &c.--that is, Hath any so grievous a calamity as this ever been before? No such plague of locusts had been since the ones in Egypt.”

It has laid waste My grapevine and splintered My fig tree. It has stripped off the bark and thrown it away; the branches have turned white.

“barked--BOCHART, with the Septuagint and Syriac, translates, from an Arabic root, "hath broken," namely, the topmost shoots, which locusts most feed on. CALVIN supports English Version. my vine . . . my fig tree--being in "My land," that is, Jehovah's (Joe 1:6).”

Grain and drink offerings have been cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests are in mourning, those who minister before the LORD.

“The greatest sorrow to the mind of a religious Jew, and what ought to impress the whole nation with a sense of God's displeasure, is the cessation of the usual temple-worship.”

The field is ruined; the land mourns. For the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails.

“Thus, "a man of the field," in Hebrew, is a "hunter"; a "man of the ground" or "land," an "agriculturist" (Ge 25:27). "Field" and "land" are here personified.”

Be dismayed, O farmers, wail, O vinedressers, over the wheat and barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.

“Be . . . ashamed--that is, Ye shall have the shame of disappointment on account of the failure of "the wheat" and "barley . . . harvest." howl . . .”

Consecrate a fast; proclaim a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and all the residents of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the…

“Sanctify . . . a fast--Appoint a solemn fast. solemn assembly--literally, a "day of restraint" or cessation from work, so that all might give themselves to supplication (Joe 2:15, 16; 2Ch 20:3-13).”

Their appearance is like that of horses, and they gallop like swift steeds.

“The locust's head is so like that of a horse that the Italians call it cavalette. Compare Job 39:20, "the horse . . . as the grasshopper," or locust.”

With a sound like that of chariots they bound over the mountaintops, like the crackling of fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army deployed for battle.

“Like the noise of chariots--referring to the loud sound caused by their wings in motion, or else the movement of their hind legs.”

They do not jostle one another; each proceeds in his path. They burst through the defenses, never breaking ranks.

“Neither shall one thrust another--that is, press upon so as to thrust his next neighbor out of his place, as usually occurs in a large multitude. when they fall upon the sword--that is, among missiles. not be wounded--because they are protected by defensive armor [GROTIUS].”

The LORD raises His voice in the presence of His army. Indeed, His camp is very large, for mighty are those who obey His command.

“Lord . . . his army--So among Mohammedans, "Lord of the locusts" is a title of God. his voice--His word of command to the locusts, and to the antitypical human foes of Judea, as "His army." strong that executeth his word-- (Re 18:8).”

Blow the ram’s horn in Zion, consecrate a fast, proclaim a sacred assembly.

“Blow the trumpet--to convene the people (Nu 10:3). The nation was guilty, and therefore there must be a national humiliation. Compare Hezekiah's proceedings before Sennacherib's invasion (2Ch 30:1-27).”

Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the aged, gather the children, even those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.

“MAURER translates, "appoint a solemn assembly," which would be a tautological repetition of Joe 2:15. elders . . . children--No age was to be excepted (2Ch 20:13). bridegroom--ordinarily exempted from public duties (De 24:5; compare 1Co 7:5, 29).”

Then the LORD became jealous for His land, and He spared His people.

“Then--when God sees His people penitent. be jealous for his land--as a husband jealous of any dishonor done to the wife whom he loves, as if done to himself. The Hebrew comes from an Arabic root, "to be flushed in face" through indignation.”

Do not be afraid, O land; rejoice and be glad, for the LORD has done great things.

“In an ascending gradation, the land destroyed by the enemy, the beasts of the field, and the children of Zion, the land's inhabitants, are addressed, the former two by personification.”

Do not be afraid, O beasts of the field, for the open pastures have turned green, the trees bear their fruit, and the fig tree and vine yield their best.

“As before (Joe 1:18, 20) he represented the beasts as groaning and crying for want of food in the "pastures," so now he reassures them by the promise of springing pastures.”

Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for He has given you the autumn rains for your vindication.

“The Margin, "a teacher of righteousness," is wrong. For the same Hebrew word is translated "former rain" in the next sentence, and cannot therefore be differently translated here.”

And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

“"Prophesying" in the New Testament is applied to all speaking under the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, and not merely to foretelling events. All true Christians are "priests" and "ministers" of our God (Isa 61:6), and have the Spirit (Eze 36:26, 27).”

I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.

“As Messiah's manifestation is full of joy to believers, so it has an aspect of wrath to unbelievers, which is represented here. Thus when the Jews received Him not in His coming of grace, He came in judgment on Jerusalem.”

And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has promised, among…

“Therefore, Jesus is JEHOVAH; and the phrase means, "Call on Messiah in His divine attributes." shall be delivered--as the Christians were, just before Jerusalem's destruction, by retiring to Pella, warned by the Saviour (Mt 24:16); a type of the spiritual deliverance of all believers, and…”

“Yes, in those days and at that time, when I restore Judah and Jerusalem from captivity,

“The Jews restrict this to the return from Babylon. Christians refer it to the coming of Christ. But the prophet comprises the whole redemption, beginning from the return out of Babylon, then continued from the first advent of Christ down to the last day (His…”

I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.

“As "Jehoshaphat" means "the judgment of Jehovah," the valley of Jehoshaphat may be used as a general term for the theater of God's final judgments on Israel's foes, with an allusion to the judgment inflicted on them by Jehoshaphat.”

You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, to send them far from their homeland.

“Grecians--literally, "Javanites," that is, the Ionians, a Greek colony on the coast of Asia Minor who were the first Greeks known to the Jews. The Greeks themselves, however, in their original descent came from Javan (Ge 10:2, 4).”

Come quickly, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves. Bring down Your mighty ones, O LORD.

“Rather, Joel speaks of God's really "mighty ones" in contrast to the self-styled "mighty men" (Joe 3:9; Isa 13:3; compare Da 10:13). AUBERLEN remarks: One prophet supplements the other, for they all prophesied only "in part."”

Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the Day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

“The prophet in vision seeing the immense array of nations congregating, exclaims, "Multitudes, multitudes!" a Hebraism for immense multitudes. valley of decision--that is, the valley in which they are to meet their "determined doom."”

Egypt will become desolate, and Edom a desert wasteland, because of the violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood.

“Egypt under Shishak spoiled Jerusalem under Rehoboam of the treasures of the temple and the king's house; subsequently to the captivity, it inflicted under the Ptolemies various injuries on Judea. Antiochus spoiled Egypt (Da 11:40-43). Edom was made "desolate" under the Maccabees [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 12.11,12].”