Joelchapter 2
32 verses · Joel · 9th century BC · The Twelve
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.
Introduction
Joel, The Twelve, Joel Overview.
Joel speaks again to Judah after the locust year, and the alarm he raises now comes from the temple mount. His hearers knew the ram's horn as the watchman's warning that an army was in sight. This chapter moves in two halves, the first a warning and a summons, the second the LORD's answer. Listen for the turn between them, where the prophet stops calling the people and the LORD begins to speak to them. Notice how far the promises reach by the end, past harvests and rain to every kind of person. The apostles read the last verses of this chapter as fulfilled in their own day.
Context
- Who
- A people being told the swarm was a rehearsal
- What
- A warning of an army that comes with the Day of the LORD, a call to return to God with the whole heart, and His answer of restored harvests and His Spirit poured out.
- Where
- Zion and the temple in Jerusalem, where the whole people are gathered before the altar.
- When
- The same uncertain setting as chapter 1, either about 835 to 800 BC or after the exile; Peter read the promise of the Spirit as fulfilled at Pentecost, about AD 30.
- Why
- To bring Judah back to a gracious God before the Day of the LORD, and to promise the restoration and the gift of the Spirit that follow.
Historical context
The horn blown in Zion is the alarm, the same instrument a watchman used when an army was sighted. Sounding it from the temple mount meant everyone in the city and the surrounding villages heard it at once.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
The army described in the middle is a swarm seen closely, and the details are accurate. A locust's head really is shaped like a horse's, Arabic and Italian folk names for the insect say so, the sound of a swarm's wings over dry brush is a crackling roar, they climb walls and go in at windows because nothing stops them, and the sun genuinely dims behind a dense swarm.
The assembly is described by who must come, and the list is the point. Elders, children, nursing infants, and even the bridegroom out of his chamber and the bride out of her room, a wedding was the one occasion that excused a man from every public duty, including military service. Nothing is excused here.
The place named for the priests is architectural. In the temple courts, the porch of the sanctuary stood behind the great altar of burnt offering, and the strip of pavement between them was where officiating priests stood. Weeping there put them exactly between the people and the presence.
Significance
Rend your heart and not your garments is aimed at a culture where tearing your clothes was the visible, expected sign of grief. Joel does not forbid the gesture; he says the gesture is worthless if the heart underneath it is intact.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
Then the promise: the years the locust has eaten will be restored, the early and latter rains will come as before, and God will pour out his Spirit on all flesh, sons and daughters, old and young, male and female servants alike. Peter stood up on Pentecost and said the crowd was watching this happen. Read forward, the same chapter runs on to the day of the LORD, when the sun is darkened and the moon turned to blood before the Lord returns to reign, events the church still awaits.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
The site's own table in src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, probed for this lane, printed no weekly portion and no Haftarah from this chapter, and no festival reading for the book. The same probe printed 54 weekly portions and 6 festival readings in the table as a whole, and a search of the file for the name Joel printed 0. That table carries the Haftarah of each weekly portion and the books read whole at the feasts, and it carries nothing for the special Sabbaths or the fast days. This card therefore names no public reading of the chapter and leaves that question to a source that holds those readings.
The corpus ties the fifteenth verse to the tractate Taanit, at Jerusalem Talmud Taanit 1:6:2 and 2:1:6. It ties the gathering of the elders and the people in the sixteenth verse to Jerusalem Talmud Sotah 8:10:1. The corpus holds these locators without their text, so they are cited by ref alone. Rashi reads the shofar of the first verse as a warning, sounded "to announce to them that they should repent before the evil befalls them" (Rashi on Joel 2:1:1).
How it is read
Rashi is the one commentator on this chapter whose English the corpus carries. He is quoted here from The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, which Sefaria reports as CC-BY, and every quotation of it is held to fifty words or fewer because the translation is modern. His notes quote the verse in that translation's wording, and those words are never quoted here. The English chapter joins two Hebrew chapters. Its first twenty-seven verses are Hebrew Joel 2, and its last five are Hebrew Joel 3:1 to 5. Every ref below keeps the Hebrew number the corpus prints, with the English verse named beside it where the two part.
The army of the opening verses Rashi reads as the locusts again. They spread over the mountains as the dawn spreads over the world, and "They destroy everything as though a fire consumes before them and a flame blazes after them" (Rashi on Joel 2:2:1 and 2:3:1). At the ninth verse he sets two readings of one verb side by side. His own reads it as the din of the host, and he reports that "Jonathan , however, renders it as an expression of arms" (Rashi on Joel 2:9:1). The heavens tremble at the tenth verse "Because of the retribution coming upon Israel" (Rashi on Joel 2:10:1). The voice of the Lord at the eleventh is given "by the statement of His prophets prior to His sending this host of His" (Rashi on Joel 2:11:1).
The thirteenth verse, on rending the heart, draws two explanations in one note. In the first God speaks, "for I do not pay heed to the rending of your garments". In the second the rending of the heart spares the mourner: "Rend your hearts and you will not need to rend your garments because of mourning" (Rashi on Joel 2:13:1). The one who knows at the fourteenth verse is the one who knows "that he is guilty of iniquity" (Rashi on Joel 2:14:1).
The eighteenth verse, where the Lord is zealous for His land, he reads first as compassion. "Their distress entered His heart, and He fought their battle and engaged in their necessities". He then gives the reading of the Sages from Sotah 3a, in which the word is a warning: "He warned the locusts concerning His land" (Rashi on Joel 2:18:1). The northerner of the twentieth verse carries three readings in his note. It may be the host of locusts. It may be "The people that come from the north, viz., the kings of Assyria". The Sages in Sukkah 52a read it as the temptation hidden in a person's heart. They take the word from the root for what is hidden (Rashi on Joel 2:20:1).
The promises that follow he reads as conditional on return. The land need not fear "when you repent" (Rashi on Joel 2:21:1). The teacher of the twenty-third verse is "Your prophets who teach you to return to Me, in order to justify you" (Rashi on Joel 2:23:1). The corpus holds no commentary entry on this chapter past the twenty-fourth verse.
The last five verses of the English chapter are Hebrew Joel 3. Rashi reads the word afterwards as "in the future" (Rashi on Joel 3:1:1, English 2:28). All flesh he reads as "upon anyone whose heart becomes soft as flesh", and he sets it beside the heart of flesh promised in Ezekiel 36:26 (Rashi on Joel 3:1:2, English 2:28). The darkened sun of the fourth verse is meant "to embarrass those who prostrate themselves to the sun" (Rashi on Joel 3:4:1, English 2:31). At the last verse he asks where the Lord said what the verse says He said. He answers from Deuteronomy 28:10, and names the Mekhilta on Exodus 12:25 as the source of the answer (Rashi on Joel 3:5:1, English 2:32). The one the Lord calls he reads as one invited, "an expression of those invited to a banquet or to the service of the king" (Rashi on Joel 3:5:3, English 2:32).
Rashi's other notes on the chapter are short glosses on single words and phrases. They stand at Rashi on Joel 2:4:1, Rashi on Joel 2:5:1, Rashi on Joel 2:6:1, Rashi on Joel 2:7:1, Rashi on Joel 2:8:1, Rashi on Joel 2:16:1 and Rashi on Joel 2:17:1. The rest stand at Rashi on Joel 2:19:1, Rashi on Joel 2:24:1, Rashi on Joel 3:3:1 (English 2:30) and Rashi on Joel 3:5:2 (English 2:32).
The corpus carries further notes on this chapter without an English text, each marked linked because Sefaria holds no English version of the ref. They stand cited and unquoted at Ibn Ezra on Joel 2:12:1, Ibn Ezra on Joel 2:15:1 and Ibn Ezra on Joel 2:22:1. On Hebrew Joel 3 they stand at Ibn Ezra on Joel 3:1:1 (English 2:28), Ibn Ezra on Joel 3:2:1 (English 2:29) and Ibn Ezra on Joel 3:3:1 (English 2:30). They stand at Ibn Ezra on Joel 3:4:1 (English 2:31), Ibn Ezra on Joel 3:5:1 (English 2:32), Metzudat David on Joel 3:1:1 (English 2:28) and Metzudat David on Joel 3:2:1 (English 2:29) as well. They stand at Metzudat David on Joel 3:3:1 (English 2:30), Metzudat David on Joel 3:4:1 (English 2:31), Radak on Joel 3:1:1 (English 2:28) and Radak on Joel 3:2:1 (English 2:29) as well. They stand at Radak on Joel 3:3:1 (English 2:30), Radak on Joel 3:4:1 (English 2:31), Radak on Joel 3:5:1 (English 2:32) and Malbim on Joel 3:2:1 (English 2:29) as well. They stand at Malbim on Joel 3:3:1 (English 2:30) and Malbim on Joel 3:4:1 (English 2:31) as well.
What the rabbis say
The corpus carries 78 rabbinic locators on this chapter and the text of none, so each is cited and linked here rather than quoted. On the first verse it holds Midrash Tehillim 121:1 and Pesikta Rabbati 40:1. On the second verse it holds Midrash Sekhel Tov, Shemot 10:15:2 and Midrash Sekhel Tov, Shemot 10:5:2. On the fourth verse it holds Midrash Lekach Tov, Exodus 10:14:1. On the ninth verse it holds Pesikta Rabbati 21:1 and Pesikta Rabbati, Supplement A 2:9. On the tenth verse it holds Eikhah Rabbah 1:23 and Eikhah Rabbah 3:10.
On the eleventh verse it holds Midrash Lekach Tov, Genesis 45:3:1 and Midrash Lekach Tov, Genesis 49:9:1. On the twelfth verse it holds Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Tractate Shirah 1:23 and Tanna DeBei Eliyahu Rabbah 14:2. On the thirteenth verse it holds Avot DeRabbi Natan 17:8 and Avot DeRabbi Natan, Recension B 30:5. On the fourteenth verse it holds Midrash Tanchuma, Vayikra 8:1. On the fifteenth verse it holds Jerusalem Talmud Taanit 1:6:2 and Jerusalem Talmud Taanit 2:1:6.
On the sixteenth verse it holds Jerusalem Talmud Sotah 8:10:1 and Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Tractate Shirah 1:24. On the seventeenth verse it holds Otzar Midrashim, Midrashim of Rabbi Akiba, Aleph Bet of Rabbi Akiba (Version 2) 40 and Shemot Rabbah 46:4. On the eighteenth verse it holds Bamidbar Rabbah 9:12 and Ein Yaakov, Sotah 1:3. On the nineteenth verse it holds Bereshit Rabbah 63:14 and Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 111:5. On the twentieth verse it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Sukkah 5:6 and Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Sukkah 5:7.
On the twenty-first verse it holds Midrash Aggadah, Leviticus 25:1:1 and Midrash Tehillim 138:2. On the twenty-second verse it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Ketubot 13:22 and Ein Yaakov, Ketubbot 13:19. On the twenty-third verse it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Taanit 1:8 and Ein Yaakov, Taanit 1:11. On the twenty-fourth verse it holds Midrash Tannaim on Deuteronomy 11:14:16. On the twenty-fifth verse it holds Midrash Lekach Tov, Exodus 10:4:3.
On the twenty-sixth verse it holds Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Bereshit 17. On the twenty-seventh verse it holds Devarim Rabbah 1:14.
The five verses of Hebrew Joel 3 carry their own run. On Hebrew 3:1, English 2:28, it holds Aggadat Bereshit 67:3, Bamidbar Rabbah 15:25, Devarim Rabbah 6:14, Eikhah Rabbah 2:8, Eikhah Rabbah 4:14, Midrash Lekach Tov, Genesis 6:12:3 and Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Beha'alotcha 28:1. It holds Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Miketz 4:4, Midrash Tanchuma, Beha'alotcha 16:1, Midrash Tanchuma, Miketz 2:6 and Midrash Tehillim 138:2 there as well. On Hebrew 3:2, English 2:29, it holds Kohelet Rabbah 2:8:1. On Hebrew 3:3, English 2:30, it holds Midrash Lekach Tov, Deuteronomy 13:2:1, Midrash Lekach Tov, Deuteronomy 26:8:1, Midrash Lekach Tov, Exodus 11:9:2, Midrash Lekach Tov, Exodus 4:17:2 and Midrash Sekhel Tov, Shemot 11:9:7. It holds Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Bo 6:1, Midrash Tanchuma, Bo 4:4, Midrash Tannaim on Deuteronomy 26:8:6, Otzar Midrashim, Baraita of Samuel HaKatan 1:10 and Otzar Midrashim, Midrash Vayosha ('And He Saved') 5:1 there as well. It holds Pesikta DeRav Kahana 7:11 there as well. On Hebrew 3:4, English 2:31, it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Sanhedrin 11:15, Midrash Sekhel Tov, Bereshit 45:5:3 and Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Bereshit 12:1. It holds Otzar Midrashim, Midrashim of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, Prayer of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai 9 and Sukkah 29a:11 there as well. On Hebrew 3:5, English 2:32, it holds Chullin 133a:15, Ein Yaakov, Khullin 10:3, Ein Yaakov, Sanhedrin 11:13, Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 9:1:18, Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 9:1:19 and Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 9:1:20. It holds Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Tractate Pischa 12:28, Midrash Lekach Tov, Numbers 24:17:1, Midrash Sekhel Tov, Bereshit 46:14:1 and Midrash Tannaim on Deuteronomy 11:22:33 there as well.
The corpus also anchors two locators at Joel 2:28 and Joel 2:32, numbers past the twenty-seven verses of the Hebrew chapter that stand only in the English numbering. It holds Midrash Tehillim 14:7 at the first and Midrash Tehillim 4:3 at the second, and they are listed here as the corpus prints them. What each of them teaches is a saying of the rabbis, and is reported as theirs wherever this site quotes one. The quotations wait on a fetch that carries the text.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Joel 2:1:1 to 3:5:3, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, reported CC-BY; Ibn Ezra, Ibn Ezra on Joel 2:12:1, 2:15:1, 2:22:1, 3:1:1, 3:2:1, 3:3:1, 3:4:1, 3:5:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; Metzudat David, Metzudat David on Joel 3:1:1, 3:2:1, 3:3:1, 3:4:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; Radak, Radak on Joel 3:1:1, 3:2:1, 3:3:1, 3:4:1, 3:5:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; Malbim, Malbim on Joel 3:2:1, 3:3:1, 3:4:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; The Sefaria corpus, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/joel/2.json and 3.json, the 78 Talmud and Midrash locators of Hebrew Joel 2 and Hebrew Joel 3:1 to 5; The site's own files, src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, printing no portion and no Haftarah for this chapter and no festival reading for this book.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Blow the trumpet: an army spread like dawn on the mountains
Joel 2:1-2
Blow the ram’s horn in Zion: The alarm "Blow the ram’s horn in Zion" sounds as a battle signal on the holy mountain, for "the Day of the LORD is coming". Verse 2 stacks four words for darkness, "darkness and gloom" and "clouds and blackness", and calls the army one "such as never was of old".
Joel 2:1
“Blow ye the trumpet - The trumpet was accustomed to sound in Zion, only for religious uses; to call together the congregations for holy meetings, to usher in the beginnings of their months and their solemn days with festival gladness. Now in Zion itself, the stronghold of the kingdom, the Holy City, the place which God chose to put His Name there, which He had promised to establish, the trumpet was to be used, only for sounds of alarm and fear. Alarm could not penetrate there, without having pervaded the whole land.”
2 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Joel 2:1
“Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain,.... This is spoken to the priests, whose business it was to blow the trumpets for calling solemn assemblies to meet in Zion, the temple built there, called from thence the holy mountain of God.”
Joel 2:1
“By the law many annual feasts were appointed, but only one day in the year was to be observed as a fast, the day of atonement, a day to afflict the soul; and, if they had kept close to God and their duty, there would have been no occasion to observe any more; but now that they had by sin brought the judgments of God upon them they are often called to fasting.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
a day of darkness and gloom: Four words for darkness are stacked to describe the day. A dense swarm of locusts can dim the sun, and Clarke quotes a traveller who saw such swarms in North Africa in 1724 and 1725. The army is called greater than any before or after it.
Joel 2:2
“A day of darkness, etc - The depredations of the locusts are described from the second to the eleventh verse, and their destruction in the twentieth. Dr. Shaw, who saw locusts in Barbary in 1724 and 1725, thus describes them: - “I never observed the mantes, bald locusts, to be gregarious. But the locusts, properly so called, which are so frequently mentioned by sacred as well as profane writers, are sometimes so beyond expression.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Joel 2:3-5
Before them a fire devours: The line "Before them a fire devours, and behind them a flame scorches" pictures the swarm's approach and its wake. The likeness "Their appearance is like that of horses" is one observers of locusts have long drawn, the insect's head being shaped like a horse's.
Joel 2:3
“A fire - The Chaldeans, as a fire shall utterly consume all things. Behind them - What is left behind is as burnt with a flame. As Eden - Fruitful and pleasant.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Joel 2:3
“A fire devoureth before them ... - Travelers, of different nations and characters, and in different lands, some unacquainted with the Bible words, have agreed to describe under this image the ravages of locusts. : “They scorch many things with their touch.” : “Whatever of herb or leaf they gnaw, is, as it were, scorched by fire.” : “Wherever they come, the ground seems burned, as it were with fire.” : “Wherever they pass, they burn and spoil everything, and that irremediably.””
Their appearance is like that of horses: The verse compares the swarm to horses and swift steeds. A locust's head is shaped much like a horse's, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that Italians name the insect after the horse. Job 39:20 draws the likeness from the other side.
Joel 2:4
“The appearance of horses - The head of the locust is remarkably like that of the horse; and so Ray on Insects describes them: Caput oblongum, equi instar, prona spectans - “They have an oblong head, like to that of a horse, bending downward.” On this account the Italians call them cavaletta, cavalry. Bochart remarks, from an Arabic writer, that the locusts resemble ten different kinds of animals: 1. The Horse in its head. 2. The Elephant in its eyes. 3. The Bull in its neck. 4. The Stag in its horns. 5. The Lion in its breast.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Joel 2:4
“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. run--The locust bounds, not unlike the horse's gallop, raising and letting down together the two front feet.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
With a sound like that of chariots: Three sounds describe the swarm: chariots, crackling fire and an army drawn up for battle. Albert Barnes gathers reports from witnesses who heard locusts in flight from miles away. The hearers met the noise before the swarm.
Joel 2:5
“Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains shall they leap - The amazing noise of the flight of locusts is likened by those who have heard them, to all sorts of deep sharp rushing sounds. One says , “their noise may be heard six miles off.” Others , “within a hundred paces I heard the rushing noise occasioned by the flight of so many million of insects.”
1 more voice on this verse
Joel 2:5
“Like the noise of chariots--referring to the loud sound caused by their wings in motion, or else the movement of their hind legs. on the tops of mountains--MAURER connects this with "they," that is, the locusts, which first occupy the higher places, and thence descend to the lower places.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Joel 2:6-9
Nations writhe in horror before them: The terror of verse 6, "every face turns pale", reads as well of a village facing locusts as of one facing an army. Verses 7 to 9 describe a soldier's discipline, "Each one marches in formation", each set as a likeness, "like mighty men".
Joel 2:6
“All faces shall gather blackness - Universal mourning shall take place, because they know that such a plague is irresistible.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
They charge like mighty men: The swarm moves like trained soldiers. They scale city walls as easily as open ground and keep their line. Albert Barnes reads them as creatures sent on God's errand, pressing on to the end of their course.
Joel 2:7
“They shall run like mighty men - They are on God’s message, and they linger not, “but rejoice to run their course” Psa 19:5. “The height of walls cannot hinder the charge of the mighty; they enter not by the gates but over the walls” , as of a city taken by assault. People can mount a wall few at a time; the locusts scale much more steadily, more compactly, more determinately, and irresistibly. The picture unites the countless multitude, condensed march, and entire security of the locust with the might of warriors.”
They do not jostle one another: Each keeps its own line, and none crowds its neighbour as people in a great crowd do. Adam Clarke notes their hard casing and the uselessness of every defence raised against them. Weapons change nothing.
Joel 2:8
“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].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Joel 2:8
“They shall not be wounded - They have hard scales like a coat of mail; but the expression refers to the utter uselessness of all means to prevent their depredations. See Shaw’s account above.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
They storm the city: The invasion reaches the houses. John Wesley notes that running along the wall and searching houses suits soldiers plundering a captured city. Locusts do enter by windows, so the verse holds both pictures at once.
Joel 2:9
“Runs to and fro - This seems not proper to these insects, but it well suits with soldiers, that conquer a city and search all places for plunder. Run upon the wall - To clear the wall of all the besieged. The houses - Either forsaken by the inhabitants, or defended by such as are in them.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Joel 2:10-11
Before them the earth quakes: The words "Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble" carry the plague from Judah's fields to the sky. "The LORD raises His voice in the presence of His army", so whatever army is meant marches at his word. Its closing question, "Who can endure it", is left unanswered.
Joel 2:10
“The earth shall quake - the heavens shall tremble - Poetical expressions, to point out universal consternation and distress. The earth quaked to see itself deprived of its verdure; the heavens trembled to find themselves deprived of their light. The sun and the moon shall be dark - Bochart relates that “their multitude is sometimes so immense as to obscure the heavens for the space of twelve miles!” - Ibid. p. 479.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Joel 2:10
“The earth shall quake before them,.... The inhabitants of it, because of the desolating judgments they bring with them, and those enemies that are signified by them: the heavens shall tremble; being obscured by them: the sun and moon shall be dark; the locusts sometimes come in such large numbers as to intercept the rays of the sun.”
Joel 2:10
“But, though this is to be understood figuratively, there is a day coming when it will be accomplished in the letter, when the heavens shall be rolled together like a scroll, and the earth, and all the works that are therein, shall be burnt up. Particular judgments should awaken us to think of the general judgment.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
The LORD raises His voice: The verse names who commands the army. The LORD gives the order and the swarm carries it out, and John Gill notes that Arabic writers called the locusts the army of God. The closing question is left for verse 12 to answer.
Rend your heart and not your garments
Joel 2:12-14
The call "return to Me with all your heart" comes as the LORD's own word, and the book turns on it. "So rend your hearts and not your garments" sets the heart against the custom of tearing clothes. The words "He may turn and relent" leave the outcome open.
So rend your hearts: Tearing one's garments was the common sign of grief in Israel, as at Genesis 37:34. Albert Barnes reads the command as heart and garments together, with the heart first. The reason given is the LORD's own character, declared at Exodus 34:6.
Joel 2:13
“Devout fasting has a very great value for gaining the mercy of God and for strengthening human frailty. We know this from the teaching of holy prophets, dearly beloved. They insist that the arousal of divine justice—which the people of Israel frequently brought upon themselves in punishment for their wickedness—could not be placated except by fasting. Joel the prophet warns us in saying, "The Lord God says these things: 'Turn to me with all your heart, in fasting, in weeping and in mourning. Rend your hearts, and not your garments.”
Leo the Great · written before 461 · SERMON 88:1patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Joel 2:13
“And rend your heart, and not your garments,.... Which latter used to be done in times of distress, either private or public, and as a token of grief and sorrow, Gen 37:34; nor was it criminal or unlawful, the apostles themselves used it, Act 14:14; nor is it absolutely forbidden here, only comparatively, that they should rend their hearts rather than their garments; or not their garments only, but their hearts also; in like sense as the words in Hos 6:6; are to be taken as rending garments was only an external token of sorrow and might be done hypocritically.”
Joel 2:13
“And rend your hearts and not your garments - that is, “not your garments only” (see the note at Hos 6:6). The rending of the clothes was an expression of extraordinary uncontrollable emotion, chiefly of grief, of terror, or of horror. At least, in Holy Scripture it is not mentioned as a part of ordinary mourning, but only upon some sudden overpowering grief, whether public or private . It was not used on occasion of death, unless there were something very grievous about its circumstances.”
Who knows?: Joel leaves the outcome with God. He hopes for mercy and names the blessing he hopes for, grain and drink offerings for the temple again. John Wesley explains God's return as His giving again the blessings He had withheld.
Joel 2:14
“He will return - God doth not move from one place to another; but when he withholds his blessings, he is said to withdraw himself. And so when he gives out his blessing, he is said to return. And leave a blessing behind him - Cause the locusts to depart before they have eaten up all that is in the land.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Let the priests weep between the porch and the altar
Joel 2:15-17
Blow the ram’s horn in Zion: The call to "consecrate a fast" repeats 1:14 and widens it. The priests weep "between the portico and the altar", praying "Spare Your people, O LORD". Their plea "Where is their God" appeals to the LORD's name among the nations, as Moses pleaded after the golden calf at Exodus 32:12.
Joel 2:15
“Since, as I said, there are many kinds of proclamations, let us listen to the trumpet blast of the prophet: "Blow a trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast." This is a warning trumpet, and it earnestly commands us that when we fast, we should do it in a holy manner, for God is holy and has pleasure in his holy people. Not everyone, however, who calls upon God honors him. Some defile him—although they don't actually defile him: that's impossible. But they do defile their own consciences concerning him.”
Athanasius of Alexandria · written before 373 · Festal Letters 1patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Joel 2:15
“Blow the trumpet in Zion,.... For the calling of the people together to religious duties, which was one use of the silver trumpets made for and blows by the priests, Num 10:2; sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly; See Gill on Joe 1:14.”
Joel 2:15
“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).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Gather the people: Every age and every household is called to the assembly. A newly married man was normally released from public duty, as Deuteronomy 24:5 allows. Here even the bridegroom must leave his room, with the elders and the infants at the breast.
Joel 2:16
“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). closet--or, nuptial bed, from a Hebrew root "to cover," referring to the canopy over it.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
ConnectionsPsalms 19:5
Let the priests who minister before the LORD weep: The priests stand between the portico and the altar, where they served between the people and the sanctuary. Their prayer appeals to the LORD's name among the nations. Matthew Henry recalls that Zechariah was killed in this same place, as Matthew 23:35 records.
Joel 2:17
“Who will cry aloud, "Spare your people, O Lord, and do not give your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them"? Noah, Job and Daniel stood together as men of prayer. Who will pray for us, that we might have a slight respite from warfare and recover ourselves?”
Gregory of Nazianzus · written before 390 · In Defense of His Flight to Pontus, Oration 2:89patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Joel 2:17
“It was between the porch and the altar that Zechariah the son of Jehoiada was put to death for his faithfulness; that precious blood God would require at their hands, and therefore, to turn away the judgment threatened for it, there they must weep. Words here are put into their mouths, which they might in their prayers enlarge upon.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Restoring the years the locust has eaten
Joel 2:18-20
Then the LORD became jealous for His land: The words "Then the LORD became jealous for His land, and He spared His people" mark the turn the chapter has driven toward. The driving of "The northern army" has been read as the locust host swept into the seas and as a real invading army.
Joel 2:18
“Then will the Lord be jealous for His land - Upon repentance, all is changed. Before, God seemed set upon their destruction. It was His great army which was ready to destroy them; He was at its head, giving the word. Now He is full of tender love for them, which resents injury done to them, as done to Himself. The word might more strictly perhaps be rendered, “And the Lord is jealous” .”
1 more voice on this verse
Joel 2:18
“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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
And the LORD answered His people: The LORD's answer begins with the very things the locusts took. Grain, new wine and oil are promised back, the three losses named at 1:10. Albert Barnes reads the answer as proof that the people did repent.
Joel 2:19
“I will send you corn ... - This is the beginning of the reversal of the threatened judgments. It is clear from this, and still more from what follows, that the chastisements actually came, so that the repentance described, was the consequence, not of the exhortations to repentance, but of the chastisement. What was removed was the chastisement which had burst upon them, not when it was ready to burst. What was given, was what before had been taken away.”
The northern army I will drive away: The northern army is driven into a barren land and into the eastern and western seas. Its stench rises where it dies. Matthew Henry recalls the locusts of Egypt swept into the Red Sea at Exodus 10:19.
Joel 2:20
“When Egypt was eased of the plague of locusts they were carried away to the Red Sea, Exod. x. Note, When an affliction has done its work it shall be removed in mercy, as the locusts of Canaan were from a penitent people, not as the locusts of Egypt were removed, in wrath, from an impenitent prince, only to make room for another plague.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Joel 2:20
“I will remove far off from you the northern army - “That is, the locusts; which might enter Judea by the north, as Circassia and Mingrelia abound with them. Or the locusts may be thus called, because they spread terror like the Assyrian armies, which entered Judea by the north. See Zep 2:13.” - Newcome.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Joel 2:21-24
Do not be afraid, O land: The words "Do not be afraid, O land" turn the address from the people to the land itself. Verse 23 promises "both autumn and spring rains", the rain for sowing and the rain for ripening together. "The threshing floors will be full of grain" answers the losses of 1:10.
Joel 2:21
“Fear not, O land - Before, they were bidden to tremble Joe 2:1, now they are bidden, “fear not;” before, “to turn in weeping, fasting and mourning;” now, “to bound for joy and rejoice;” before, “the land mourned;” now, “the land is bidden to rejoice.” The enemy had “done great things;” now the cause of joy is that God had “done great things;” the Almightiness of God overwhelming and sweeping over the might put forth to destroy.”
1 more voice on this verse
Joel 2:21
“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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Do not be afraid, O beasts of the field: The beasts that groaned at 1:18 and 1:20 are now comforted. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note the reversal, the pastures they lacked springing green again. The trees that withered at 1:12 bear fruit once more.
Joel 2:22
“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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Be glad, O children of Zion: The children of Zion are told to be glad and rejoice, for the autumn and spring rains are given as before. John Wesley explains the autumn rain as softening the ground for sowing and the spring rain as ripening the crop. Some older versions read a teacher of righteousness here.
Joel 2:23
“Be glad then, ye children of Zion,.... The people of the Jews, and especially the spiritual and believing part of them; such as were born again, that were born of Zion, and born in Zion, and brought up by her, and in her; the children of that Zion or Jerusalem that is the mother of us all; and who were looking for the Messiah, and to whom it would be good news and glad tidings to hear of his coming, Zec 9:9; and rejoice in the Lord your God; not in any creature or creature enjoyment, but in the Lord.”
4 more voices on this verse
Joel 2:23
“Be glad then and rejoice in the Lord your God - All things had been restored for their sakes; they were to rejoice, not chiefly in these things, but in God; nor only in God, but in the Lord their God. “For He hath given you the former rain moderately.” The word rendered “moderately” should be rendered “unto righteosness;” the word often as it occurs never having any sense but that of “righteousness;” whether of God or man.”
Joel 2:23
“The former rain - The autumn rain which is needful to mellow the earth and fit it to receive the corn. The latter rain - Needful to bring forward and ripen the fruits, accounted the latter rain because these husbandmen and vine-dressers reckoned from seed time to spring and harvest. The first month - That is, our March.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Joel 2:23
“But others understand it of any prophet that instructs unto righteousness, and some of Hezekiah particularly, others of Isaiah. Note, It is a good sign that God has mercy in store for a people when he sends them teachers of righteousness, pastors after his own heart.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Joel 2:23
“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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
The threshing floors will be full of grain: The threshing floor and the wine vat were where the year's harvest was measured. Both run over. The grain, new wine and oil lost at 1:10 return in the same order.
Joel 2:25-27
I will repay you for the years: The promise "I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts" measures restoration in years as well as crops. The LORD calls the swarm "My great army that I sent against you", so the instrument of judgment is named as his own.
Joel 2:25
“And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten - The order in which these destroyers are named not being the same as before, it is plain that the stress is not on the order, but on the successiveness of the inroads, scourge after scourge.”
1 more voice on this verse
Joel 2:25
“Though, in justice, he distrained upon them, and did them no wrong, yet, in compassion, he makes restitution; as the father of the prodigal, upon his return, made up all he had lost by his sin and folly, and took him into his family, as in his former estate.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
You will have plenty to eat: The hunger of chapter 1 ends in plenty, and the people who are satisfied praise the name of the LORD. Matthew Henry notes that some read these promises also as a picture of the satisfaction believers find in the covenant of grace. The shame of 2:17 is lifted.
Joel 2:26
“Some expositors understand these promises figuratively, as pointing at gospel-grace, and having their accomplishment in the abundant comforts that are treasured up for believers in the covenant of grace and the satisfaction of soul they have therein.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Then you will know that I am present in Israel: The gift behind the harvest is the LORD's presence among His people. Matthew Henry notes that knowing the LORD was the burden of the threatenings in Ezekiel and is here the crown of the promises. The pledge against shame is given twice.
Joel 2:27
“It was the burden of the threatenings in Ezekiel's prophecy, Such and such evils I will bring upon you, and you shall know that I am the Lord; and the same is here made the crown of the promises: You shall eat, and be satisfied, and rejoice, and thus you shall know that I am the Lord.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh
Joel 2:28-29
I will pour out My Spirit: The promise "I will pour out My Spirit on all people" is the passage Peter quoted at Pentecost, Acts 2:16-21. "Your sons and daughters", "your old men", "your young men" and "menservants and maidservants" are named together, the Spirit given across sex, age and rank.
Joel 2:28
“Shall prophesy - This was in part fulfilled according to the letter in the first days of the gospel; but the promise means farther, by pouring out of the spirit on your sons and your daughters, they shall have as full a knowledge of the mysteries of God's law, as prophets before time had. Shalt dream dreams - This also was literally fulfilled in the apostles days.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
4 more voices on this verse
Joel 2:28
“Shall come to pass afterward - אחרי כן acharey ken, “after this;” the same, says Kimchi, as in the latter days, which always refers to the days of the Messiah; and thus this prophecy is to be interpreted: and we have the testimony of St. Peter, Act 2:17, that this prophecy relates to that mighty effusion of the Holy Spirit which took place after the day of pentecost. Nor is there any evidence that such an effusion took place, nor such effects were produced, from the days of this prophet till the day of pentecost.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Joel 2:28
"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). Besides this, probably, a special gift of prophecy and miracle-working is to be given at or before Messiah's coming again.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Joel 2:28
“That was the gift of the Spirit, which, according to this prediction, was to come, and we are not to look for any other, any more than for another accomplishment of the promise of the Messiah. The blessing itself here promised is the pouring out of the Spirit of God, his gifts, graces, and comforts, which the blessed Spirit is the author of.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Joel 2:28
“And it shall come to pass afterward,.... After the teacher of righteousness has been sent, and a plentiful rain of the Gospel has been let down in the land of Judea, in the ministry of John the Baptist, Christ and his apostles, and such a comfortable enjoyment of the blessings of grace in it, and the knowledge of God by it; and after the wonderful work of redemption wrought by Christ. R.”
Cross references
Joel 2:28
- Quoted inActs 2:16“No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:”
touto estin to eiremenon dia tou prophetou ('this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel'), the demonstrative fulfillment frame 'this is that', Peter at Pentecost; eiremenon = perf. pass. participle of g2046
- Quoted inActs 2:17“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.”
'I will pour out of my Spirit', Peter at Pentecost ('this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel')
Even on My menservants and maidservants: Servants had no standing of their own in an ancient household. Albert Barnes reads the verse as God declaring beforehand that He shows no favouritism by rank. Men and women servants receive the same Spirit.
Joel 2:29
“And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour my Spirit. Men servants and maidservants should partake of the gifts and grace of the Spirit in great, abundance; and many of them were effectually called by grace, through the ministry of the word; and some servants became ministers of it; all which appears from 1Co 7:21; for that is not true what the Jews (p) say, the Shechinah or divine Majesty does not rest but upon a wise man, and one mighty and rich; or prophecy, as Maimonides (q) has it. (p) T. Bab.”
1 more voice on this verse
Joel 2:29
“And also upon the servants - God tells beforehand that he would be no respecter of persons. He had said, that He would endow every age and sex. He adds here, and every condition, even that of slaves, both male and female. He does not add here, that they shall prophesy.”
Joel 2:30-32
I will show wonders in the heavens: Peter quotes these signs at Pentecost, "blood and fire and columns of smoke". They come "before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD". The promise that "everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved" is quoted at Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13.
Joel 2:30
“Wonders in the heavens and in the earth - This refers to those dreadful sights, dreadful portents, and destructive commotion, by which the Jewish polity was finally overthrown, and the Christian religion established in the Roman empire. See how our Lord applies this prophecy, Mat 24:29 (note), and the parallel texts.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
Joel 2:30
“Wonders - They who read what historians report of these times, will see this fulfilled in the very letter. Blood - Possibly eruption of blood, as some fountains have been reported to have run with blood, prefiguring the great effusion of blood by the sword, and wars following.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Joel 2:30
“Further, the Lord has announced to us that at the dissolution of the universe, signs will appear in the sun, in the moon and in the stars. The sun shall be turned into blood and the moon shall not give her light, signs of the consummation of all things.”
Basil of Caesarea · written before 379 · Homilies on the Hexaemeron 6:4patristic
Joel 2:30
“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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
The sun will be turned to darkness: The signs in the heavens come before the Day of the LORD. John Wesley reads the terrible day first as the fall of Jerusalem and then as a picture of the final judgment. Peter quotes this verse at Acts 2:20.
Joel 2:31
“The sun - Having mentioned the prodigies which were to be wrought on earth, he now specifies what shall be done in heaven. The terrible day - The unholy day of the destruction of Jerusalem; typifying the day of judgment.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved: Paul quotes this promise at Romans 10:13. Adam Clarke and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown both read the LORD here as Christ, from the verses around it in Romans. The remnant saved on Mount Zion is the one the LORD Himself calls.
Joel 2:32
“Return, then, to the Church, those of you who have wickedly separated yourselves. For He promises forgiveness to all who are converted, since it is written: "Whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved." And lastly, the Jewish people who said of the Lord Jesus, "He hath a devil," and "He casteth out devils through Beelzebub," and who crucified the Lord Jesus, are, by the preaching of Peter, called to baptism, that they may put away the guilt of so great a wickedness.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Concerning Repentance, Book 2, Chapter 4.26patristic
3 more voices on this verse
Joel 2:32
“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 of the last deliverance of the elect "remnant" of Israel from the final assault of Antichrist.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Joel 2:32
“Whosoever shall call - Who hearing the gospel repents and believes in Christ. Delivered - Either from those outward afflictions, or which is infinitely better from eternal miseries, which will swallow up the unbelieving world; "and it will aggravate the ruin of those who perish, that they might have been saved on such easy terms." Is it then easy for a non-elect to repent and believe?”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Joel 2:32
“Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord - כל אשר יקרא בשם יהוה col asher yikra beshem Yehovah, “All who shall invoke in the name of Jehovah.” That Christ is the Jehovah here mentioned appears plain from Rom 10:15, where the reader had better consult the notes. “This refers,” says Bp. Newcome, “to the safety of the Christians during the Jewish and the Roman war.” It may: but it has a much more extensive meaning, as the use of it by St. Paul, as above, evidently shows.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Cross references
Joel 2:32
- Quoted inRomans 10:13for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
'Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved'
ConnectionsRomans 10:13
How this psalm is built
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| The horn blown twice | The ram's horn sounds in Zion at verse 1 as an alarm and again at verse 15 as the call to a fast. The same instrument frames the warning and the summons, and the LORD's answer follows at verse 18.the text itself, Joel 2:1 and 2:15, counted in the Berean Standard Bible from the store. | Joel 2:1, Joel 2:15 |
| The losses of chapter 1 given back | The LORD's answer names back what chapter 1 lost. Grain, new wine and oil return at verse 19, the pastures and the beasts at verse 22, and the years eaten by the four locusts of 1:4 are repaid at verse 25. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown mark the reversal of the beasts' groaning at 1:18 and 1:20.Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871, on Joel 2:22. | Joel 2:19, Joel 2:22, Joel 2:25 |
How this chapter is built
1 more paragraph on the patterns
The chapter falls in two halves at verse 18. Verses 1 to 11 describe the army of the Day of the LORD, and verses 12 to 17 call the people back to God and gather them for a fast. From verse 18 the LORD speaks, and verses 19 to 27 restore the harvest. Verses 28 to 32 widen the promise to the Spirit poured on all people and to deliverance for everyone who calls on the LORD. The site's Joel guide names verse 18 as the hinge of the whole book.
Keep studying
Studies24
- The Twelve
- Revelation: the Canon's Closing Scroll
- The Day of the LORD: yom YHWH
- The Deity of Christ
- Eden
- How Prophecy Works
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Show the next 6 titles
Words12
Subjects1
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The context
John Calvin, Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentaries on the Twelve; John Calvin, Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.