Joel 2:10
in Joel 2Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The earth quaketh before them; the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
KJV
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:
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This verse in Joel 2
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThe 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.
This site's exposition
The earth shall quake before them
on Joel 2:10-11
The earth shall quake before them, the heavens shall tremble universalizes the plague's effect from Judah's fields to the sky itself, sun, moon, and stars withdrawing their light, language the New Testament reuses again for the day of the Lord. The Lord shall utter his voice before his army names the invader's true commander, whatever army is meant, locust or human, it marches at his voice and not merely by nature's course. The question that ends verse 11, who can abide it, receives no answer in the text, and the chapter turns at once from description to appeal.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Chapter 2 — Verses 1 onwards) Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like the dawn spreading over the mountains, a large and strong people appears, such as has never been before and will never be again in generations to come. Before them, a devouring fire; behind them, a blazing flame.
What, then, is the vanity, and what the lie? The holy apostle of the Lord, reprehending the Greeks, will show thee: "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and changed the glory of God into the likeness of corruptible man, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator." And verily this is the God who "in the beginning made the heaven and the earth." But you do not know God, and worship the heaven, and how shall you escape the guilt of impiety?
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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.
An earnest call to repentance, ver. 12-17. A promise of all good things to the penitent, ver. 18-27. A prophecy of the Messiah's kingdom, ver. 28-32.
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A serious call to the people, when they are under this sore judgment, to return and repent, to fast and pray, and to seek unto God for mercy, with directions how to do this aright,
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
earth . . . quake before them--that is, the inhabitants of the earth quake with fear of them. heavens . . . tremble--that is, the powers of heaven (Mt 24:29); its illumining powers are disturbed by the locusts which intercept the sunlight with their dense flying swarms.
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A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The earth shall quake before them - “Not,” says Jerome, “as though locusts or enemies had power to move the heavens or to shake the earth; but because, to those under trouble, for their exceeding terror, the heaven seems to fall and the earth to reel. But indeed, for the multitude of the locusts which cover the heavens, sun and moon shall be turned into darkness, and the stars shall withdraw their shining, while the cloud of locusts interrupts the light, and allows it not to reach the earth.” Yet the mention of moon and stars rather suggests that something more is meant than the locusts, who, not flying by night except when they cross the sea, do not obscure either. Rather, as the next verse speaks of God’s immediate, sensible, presence, this verse seems to pass from the image of the locusts to the full reality, and to say that heaven and earth should shake at the judgments of God, before He appeareth. Our Lord gives the same description of the forerunners of the Day of Judgment; “there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring, people’s hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven shall be shaken” Luk 21:25-26.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
the heavens tremble —Because of the retribution coming upon Israel, they quake and tremble.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And the Lord gave forth (upon them) His voice —by the statement of His prophets prior to His sending this host of His.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לְפָנָיו֙ | lefanav | <to> before it | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| רָ֣גְזָה | ragezah | it trembles | H7264 → | |
| אֶ֔רֶץ | ʾeretz | [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| רָעֲשׁ֖וּ | raashu | they shake | H7493 → | |
| שָׁמָ֑יִם | shamayim | [the] heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| שֶׁ֤מֶשׁ | shemesh | sun | H8121 → | 134 times |
| וְיָרֵ֙חַ֙ | veyareach | and moon | H3394 → | 27 times |
| קָדָ֔רוּ | kadaru | they become dark | H6937 → | |
| וְכוֹכָבִ֖ים | vekhokhavim | and [the] stars | H3556 → | |
| אָסְפ֥וּ | ʾasefu | they withdraw | H622 → | 200 times |
| נָגְהָֽם׃ | nageham | brightness their | H5051 → |
לְפָנָיו֙<to> before it
lefanavH6440 →2123 times
רָ֣גְזָהit trembles
ragezahH7264 →
אֶ֔רֶץ[the] earth
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
רָעֲשׁ֖וּthey shake
raashuH7493 →
שָׁמָ֑יִם[the] heavens
shamayimH8064 →421 times
שֶׁ֤מֶשׁsun
shemeshH8121 →134 times
וְיָרֵ֙חַ֙and moon
veyareachH3394 →27 times
קָדָ֔רוּthey become dark
kadaruH6937 →
וְכוֹכָבִ֖יםand [the] stars
vekhokhavimH3556 →
אָסְפ֥וּthey withdraw
ʾasefuH622 →200 times
נָגְהָֽם׃brightness their
nagehamH5051 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 24:29Immediately after the tribulation of those days: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will…
it leads to
- Amos 8:9
And in that day, declares the Lord GOD, I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the daytime.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Joel 3:15
The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine.
- Isaiah 13:10
For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.
- Mark 13:24–25
But in those days, after that tribulation: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;
- Isaiah 24:23
The moon will be confounded and the sun will be ashamed; for the LORD of Hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His elders with great glory.
- Amos 8:9
Through
Acts 2:20The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and glorious Day of the Lord.
it leads to
- Matthew 24:29
Immediately after the tribulation of those days: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Peter 3:10
But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid…
- Matthew 24:29
Through
Isaiah 13:10For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.
it leads to
- Joel 2:31
The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
- Joel 2:31
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
About Joel
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on 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; Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Heathen; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Joel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.