Joel 2:31
in Joel 2The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh.
KJV
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.
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This verse in Joel 2
Commentary
14 notes on this verseFurther, 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.
This site's exposition
And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth
on Joel 2:30-32
Blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke, with the sun turned into darkness and the moon into blood, is quoted by Peter as belonging to the same Pentecost announcement, though its fulfillment the commentators generally place nearer the day of the Lord itself than the day of the outpouring, a distinction Peter's own sermon holds without resolving. Before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come marks these signs as its herald rather than the day itself, language the New Testament reuses for both the aftermath of Christ's first coming and a still future consummation, positions named across the tradition and not adjudicated here. Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered is quoted twice in the New Testament, at Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13, Paul reading it as the gospel's own universal offer, salvation opened to whosoever rather than reserved to a single nation, the chapter's own furthest reach.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
Blessed Peter used this text in speaking to Jews on the occasion of the descent of the Holy Spirit. And rightly so, since the law contained a shadow of all things to come, whereas the people were granted care owing to the expectation of what …
The people, then, call this day "the new sun," and although they say that it is new, yet they also show that it is old. This world's sun—which undergoes eclipse, is shut out by walls and is hidden by clouds—I would call old. I would …
True is the word of Scripture that says, "I will turn the sun into darkness and the moon into blood." It demonstrates that he is the Lord of the luminaries and of their lightening and darkening. This stands as a reproach to the sun worshipers …
This is Joel the second in order who was privileged to prophesy concerning the mystery of the Lord Christ, for he speaks thus (chap. ii, 28-32): And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your …
For just as man is said to perish, according to the text, "The just perishes, and no one takes it to heart," and this is said, though the resurrection is expected, so we look for a resurrection of the heavens. "The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood." Let the converts from the Manichaeans be instructed and no longer make the luminaries their gods or impiously think that this sun that is darkened is Christ. Listen to the Lord's words: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away," for the master's creatures are less precious than his words.
7 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 28 and following) And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
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.
There is a great and terrible day of the Lord coming, which shall be ushered in with wonders in heaven and earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke, the turning of the sun into darkness and the moon into blood. This is to have its full accomplishment (as the learned Dr. Pocock thinks) in the day of judgment, at the end of time, before whic
Here we have God contending with his own professing people for their sins and executing upon them the judgment written in the law ( Deut. xxviii. 42 ), The fruit of thy land shall the locust consume, which was one of those diseases of Egypt that God would bring upon them, v. 60 . Here is the war proclaimed (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The sun shall be turned into darkness - The Jewish polity, civil and ecclesiastical, shall be entirely destroyed. Before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come - In the taking and sacking of Jerusalem, and burning of the temple, by the Romans, under Titus, the son of Vespasian. This was, perhaps, the greatest and most terrible day of God’s vengeance ever shown to the world, or that ever will be shown, till the great day of the general judgment. For a full view of this subject, I wish to refer the reader to the notes on Matthew 24.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Before the great and terrible Day of the Lord come - o: “The days of our life are our days wherein we do what we please; that will be the “Day of the Lord,” when He, our Judge, shall require the account of all our doings. It will be “great,” because it is the horizon of time and eternity; the last day of time, the beginning of eternity. It will put an end to the world, guilt, deserts, good or evil. It will be “great,” because in it great things will be done.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ | hashemesh | the sun | H8121 → | 134 times |
| יֵהָפֵ֣ךְ | yehafekh | it will be changed | H2015 → | |
| לְחֹ֔שֶׁךְ | lechoshekh | into darkness | H2822 → | |
| וְהַיָּרֵ֖חַ | vehaiyareach | and the moon | H3394 → | 27 times |
| לְדָ֑ם | ledam | into blood | H1818 → | 360 times |
| לִפְנֵ֗י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| בּ֚וֹא | bo' | comes | H935 → | 2568 times |
| י֣וֹם | yom | [the] day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הַגָּד֖וֹל | hagadol | <the> great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| וְהַנּוֹרָֽא׃ | vehanora' | and <the> awesome | H3372 → | 315 times |
הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙the sun
hashemeshH8121 →134 times
יֵהָפֵ֣ךְit will be changed
yehafekhH2015 →
לְחֹ֔שֶׁךְinto darkness
lechoshekhH2822 →
וְהַיָּרֵ֖חַand the moon
vehaiyareachH3394 →27 times
לְדָ֑םinto blood
ledamH1818 →360 times
לִפְנֵ֗י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
בּ֚וֹאcomes
bo'H935 →2568 times
י֣וֹם[the] day of
yomH3117 →2304 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הַגָּד֖וֹל<the> great
hagadolH1419 →526 times
וְהַנּוֹרָֽא׃and <the> awesome
vehanora'H3372 →315 times
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
Malachi 4:5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
it leads to
- Luke 1:17
And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to…
- Matthew 17:10–13
The disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
- Mark 9:11–13
And they asked Jesus, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
- Luke 1:17
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.
- 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.
- Amos 8:9
Through
Malachi 4:1“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of…
it leads to
- 2 Thessalonians 1:8
in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
- 2 Peter 3:7
And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
On this verse
About Joel
This page draws on 14 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); Basil of Caesarea, HOMILIES ON THE HEXAEMERON 6:4; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 5; Cyril of Jerusalem, CATECHETICAL LECTURE 15:3; Eznik of Kolb, ON GOD 315–16; Jerome, Commentary on Joel; John Calvin, Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Maximus of Turin, SERMON 62:2 and Theodore of Mopsuestia, COMMENTARY ON JOEL 2:28–32.