Joel 2:9
in Joel 2They storm the city; they run along the wall; they climb into houses, entering through windows like thieves.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They leap upon the city; they run upon the wall; they climb up into the houses; they enter in at the windows like a thief.
KJV
They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.
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This verse in Joel 2
Commentary
9 notes on this verseRuns 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.
This site's exposition
Before their face the people shall be much pained
on Joel 2:6-9
Before their face the people shall be much pained, all faces gather blackness, a description of terror that reads equally of a village facing locusts or of a village facing an army, which is the crux the commentators return to across the chapter. Verses 7 through 9 describe a discipline no ordinary insect swarm needs named for it, they shall not break their ranks, neither shall one thrust another, each marching in his own path, and older commentators from Jerome forward have taken the military precision as figurative language for the locusts' own uncanny orderliness rather than proof of a human army. They shall enter in at the windows like a thief closes the description on total, unstoppable penetration, no threshold able to keep the invader out.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(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.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
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.
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-18/28-anchored-1-11
); when Egypt was plagued with locusts, they filled Pharaoh's houses and the houses of his servants, Exod. x. The locusts out of the bottomless pit, Satan's emissaries, and missionaries of the man of sin, do as these locusts. God's judgments too, when they come with commission, cannot be kept out with bars and bolts; they will find or force their way.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
They shall run to and fro in the city,....
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,
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
When God sends forth his command on earth his word runs very swiftly, Ps. cxlvii. Angels have wings, and so have locusts, when God makes use of them. Here is the terrible execution done by this formidable army, 1.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
They shall run to and fro in the city - “The city” is questionless Jerusalem. So to the Romans, “the city” meant Rome; to the Athenians, Athens; among ourselves, “town” or “the city” are idiomatic names for the whole of London or “the city of London.” In Wales “town” is, with the country people, the neighboring town with which alone they are familiar. There is no ambiguity in the living language. In Guernsey, one who should call Port Pierre by any other name than “the town,” would betray himself to be a stranger.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
the heavens tremble —Because of the retribution coming upon Israel, they quake and tremble.
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
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בָּעִ֣יר | bair | on the city | H5892 → | |
| יָשֹׁ֗קּוּ | yashoku | they rush | H8264 → | |
| בַּֽחוֹמָה֙ | bachomah | on the wall | H2346 → | |
| יְרֻצ֔וּן | yerutzun | they run ! | H7323 → | 103 times |
| בַּבָּתִּ֖ים | babatim | in the houses | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יַעֲל֑וּ | yaalu | they go up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| בְּעַ֧ד | bead | through | H1157 → | |
| הַחַלּוֹנִ֛ים | hachalonim | the windows | H2474 → | |
| יָבֹ֖אוּ | yavou | they go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| כַּגַּנָּֽב׃ | kaganav | like <the> thief | H1590 → |
בָּעִ֣ירon the city
bairH5892 →
יָשֹׁ֗קּוּthey rush
yashokuH8264 →
בַּֽחוֹמָה֙on the wall
bachomahH2346 →
יְרֻצ֔וּןthey run !
yerutzunH7323 →103 times
בַּבָּתִּ֖יםin the houses
babatimH1004 →2046 times
יַעֲל֑וּthey go up
yaaluH5927 →890 times
בְּעַ֧דthrough
beadH1157 →
הַחַלּוֹנִ֛יםthe windows
hachalonimH2474 →
יָבֹ֖אוּthey go
yavouH935 →2568 times
כַּגַּנָּֽב׃like <the> thief
kaganavH1590 →
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
John 10:1“Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.
it leads to
- Matthew 7:15
Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
- John 10:8–10
All who came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
- 1 John 4:1
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.
- Romans 16:18
For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
- Hebrews 5:4
No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was.
- Matthew 7:15
Through
Jeremiah 9:21For death has climbed in through our windows; it has entered our fortresses to cut off the children from the streets, the young men from the town squares.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 6:11
But I am full of the LORD’s wrath; I am tired of holding it back. “Pour it out on the children in the street, and on the young men gathered together. For both husband…
- Jeremiah 6:11
Through
Exodus 10:6They will fill your houses and the houses of all your officials and every Egyptian—something neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen since the day they came into this land.’” Then Moses turned…
it leads to
- Exodus 8:21
But if you will not let My people go, I will send swarms of flies upon you and your officials and your people and your houses. The houses of the Egyptians and even the…
- Exodus 8:3
The Nile will teem with frogs, and they will come into your palace and up to your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and your people, and into your…
- Exodus 8:21
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
About Joel
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, Commentaries on the Twelve; Jerome, Commentary on Joel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.