translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: JOL

label: NET translator note

text: The word translated “trumpet” here (so most English versions) is the Hebrew שׁוֹפָר ( shofar ). The shophar was a wind instrument made from a cow or ram’s horn and used as a military instrument for calling people to attention in the face of danger or as a religious instrument for calling people to occasions of communal celebration.


text: Or “for.”


text: The phrase “It will be” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style.


text: Heb “darkness and gloom.” These two terms probably form a hendiadys here. This picture recalls the imagery of the supernatural darkness in Egypt during the judgments of the exodus ( Exod 10:22 ). These terms are also frequently used as figures (metonymy of association) for calamity and divine judgment ( Isa 8:22; 59:9 ; Jer 23:12 ; Zeph 1:15 ). Darkness is often a figure (metonymy of association) for death, dread, distress and judgment (BDB 365 s.v. חשֶׁךְ 3).


text: Heb “a day of cloud and darkness.”


label: NET textual note

text: The present translation here follows the proposed reading שְׁחֹר ( shÿkhor , “blackness”) rather than the MT שַׁחַר ( shakhar , “morning”). The change affects only the vocalization; the Hebrew consonants remain unchanged. Here the context calls for a word describing darkness. The idea of morning or dawn speaks instead of approaching light, which does not seem to fit here. The other words in the verse (e.g., “darkness,” “gloominess,” “cloud,” “heavy overcast”) all emphasize the negative aspects of the matter at hand and lead the reader to expect a word like “blackness” rather than “dawn.” However, NIrV paraphrases the MT nicely: “A huge army of locusts is coming. They will spread across the mountains like the sun when it rises.”


text: Heb “A huge and powerful people”; KJV, ASV “a great people and a strong.” Many interpreters understand to describe an invasion of human armies, either in past history (e.g., the Babylonian invasion of Palestine in the sixth century b.c. ) or in an eschatological setting. More probably, however, the language of this chapter referring to “people” and “armies” is a hypocatastic description of the locusts of chapter one. Cf. TEV “The great army of locusts advances like darkness.”


text: Heb “it will not be repeated for years of generation and generation.”


text: Heb “a fire devours before it.”


text: Heb “like the garden of Eden, the land is before them.”


text: Heb “and surely a survivor there is not for it.” The antecedent of the pronoun “it” is apparently עַם (’ am , “people”) of v. 2 , which seems to be a figurative way of referring to the locusts. K&D 26:191-92 thought that the antecedent of this pronoun was “land,” but the masculine gender of the pronoun does not support this.


text: Heb “Like the appearance of horses [is] its appearance.” sn The fact that a locust’s head resembles a miniature replica of a horse’s head has often been noticed. For example, the German word for locust ( Heupferd , “hay horse”) and the Italian word as well ( cavaletta , “little horse”) are based on this similarity in appearance.


text: Heb “like the sound of.” sn The repetition of the word of comparison (“like”) in vv. 4-7 should not go unnoticed. The author is comparing the locust invasion to familiar aspects of human invasion. If the preposition has its normal force here, it is similarity and not identity that is intended. In other words, locusts are being likened to human armies, but human armies are not actually present. On the other hand, this Hebrew preposition is also on occasion used to indicate exactitude, a function described by grammarians as kaph veritatis .


text: Heb “jostling” or “leaping.” There is question whether this pictures chariots rumbling over the mountains (e.g., 2 Sam 6:14,16 ; 1 Chr 15:29 ; Nah 3:2 ) or the locusts flying – or “leaping” – over the mountains (e.g., Job 21:11 ); see BDB 955 s.v. רָקַד .


text: Heb “sound.”


text: The phrase “the noise of” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is implied by the parallelism, so it has been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.


text: Heb “people.”


text: Heb “being arrayed of battle.”


text: Or “nations.”


text: Heb “before it.”


text: Heb “all faces gather beauty”; or “all faces gather a glow.” The Hebrew word פָּארוּר ( pa ’ rur ) is found in the OT only here and in Nah 2:11 . Its meaning is very uncertain. Some scholars associate it with a root that signifies “glowing”; hence “all faces gather a glow of dread.” Others associate the word with פָּרוּר ( parur , “pot”); hence “all faces gather blackness.” Still others take the root to signify “beauty”; hence “all faces gather in their beauty” in the sense of growing pale due to fear. This is the view assumed here.


text: Heb “run.”


text: Heb “men of battle.”


text: The translation reads יְעַבְּתוּן ( yÿ ’ abbÿtun ) for MT יְעַבְּטוּן ( yÿ ’ abbÿtun ). The verb found in MT ( עָבַט , ’ avat ) means “take or give a pledge” (cf. Deut 15:6, 8; 24:10 ) and does not fit the context. Some scholars have proposed various emendations: (1) יְעָוְּתוּן ( yÿ ’ avvÿtun , “they make crooked”); (2) יָטּוּן ( yattun , “they turn aside”); (3) יָעַוּוּן ( ya ’ avvun , “they err”); and (4) יְעָבְּתוּן (adopted in the present translation) from the root I עָבַת (’ avat , “to twist, pervert”) or II עָבַת (’ avat , “to change, abandon”). KBL adopt the latter option, but the only biblical evidence for this is the problematic reference in Joel 2:7 . Another option is to view it as a variant of the root חבט ( khavat , “turn aside from”), a meaning attested for the Arabic cognate. The difference in spelling would be due to the interchange of the guttural letters khet ( ח ) and ayin ( ע ). This may lay behind LXX rendering ἐκκλίνωσιν ( ekklinwsin ; cf. Syriac Peshitta nstwn and Vg declinabunt ). See S. F. Whitley, “ ‘bt in Joel 2, 7 ,” Bib 65 (1984): 101-2.


text: “each one does not crowd his brother.”


text: Heb “each warrior walks in his own course.”


text: Heb “they fall upon.” This line has been interpreted in two different ways: (1) although they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded (KJV), or (2) when they “burst through” the city’s defenses, they will not break ranks (RSV, NASB, NIV, NIrV).


text: Heb “missile” or “javelin.” This term appears to function as a synecdoche for the city’s defenses as a whole (cf. NASB, NIV, TEV). Some scholars instead understand the reference to be an aqueduct by which the locusts (or armies) entered the city.


text: Heb “dart about in.”


text: Or “they run upon its wall.”


text: Heb “trembles.”


text: Heb “gather their brightness.”


text: Heb “the Lord gives his voice.”


text: Heb “before his army.”


text: Heb “military encampment.”


text: Heb “very large.”


text: Heb “he makes his word powerful.”


text: Or “powerful.” Heb “great.”


text: ) has “bear.”


text: Heb “and great of loyal love.”


text: Heb “and he relents from calamity.”


text: Heb “turn” or “turn back.”


text: Heb “leave a blessing behind him.”


text: The phrase “for you to offer” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.


text: See the note on this term in 2:1 .


text: Heb “between the vestibule and the altar.” The vestibule was located at the entrance of the temple and the altar was located at the other end of the building. So “between the vestibule and the altar” is a merism referring to the entire structure. The priestly lament permeates the entire house of worship.


text: For the MT reading לִמְשָׁל ( limshol , an infinitive, “to rule”), one should instead read לְמָשָׁל ( lÿmashal , a noun, “to a byword”). While the consonantal Hebrew text permits either, the context suggests that the concern here is more one of not wanting to appear abandoned by God to ongoing economic depression rather than one of concern over potential political subjection of Israel (cf. v. 19 ). The possibility that the form in the MT is an infinitive construct of the denominative verb II מָשַׁל ( mashal , “to utter a proverb”) does not seem likely because of the following preposition (Hebrew בְּ [ bÿ ], rather than עַל [’ al ]).


text: Heb “Why will they say?”


text: The time-frame entertained by the verbs of v.18 constitutes a crux interpretum in this chapter. The Hebrew verb forms used here are preterites with vav consecutive and are most naturally understood as describing a past situation. However, some modern English versions render these verbs as futures (e.g., NIV, NASV), apparently concluding that the context requires a future reference. According to Joüon 2:363 §112.h, n.1 Ibn Ezra explained the verbs of Joel 2:18 as an extension of the so-called prophetic perfect; as such, a future fulfillment was described with a past tense as a rhetorical device lending certainty to the fulfillment. But this lacks adequate precedent and is very unlikely from a syntactical standpoint. It seems better to take the verbs in the normal past sense of the preterite. This would require a vantage point for the prophet at some time after the people had responded favorably to the Lord’s call for repentance and after the Lord had shown compassion and forgiveness toward his people, but before the full realization of God’s promises to restore productivity to the land. In other words, it appears from the verbs of vv. 18-19 that at the time of Joel’s writing this book the events of successive waves of locust invasion and conditions of drought had almost run their course and the people had now begun to turn to the Lord.


text: Heb “answered and said.”


text: Heb “Look! I am sending grain to you.” The participle used in the Hebrew text seems to suggest imminent action.


text: ) inserts “and you will eat” before “and you will be fully satisfied” (the reading of the MT, LXX).


text: Heb “his face to the eastern sea.” In this context the eastern sea is probably the Dead Sea.


text: Heb “and his rear to the western sea.” The western sea refers to the Mediterranean Sea.


text: The Hebrew text does not have “the Lord .” Two interpretations are possible. This clause may refer to the enemy described in the immediately preceding verses, in which case it would have a negative sense: “he has acted in a high-handed manner.” Or it may refer to the Lord , in which case it would have a positive sense: “the Lord has acted in a marvelous manner.” This is clearly the sense of the same expression in v. 21 , where in fact “the Lord ” appears as the subject of the verb. It seems best to understand the clause the same way in both verses.


text: Heb “beasts of the field.”


text: Heb “their strength.” The trees and vines will produce a maximum harvest, in contrast to the failed agricultural conditions previously described.


text: Heb “sons of Zion.”


text: Heb “be glad in the Lord your God.”


text: Normally the Hebrew word הַמּוֹרֶה ( hammoreh ) means “the teacher,” but here and in Ps 84:7 it refers to “early rains.” Elsewhere the word for “early rains” is יוֹרֶה ( yoreh ). The phrase here הַמּוֹרֶה לִצְדָקָה ( hammoreh litsdaqah ) is similar to the expression “teacher of righteousness” (Heb., מוֹרֶה הַצֶּדֶק , moreh hatsedeq ) found in the Dead Sea Scrolls referring to a particular charismatic leader, although the Qumran community seems not to have invoked this text in support of that notion.


text: Heb “caused to come down.”


text: Heb “I will restore to you the years.” sn The plural years suggests that the plague to which Joel refers was not limited to a single season. Apparently the locusts were a major problem over several successive years. One season of drought and locust invasion would have been bad enough. Several such years would have been devastating.


text: The term “your crops” does not appear in the Hebrew, but has been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.


text: Heb “you will surely eat and be satisfied.”


text: Heb “Now it will be after this.”


text: Heb “all flesh.” As a term for humanity, “flesh” suggests the weakness and fragility of human beings as opposed to God who is “spirit.” The word “all” refers not to all human beings without exception (cf. NAB, NASB “all mankind”; NLT “all people”), but to all classes of human beings without distinction (cf. NCV).


text: Heb “your old men will dream dreams.”


text: Or “in the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם ( shamayim ) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.


text: Heb “to blood,” but no doubt this is intended to indicate by metonymy the color of blood rather than the substance itself. The blood red color suggests a visual impression here – something that could be caused by fires, volcanic dust, sandstorms, or other atmospheric phenomena.


text: While a number of English versions render this as “saved” (e.g., NIV, NRSV, NLT), this can suggest a “spiritual” or “theological” salvation rather than the physical deliverance from the cataclysmic events of the day of the Lord described in the context.


text: For location see Map5-B1 ; Map6-F3 ; Map7-E2 ; Map8-F2 ; Map10-B3 ; JP1-F4 ; JP2-F4 ; JP3-F4 ; JP4-F4 .


text: Heb “deliverance”; or “escape.” The abstract noun “deliverance” or “escape” probably functions here as an example of antimeria, referring to those who experience deliverance or escape with their lives: “escaped remnant” or “surviving remnant” ( Gen 32:8; 45:7 ; Judg 21:17 ; 2 Kgs 19:30, 31 ; Isa 4:2; 10:20; 15:9; 37:31, 32 ; Ezek 14:22 ; Obad 1:17 ; Ezra 9:8, 13-15 ; Neh 1:2 ; 1 Chr 4:43 ; 2 Chr 30:6 ).


text: Heb “and among the remnant.”


text: The participle used in the Hebrew text seems to indicate action in the imminent future.