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Joel Chapter
Two
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO JOEL 2
In
this chapter a further account is given of the judgment of the locusts and
caterpillars, or of those who are designed by them, Joel 2:1; the
people of the Jews are called to repentance, humiliation, and fasting, urged
from the grace and goodness of God, his jealousy and pity for his people, and
the answer of prayer that might he expected from him upon this, even to the
removal of the calamity, Joel 2:12; a
prophecy of good things, both temporal and spiritual, in the times of the Messiah,
is delivered out as matter and occasion of great joy, Joel 2:21; and
another concerning the effusion of the Spirit, which was fulfilled an the day
of Pentecost, Joel 2:28; and the
chapter is concluded with the judgments and desolations that should come upon
the land of Judea after this, for their rejection of Christ, though the remnant
according to the election of grace should be delivered and saved from the
general destruction, Joel 2:30.
Joel 2:1 Blow the
trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the
inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the Lord is coming, For
it is at hand:
YLT 1Blow ye a trumpet in Zion,
And shout ye in My holy hill, Tremble do all inhabitants of the earth, For
coming is the day of Jehovah, for [it is] near!
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. Here the trumpet is ordered
to be blown with a broken quivering voice, a tarantantara, to give notice of
approaching danger by the locusts, or those enemies signified by them, and to
prepare for it, and return to God by repentance;
let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; at the
judgments of God coming upon them, and the alarm of them:
for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; the time
fixed by him to punish a wicked people, and to pour out his wrath and vengeance
on them; the day of his visitation, not in love, but in anger.
Joel 2:2 2 A
day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, Like the
morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great
and strong, The like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be any such
after them, Even for many successive generations.
YLT 2A day of darkness and thick
darkness, A day of cloud and thick darkness, As darkness spread on the
mountains, A people numerous and mighty, Like it there hath not been from of
old, And after it there is not again -- till the years of generation and
generation.
A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick
darkness,.... Alluding to the gloomy and thick darkness caused by the
locusts, which sometimes come in prodigious numbers, like thick clouds, and
darken the air; so the land of Egypt was darkened by them, Exodus 10:15;
historians and travellers relate, as BochartF6Hierozoic. par. 2. l.
4. c. 5. p. 479. has shown, that these creatures will fly like a cloud, and
darken the heavens at noonday, cover the sun, and hinder the rays of it from
touching the earth; though all these phrases may be expressive of great
afflictions and calamities, which are often in Scripture signified by darkness,
as prosperity is by light; see Isaiah 8:22;
as the morning spread upon the mountains; as the
morning light, when it first appears, diffuses itself in a moment throughout
the earth, and is first seen on the tops of the mountainsF7"Postera
vix summos spargebat lumine montes Orta dies----", Virgil. Aeneid. 12. ;
so these locusts, and this calamity threatened, should suddenly and at once
come, and be spread over the whole land; and which could no more be resisted
than the morning light. The Vulgate Latin version renders it, in connection
with the next clause, "as the morning spread upon the mountains, a people
much and mighty"; but the accents will not admit of it; though it may seem
a little improper that the same thing should be as a dark day, and: the morning
light; wherefore Cocceius understands the whole of the day of Christ, which was
light to many nations, and darkness to the wicked Jews:
a great people and a strong; numerous and mighty,
many in number, mighty in strength; so the locusts are represented as a nation
and people for might and multitude, Joel 1:6; an emblem
of the Chaldeans and Babylonians, who were a large and powerful people:
there hath not been ever the like, neither shall any more after it,
even to the years
of many generations; that is, in the land of Judea; otherwise there might have been
the like before in other places, as in Egypt, and since in other countries.
Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi, account for it thus; that it was never known,
before or since, that four kinds of locusts came together; as for the plague of
Egypt, there was but one sort of them, they say; but it is best to understand
it of the like not having been in the same country: and such a numerous and
powerful army as that of the Chaldeans had not been in Judea, and made such
havoc and desolation as that did; nor would any hereafter, for many
generations, even until the Romans came and took away their place and nation.
Joel 2:3 3 A
fire devours before them, And behind them a flame burns; The land is
like the Garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness; Surely
nothing shall escape them.
YLT 3Before it consumed hath
fire, And after it burn doth a flame, As the garden of Eden [is] the land
before it, And after it a wilderness -- a desolation! And also an escape there
hath not been to it,
A fire devoureth before them, and behind them aflame burneth,.... This is
not to be understood of the heat of the sun, or of the great drought that went
before and continued after the locusts; but of them themselves, which were like
a consuming fire; wherever they came, they devoured all green grass, herbs, and
leaves of trees, as fire does stubble; they sucked out the juice and moisture
of everything they came at, and what they left behind shrivelled up and
withered away, as if it had been scorched with a flame of fire: and so the
Assyrians and Chaldeans, they were an emblem of, destroyed all they met with,
by fire and sword; cut up the corn and herbage for forage; and what they could
not dispense with they set fire to, and left it burning. Sanctius thinks this
refers to fire, which the Chaldeans worshipped as God, and carried before their
armies as a sacred and military sign; but this seems not likely:
the land is as the garden of Eden before them; abounding
with fields and vineyards, set with fruitful trees, planted with all manner of
pleasant plants, and all kind of corn growing upon it, and even resembling a
paradise:
and behind them a desolate wilderness; all green
grass eaten up, the corn of the field devoured, the vines and olives destroyed,
the leaves and fruit of them quite gone, and the trees themselves barked; so
that there was just the same difference between this country before the
calamities described came upon it, and what it was after, as between the garden
of Eden, or a paradise, and the most desolate wilderness; such ravages were
made by the locusts, and by those they resembled:
yea, and nothing shall escape them; no herb: plant, or tree,
could escape the locusts; nor any city, town, or village, nor scarce any
particular person, could escape the Chaldean army; but was either killed with
the sword, or carried captive, or brought into subjection. The Targum
interprets it of no deliverance to the ungodly.
Joel 2:4 4 Their
appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like swift steeds, so they
run.
YLT 4As the appearance of horses
[is] its appearance, And as horsemen, so they run.
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses,.... in their
running, as Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it; they came with, as much swiftness
and eagerness, with as much fierceness and courage, as horses rush into the
battle. BochartF8Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 4. c. 5. p. 474, 475. has
shown, from various writers, that the head of a locust is in shape like that of
a horse; and Theodoret on the text observes, that whoever thoroughly examines
the head of a locust will easily perceive that it is very like the head of a
horse; see Revelation 9:7. The
Chaldeans are often represented as strong and mighty, fierce and furious, and
riding on horses exceeding swift, Jeremiah 4:13;
and as horsemen, so shall they run; with great agility and
swiftness. The particle "as" is observed by some, against those
interpreters that apply this wholly to the enemies of the Jews, and not the
locusts; and it seems indeed best to favour them; but Theodoret observes, that
the "as" here may be taken, not as a note of similitude, but as used
for the increase and vehemency of the expression.
Joel 2:5 5 With
a noise like chariots Over mountaintops they leap, Like the noise of a flaming
fire that devours the stubble, Like a strong people set in battle array.
YLT 5As the noise of chariots,
on the tops of the mountains they skip, As the noise of a flame of fire
devouring stubble, As a mighty people set in array for battle.
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of that mountains shall
they leap,.... The motion of the locusts is leaping from place to place;
for which the locusts have legs peculiarly made, their hindermost being the
longest; wherefore PlinyF9Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 48. observes, that
insects which have their hindermost legs long leap locusts; to which agrees the
Scripture description of them: "which have legs above their feet, to leap
withal upon the earth; even those of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind",
Leviticus 11:21;
which words, as Dr. ShawF11Travels, p. 420. Ed. 2. , observes, may
bear this construction: "which have knees upon" or "above their hinder
legs, to leap withal upon the earth"; and he observes, that the הארבה, "locust", has the two hindermost of its
legs or feet much stronger, larger, and longer, than any of the foremost; in
them the knee, or the articulation of the leg and thigh, is distinguished by a
remarkable bending or curvature, whereby it is able, whenever prepared to jump,
to spring and raise itself with great force and activity; and this fitly
resembles the jumping of chariots on mountains and hills, which are uneven, and
usually have stones lie scattered about, which, with the chains and irons about
chariots, cause a great rattling; and the noise of locusts is compared to the
noise of these, which is represented as very great; some say it is to be heard
six miles off, as Remigius on the place; and Pliny saysF12Nat. Hist.
l. 11. c. 29. , they make such a noise with their wings when they fly, that
they are thought to be other winged fowls; see Revelation 9:9.
Chariots were made use of in war, and the Chaldeans are said to have chariots
which should come like a whirlwind, Jeremiah 4:13;
like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble; as they are
before compared to fire, and a flame of fire that devoured all things as easily
as the fire devours stubble, so here to the crackling noise of it; see Ecclesiastes 7:6;
as a strong people set in battle array: that is, as
the noise of a mighty army prepared for battle, just going to make the onset,
when they lift up their voices aloud, and give a terrible shout; for this
clause, as the other two, refer to the noise made by the locusts in their
march; an emblem of the terribleness of the Chaldeans in theirs, who were heard
before they were seen.
Joel 2:6 6 Before
them the people writhe in pain; All faces are drained of color.[a]
YLT 6From its face pained are
peoples, All faces have gathered paleness.
Before their face the people shall be much pained,.... Or,
"at their presence"; at the sight of them they shall be in pain, as a
woman in travail; into such distress an army of locusts would throw them, since
they might justly fear all the fruits of the earth would be devoured by them, and
they should have nothing left to live upon; and a like consternation and pain
the army of the Assyrians or Chaldeans upon sight filled them with, as they
expected nothing but ruin and destruction from them:
all faces shall gather blackness; like that of a pot, as
the wordF13פארור "fuliginem",
Montanus; "luridum ollae colorem", Tigurine version, Tarnovius;
"ollam pro nigore ollae", Drusius. signifies; or such as appears in
persons dying, or in fits and swoons; and this here, through fear and hunger; see
Nahum 2:10.
Joel 2:7 7 They
run like mighty men, They climb the wall like men of war; Every one marches in
formation, And they do not break ranks.
YLT 7As mighty ones they run, As
men of war they go up a wall, And each in his own ways they do go, And they
embarrass not their paths.
They shall run like mighty men,.... Like men of war, in
a hostile way, as soldiers run upon their enemy with undaunted courage and
bravery. Bochart from Pisidas describes the locusts' manner of fighting, who
says, they strike not standing, but running:
they shall climb the wall like men of war; scale the
walls of cities as besiegers do; walls and bulwarks cannot keep them out; all places
are accessible to them, walled cities, towns, yea, even houses, Exodus 10:6;
and they shall march everyone on his ways; in his proper
path, following one another, and keeping just distance:
and they shall not break their ranks; or
"pervert their ways", as the word signifies in the Arabic language,
as Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, observe; that is, decline not from their
paths, as the Septuagint version; proceed in an orderly way, keep rank and
file; so they are said to go forth in bands, Proverbs 30:27; and
to encamp, Nahum 3:17. Jerom
on the text relates what he saw with his own eyes:
"this
we lately saw (says he) in this province (Palestine); for when swarms of
locusts came, and filled the air between heaven and earth, they flew in such
order, by the disposition and command of God, that they kept their place like
chequered squares in a pavement fixed by the hands of artificers; so as not to
decline a point, nor even I may say a nail's breadth;'
they
keep as exact order as if military discipline was known and observed by them.
Some render it, "they shall not ask their way"F14לא יעבטון ארח־תאם
"non interrogabunt isti ab illo de semitis suis", some in
Vatablus, and others in Kimchi and Abendana. ; being unconcerned about it,
moving on in a direct line securely.
Joel 2:8 8 They
do not push one another; Every one marches in his own column.[b] Though
they lunge between the weapons, They are not cut down.[c]
YLT 8And each his brother they
press not, Each in his way they go on, If by the missile they fall, they are
not cut off.
Neither shall one thrust another,.... Press upon another,
thrust him out of his place, or push him forward, or any ways straiten and
distress him, or in the least hinder him in his progress:
they shall walk everyone in his path; or
"highway"F15במסלתו "per
aggerem suum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "via elevata",
Drusius; "via strata sua", Cocceius. ; everyone should have his path,
and keep in it, and it should be as roomy to him as if he had a highway to walk
in by himself, and in which he could not err:
and when they shall fall upon the sword; on which they
would pitch without any fear or dread of it:
they shall not be wounded: or "cut to
pieces"F16יבצעו "verbum
significat discidit", Amos ix. 1. Tarnovius, so Ben Melech. by it; it not
being easy for the sword to pierce and cut them, through the smoothness and
smallness of their bodies; see Revelation 9:9; and
besides, their numbers being so great, the loss of a few by the use of a sword,
or a dart, or any such flying projectile, as the wordF17בעד שלח "per missile",
Cocceius; so Bochartus, Castalio, Drusius, Burkius; "super missile",
Montanus. signifies, would be of little consequence, and avail very little to
the utter rout, or cutting of them in pieces. Kimchi observes that the word
signifies haters of gain; and to this sense Jarchi explains it; and so the
Targum,
"they
go to the place whither they are sent, they slay, and receive not mammon;'
they
are not, as other enemies, to be appeased by money, as Kimchi interprets it.
The Targum is, they are not to be bribed, as soldiers sometimes may be, and so
depart; see Isaiah 13:17; and
to this sense are other versionsF18"Non avari erunt",
Montanus; "nec lucro inhiant", Tigurine version; "non studebunt
avaritiae", so some in Vatablus. .
Joel 2:9 9 They
run to and fro in the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the houses, They
enter at the windows like a thief.
YLT 9In the city they run to and
fro, On the wall they run, Into houses they go up by the windows, They go in as
a thief.
They shall run to and fro in the city,.... Leap
about from place to place, as locusts do; see Isaiah 33:4; and as
the Chaldeans did when they became masters of the city of Jerusalem; they ran
about from place to place to seize upon their spoil and plunder:
they shall run upon the wall; which before they
climbed, now they shall run upon, and go from tower to tower, as the Chaldeans
did, and broke clown the walls and fortifications:
they shall climb up upon the houses, and enter in at the windows,
like a thief; so the locusts entered into the houses of the Egyptians, Exodus 10:6; and
Pliny saysF19Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 29. , they will eat through
everything, and even the doors of houses. Theodoret on the place observes, that
not only this may be done by enemies, what is here said,
"but
even we have often seen it done by locusts; for not only flying, but
even creeping up the walls, they enter into houses at the windows.'
Joel 2:10 10 The
earth quakes before them, The heavens tremble; The sun and moon grow dark, And
the stars diminish their brightness.
YLT 10At their face trembled hath
the earth, Shaken have the heavens, Sun and moon have been black, And stars
have gathered up their shining.
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. PlinyF20Ibid.
(Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 29.) says they sometimes darken it; and though some
thought they did not fly in the night, because of the cold; this he observes is
owing to their ignorance, not considering that they pass over wide seas to
distant countries; and this will account for it how the moon also may be
darkened by them, and the stars, as follows:
and the stars shall withdraw their shining; though all
this may be understood in a figurative sense of the great consternation that
all sorts of persons should be in at such calamities coming upon the land,
either by locusts, or by enemies; as the king, queen, nobles, and the common
people of the land, signified by sun, moon, and stars, heaven and earth.
Joel 2:11 11 The
Lord gives voice
before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who
executes His word. For the day of the Lord is great and very
terrible; Who can endure it?
YLT 11And Jehovah hath given
forth His voice before His force, For very great [is] His camp, For mighty [is]
the doer of His word, For great [is] the day of Jehovah -- very fearful, And
who doth bear it?
And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army,.... Either
the army of the locusts, whom PlinyF21Ibid. (Nat. Hist. l. 11. c.
29.) calls "pestis deorum", "the plague of the gods"; and
the Arabians frequently style them the army of God. It is a tradition of theirs
that locusts fell into the hands of Mahomet, with this inscription on their
backs and wings,
"we
are the army of the most high God;'
and
because they were, for that reason Mahomet made a law that none should kill
them; See Gill on Revelation 9:3.
These creatures are certainly at his beck and command; he can "command the
locust to devour the land", 2 Chronicles 7:13;
which may be meant by his uttering his voice here; though Jarchi and Kimchi
interpret it of the Lord's giving notice of this judgment by his prophets
before it fame: or this may design the army of the Assyrians or Chaldeans, of
which the locusts were all emblem, and which were of the Lord's mustering together,
and was at his command; and who is here represented as a General at the head of
his army, making a speech to them to animate and encourage them to the battle,
and to give them the word of command when to begin the onset:
for his camp is very great; or numerous, as both the
locusts and Chaldeans were:
for he is strong that executeth his word; or
"strong is it"; namely, the camp and army of the locusts; which,
though feeble in themselves, separately considered; yet being in such large
bodies, and the Lord at the head of them, and strengthened by him, were able to
fulfil his word; which he can make the least and meanest of his creatures do:
or the Assyrian or Chaldean army, which was both numerous and mighty: which the
Targum may refer unto, paraphrasing the words,
"for
strong are the executors of his word:'
for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible, and who
can abide it? the day appointed by the Lord to take vengeance on the Jews for
sin; and this, being the day of his wrath, is very dreadful and intolerable; so
any season may be called, in which God remarkably pours down his wrath on men
of their sins; see Revelation 6:17.
Such was the time of Jerusalem's destruction, both by the Chaldeans and Romans.
Joel 2:12 12 “Now,
therefore,” says the Lord,
“Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with
mourning.”
YLT 12And also now -- an
affirmation of Jehovah, Turn ye back unto Me with all your heart, And with
fasting, and with weeping, And with lamentation.
Therefore also now, saith the Lord,.... Before this terrible
and intolerable day, which is near at hand, comes; before these judgments and
calamities threatened take place, though just at hand; serious repentance is
never too late, now is the accepted time; see Luke 19:42;
turn ye even to me with all your heart; against whom
they had sinned, and who had prepared his army against them, and was at the
head of it, just ready to give the orders, and play his artillery upon them;
and yet suggests, that even now, that if they turned to the Lord by true
repentance, not, feignedly and hypocritically, but cordially and sincerely,
with true hearts, and with their whole hearts, he was ready to receive and
forgive them. The Targum is,
"turn
ye to my worship with all your heart:'
and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning; external signs
of inward grief and sorrow, testifying their hearty return to the Lord; which,
though, without the heart, signify nothing, yet should be shown where hearty
repentance is, for the honour and glory of God.
Joel 2:13 13 So
rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, For
He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And
He relents from doing harm.
YLT 13And rend your heart, and
not your garments, And turn back unto Jehovah your God, For gracious and
merciful [is] He, Slow to anger, and abundant in kindness, And He hath repented
concerning the evil.
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, Genesis 37:34; nor
was it criminal or unlawful, the apostles themselves used it, Acts 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 Hosea 6:6; are to
be taken as rending garments was only an external token of sorrow and might be
done hypocritically. Where no true repentance was, the Lord calls for that,
rather than the other; and that they would show contrition of heart and
brokenness of spirit under a sense of sin, and in the view of pardoning grace
and mercy; which is here held forth, to influence godly sorrow and evangelical
repentance; the acts of which, flowing from faith in Christ are much more
acceptable to the Lord than any outward expressions of grief; see Psalm 51:17. The
Targum is,
"remove
the wickedness of your heart but not with the rending of your meats;'
the
rending of the garment goes to the heart some say to the navelF23T.
Bab. Moed Katon, fol. 26. 2. :
and turn unto the Lord your God; consider him not as an
absolute God, and as an angry one, wrathful and inexorable; but as your
covenant God and Father as your God in Christ, ready to receive backsliding
sinners and prodigal sons; yea all sinners sensible of sin that flee to him for
mercy through Christ:
for be is gracious and merciful; he is the God
of all grace, and has laid up a fulness of it in Christ; and he gives it freely
to them that ask it of him without upbraiding them with their sins; he is rich
and plenteous in mercy, and ready to forgive; be delights in showing mercy, and
in them that hope in it; and this is no small encouragement to turn to the
Lord, and seek mercy of him: and, besides, he is
slow to anger; he is not hasty to stir it up, and show it;
he bears with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath; and his longsuffering to
his own people issues in their salvation: he waits to be gracious to them; and,
though he may seem to be angry, he does not stir up all his wrath their sins
deserve nor does he retain anger for ever:
and of great kindness; both in a providential
way, and in a way of special grace through Christ; whom he has provided as a
Saviour, and sent him into the world as such, and saves sinners by obedience
sufferings, and death: these characters of God are taken out of Exodus 34:6; and
are admirably adapted to engage and encourage sensible souls to turn to the
Lord by acts of faith in him, and repentance towards him; see Isaiah 55:7; and it
is added,
and repenteth him of the evil; which the sins of men
deserve; and he has threatened on account of them; not that he ever changes the
counsels of his will, but alters the course of his providence, and the manner of
his conduct towards men, according to his unalterable repentance otherwise does
not properly belong to God, Numbers 23:19; but
is ascribed to him after the manner of men; and is used to express his
compassion men; how ready he is to receive and forgive returning sinners and
not execute the threatened and deserved evil and to bestow all needful good;
see Jonah 3:10. The
Targum is,
"and
he recalls his word from bringing on the evil.'
Joel 2:14 14 Who
knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him— A
grain offering and a drink offering For the Lord your God?
YLT 14Who knoweth -- He doth turn
back, Yea -- He hath repented, And He hath left behind Him a blessing, A
present and libation of Jehovah your God?
Who knoweth if he will return and repent,.... Which
some understand of man, and of his returning and repentance; either thus
whosoever he be that knows the ways of repentance, he will return, and God will
repent of this evil: which sense is mentioned by Kimchi and Ben Melech: or he
that knoweth that iniquity is on him will return and repent; so Jarchi, with
which agrees the Targum,
"he
that knows that sins are in him will return from them, and he shall obtain
mercy; and whoever repents, his sins shall be forgiven him;'
but
rather they are to be understood of God, as some in Kimchi, and paraphrase it,
who knows? perhaps God may return; and this is the sense of Aben Ezra, and
seems to be most correct; and to be interpreted, either as carrying some doubt
in it; not as if it was questionable whether God will give pardon to repenting
sinners, but whether he will at once remove the present affliction and
chastisement; which may be thus expressed to check the presumption and awaken
the security of the people, and rouse them from their sluggishness and
stupidity: or rather as expressive of hope that God would return and change the
dispensation of his providence, and repent of the evil he had threatened, or
brought upon them; which might be justly grounded upon the character before
given of him, and that from the revelation of himself, and the proclamation of his
own perfections; see Jonah 3:9;
and leave a blessing behind him; meaning not behind God
himself, as if he was departed, or about to depart, for which there was no
great concern, provided he left a temporal blessing with them; but behind the
army of the locust, after that had made all the devastation it did: or rather
"cause to leave"; stop the locust in its progress, and not suffer it
to make a total desolation, but cause it to leave some of the fruits of the
earth behind it. So Aben Ezra gives the sense of the words,
"perhaps
God will return, and cause the locust to leave a blessing;'
and
to the same purpose Jarchi, of which they make a meat offering and a drink
offering, as follows:
even a meat
offering and a drink offering to the Lord your God; at least
leave so much of the wheat, that a meat offering might be made of it; and so
many of the vines, as that so much wine might be produced by them as would
furnish out a drink offering to be offered to the Lord, agreeably to the laws
given about these; for which the greatest concern is expressed, this being cut
off and withheld from the house of the Lord, by reason of the present scarcity,
Joel 1:9; which
shows a truly pious and religious mind, having more at heart the worship of God
than themselves and families.
Joel 2:15 15 Blow
the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly;
YLT 15Blow ye a trumpet in Zion,
Sanctify a fast -- proclaim a restraint.
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, Numbers 10:2;
sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly; See Gill on Joel 1:14.
Joel 2:16 16 Gather
the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children
and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride
from her dressing room.
YLT 16Gather the people, sanctify
an assembly, Assemble the aged, Gather infants and sucklings of the breasts, Go
out let a bridegroom from his inner chamber, And a bride out of her closet.
Gather the people,.... The common people, all the inhabitants
of the land, Joel 1:14; summon
them to meet together in the temple, in order to humble themselves before God
for their sins, and implore his mercy, and seek his face to remove his
judgments, or avert them:
sanctify the congregation; see that they are
sanctified and prepared for a fast, as the law directs in such cases; that they
may be clean and free from all ceremonial impurities; that their bodies and
clothes be washed, and that they abstain from their wives, and from all lawful
pleasures, as well as sinful ones:
assemble the elders; both in age and
authority; that they, by their presence and example, might influence others to
attend such a service:
gather the children and those that suck the breast; who were
involved in the common calamity and distress, were obliged to fasting and whose
cries might affect parents, and engage them the more to humiliation and
repentance for their sins, which brought such, miseries, not only upon
themselves, but upon their tender infants; and they might think their cries
would move the pity and compassion of God; all which is suggested in the note
of Kimchi:
let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of
her closet; where they are adorning themselves and preparing for an
interview with each other; or where they are enjoying each other's embraces and
the pleasures of the matrimonial state. The sense is, let them put off their
nuptial robes, and deny themselves their lawful pleasures, and betake themselves
to fasting mourning, and prayer; see 1 Corinthians 7:5.
This refers to a custom among the Jews at the time of espousals when the
bridegroom and bride were introduced into the nuptial chamber, where the
marriage was completed; and, according to the Jewish writes it was not finished
before: the blessing of the bridegroom and bride did not complete the marriage
but the bringing of them into the chamber did; and then they were said to he
married, though as yet they had not cohabited and then, and not before a man
might enjoy his wifeF24Maimon. Hilchot Ishot, c. 10. sect. 2, 4.
Schulchan Aruch, par. 2. Eben Hezer, c. 55. sect. 2, 3. : and the marriage
chamber was nothing else but a linen cloth or garment spread upon four poles
over the head of the bridegroom and bride; this they called חופה
F25R. Elias Levita, Tishbi in חפה p. 119.
; the word is here rendered a "closet" and the same with the
"chamber"; and their leaving and coming out of this signifies their
abstaining from the lawful enjoyment of each other, which now they had a right
unto.
Joel 2:17 17 Let
the priests, who minister to the Lord, Weep between the porch
and the altar; Let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord, And do not
give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why
should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
YLT 17Between the porch and the
altar weep let the priests, ministrants of Jehovah, And let them say: `Have
pity, O Jehovah, on Thy people, And give not Thy inheritance to reproach, To
the ruling over them of nations, Why do they say among peoples, Where [is]
their God?'
Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch
and the altar,.... Not the altar of incense which stood in the holy place; but
the altar of burnt offering, where the priests used to stand and do service;
but now having nothing to do of that kind, they are called upon to weep and
pray between that and the porch of the temple; where they might be seen and
heard by the people in the outward court which the porch led into: this is
thought by some to be the same situation with that between the temple and the
altar, Matthew 23:35;
and let them say, spare thy people, O Lord; they are
directed to plead, not in a way of justice, but mercy; that though it might be
just with God to destroy these people, who were called by his name; yet it is
entreated that he would not, but in mercy spare them, and not cut them off in
his sore displeasure, which the present judgment threatened them with: there
seems to be an argument for mercy suggested, in the relation these people stood
in to God, they are "thy people", whom thou hast chosen, and who are
called by thy name; though this was also an aggravation of their sin; and the
same may be observed in what follows:
and give not thine heritage to reproach: the people
whom he had chosen for his inheritance, and the land of Canaan he had given to
them for an inheritance; both which would be given to reproach if such a famine
should ensue that they must be obliged to go into other countries for food:
that the Heathen should rule over them; as they
would, should they be forced to leave their own country, and settle in theirs
for the sake of food: or "to be a proverb", or "byword, among
the Heathen", as Jarchi. This clause Jerom thinks opens the mystery, and
explains who are meant by the mighty nation under the name of locusts, the
enemies of the Jews; though this does not necessarily follow, take the words in
either sense, as explained: it seems indeed very likely, that though the
locusts may be understood literally, yet may be considered as an emblem of the
Assyrian or Chaldean army, as we have all along observed; and, as the same
ancient writer observes, when we read of the locusts, we should think of the
Chaldeans, in which thought we may be confirmed by this clause:
wherefore should they say among the people, where is their
God? they boast of as their Creator and Benefactor, their Protector
and Defender, that gave them a land flowing with milk and honey, and abounding
with all blessings? what is become of that? and where is he now? which the
Gentiles would say in a reproaching blaspheming way, should they be reduced to
famine by the locusts, or fall into the hands of their enemies; than which kind
of reproach and blasphemy there is nothing more cutting to religious minds: see
Psalm 42:10; and
this, as well as the former is used as an argument with God for mercy. The
Targum is,
"where
are they that are redeemed by the Word of your God?'
Joel 2:18 18 Then
the Lord
will be zealous for His land, And pity His people.
YLT 18And let Jehovah be zealous
for His land, And have pity on His people.
Then will the Lord be jealous for his land,.... Or
"zealous" for it; for the honour of it, and the good of its
inhabitants, and for the glory of his own name, it being the chief place in the
world for his worship and service; and his indignation will be moved against
those who have brought desolation on it:
and pity his people; as a father his
children, who had suffered much, and had been reduced to great distress by the
locusts, or by their enemies: this the prophet foretells would be done upon
their repentance, fasting, prayers, and tears; or, as some think, this is a
narrative of what had been done, and the prophet was a witness of; that the
people meeting together with their princess and priests, and humbling
themselves before the Lord, and crying to him, he expressed a zeal and
compassion for them, and delivered them out of their troubles; for though their
humiliation is not expressed, it may be understood and supposed, as doubtless,
it was fact.
Joel 2:19 19 The
Lord will answer
and say to His people, “Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, And
you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the
nations.
YLT 19Let Jehovah answer and say
to His people, `Lo, I am sending to you the corn, And the new wine, and the
oil, And ye have been satisfied with it, And I make you no more a reproach
among nations,
Yea, the Lord will answer and say unto his people,.... By his
prophets, as Kimchi: or, "the Lord answered and said"F1ויען "et respondit", Piscator, Drusius, Burkius.
; while they were praying and weeping, or as soon as they cried unto him; or,
however, praying to him, they might assure themselves that he heard them, and
would answer them both by words and deeds:
behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil; that is,
cause the earth to bring forth corn, as wheat and barley, and the vines and
olive trees to bring forth grapes and olives, from which wine and oil might be
made: this is, according to some interpreters, to be understood of an abundance
of spiritual blessings:
and ye shall be satisfied therewith; or, "with it";
with each and every of the above things, corn, wine, and oil; they should not
only have them, but have enough of them, even to satiety:
and I will no more make you a reproach among the Heathen; for want of
food, and as if forsaken of God. The Targum is,
"and
I will not give you any more the reproaches of famine among the people;'
see
Joel 2:17.
Joel 2:20 20 “But
I will remove far from you the northern army, And will drive him away
into a barren and desolate land, With his face toward the eastern sea And his
back toward the western sea; His stench will come up, And his foul odor will
rise, Because he has done monstrous things.”
YLT 20And the northern I put far
off from you, And have driven him unto a land dry and desolate, With his face
unto the eastern sea, And his rear unto the western sea, And come up hath his
stink, And come up doth his stench, For he hath exerted himself to work.
But I will remove far off from you the northern army,.... The army
of the locusts, which came from the northern corner, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi;
and is the first sense Jarchi makes mention of; though he says their RabbinsF2Vid.
T. Bab. Succah, fol. 52. 1. interpret it of the evil imagination hid in the
heart of men; and the two seas, later mentioned, of the two temples, first and
second, destroyed by it; so, Kimchi says, they explain this verse of the days
of the Messiah, and observes, the same sense they give; but Jarchi mentions
another, according to which a people coming from the north are designed, even
the kings of Assyria; and with this agrees the Targum, which paraphrases it,
"and
the people which come from the north I will remove far off from you;'
and
indeed locusts do not usually come from the north, but from the south, or from
the east; it was an east wind that brought the locusts into Egypt, Exodus 10:13;
though the word "northern" may be used of the locusts in the emblem,
because the Assyrians or Chaldeans came from the north to Judea:
and will drive him into a land barren and desolate: where there
are no green grass, herbs, plants, and trees, to live upon, and so must starve
and die:
with his face towards the east sea; the front of this
northern army was towards the east sea, into which it was drove and fell; that
is, the sea of Chinnereth, or Gennesareth, the same with the lake of Tiberias,
often mentioned in the New Testament; or the Salt sea, the same with the lake
Asphaltites, or Dead sea, which was where Sodom and Gomorrah formerly stood, as
is usually said; and both these were to the east of the land of Israel, as
Kimchi and Ben Melech observe; and so either of them might be called the
"eastern sea":
and his hinder part towards the utmost sea; the rear of
this army was towards the utmost sea, or hinder sea, as it is called in Zechariah 14:8; the
western sea, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it, the same with the
Mediterranean sea, which lay to the west of the land of Israel; so the Egyptian
locusts were cast into the Red sea, Exodus 10:19; and
PlinyF3Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 29. observes, that they are sometimes
taken away with a wind, and fall into seas and lakes, and adds, perhaps this
comes by chance; but what is here related came not by chance, but by the will
and providence of God:
and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up: that is, the
stink and ill savour of the locusts shall come, up out of the seas and lakes
into which they fell, and where they died and putrefied; or, being cast up from
thence upon the shares, gave a most noisome stench; so Jerom on the place says,
"in
our times we have seen swarms of locusts cover the land of Judea, which upon
the wind rising have been driven into the first and last seas; that is, into
the Dead and Mediterranean seas; and when the shores of both seas have been
filled with heaps of dead locusts, which the waters have thrown up, their
rottenness and stench have been so very noxious as to corrupt the air, and
produce a pestilence among men and beasts;'
or
this may be understood of the fall and ruin of the enemies of the Jews,
signified by these locusts; and some apply it to Sennacherib's army smote by
the angel, when there fell in one night a hundred and fourscore and five
thousand of them in the land of Israel, and lay unburied, 2 Kings 19:35;
Theodoret interprets the seas of armies; the first sea of the army of the
Babylonians, by which Nineveh the royal seat of the Assyrians was destroyed;
and the other sea of the army of the Persians, who, under Cyrus, took Babylon,
the metropolis of the Chaldean empire:
because he hath done great things; evil things, as the
Targum; either the locust, which had done much mischief to the fruits of the
earth; or the enemy, signified by it, who had behaved proudly, and done much
hurt to the inhabitants of Judea: or, "though he hath done great
things"F4כי הגדיל
לעשות "quamvis magna gesserit", Gataker. ,
as some render it, yet all this shall come to him. Some interpret it of God,
"for he (God) hath done", or "will do, great things"F5"Quia
magnifica Jehovah agit", Junius & Tremellius; "aget",
Piscator, Liveleus, Castalio. ; in the removing of the locusts, or in the
destruction of those enemies they represented, as is expressly said of him in Joel 2:21.
Joel 2:21 21 Fear
not, O land; Be glad and rejoice, For the Lord has done marvelous
things!
YLT 21Do not fear, O land! joy
and rejoice, For Jehovah hath exerted Himself to work.
Fear not, O land,.... O land of
Israel, as the Targum, and the inhabitants of it; neither of the locusts, who
had so terrified them, and had done so much mischief, and threatened more; nor
of their enemies, the Assyrians or Chaldeans, and their powerful armies, or any
other; but, on the contrary,
be glad, and rejoice; at the removal of the
locusts, and at the destruction of their enemies:
for the Lord will do great things; good things, in
opposition to the evil things done by the locusts, as Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and
Ben Melech observe; or by the destroying army of the king of Assyria, by delivering
the Jews out of the Babylonish captivity; and in the times of the Maccabees,
and especially in the times of Christ, which are quickly prophesied of in this
chapter; and which prophecies some interpreters begin here, it not being
unusual for the prophets to pass directly from things temporal to things
spiritual, and especially to the great deliverance and salvation by Christ, and
also by temporal blessings to design spiritual ones.
Joel 2:22 22 Do
not be afraid, you beasts of the field; For the open pastures are springing up,
And the tree bears its fruit; The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.
YLT 22Do not fear, O cattle of
the field! For sprung forth have pastures of a wilderness, For the tree hath
borne its fruit, Fig-tree and vine have given their strength!
Be not afraid, ye beasts
of the field,.... Which before groaned, and were perplexed for want of
pasture, and cried because of the drought, Joel 1:18; perhaps
the Gentiles may be here designed, in the mystic and spiritual sense, in
distinction from the Jews, the children of Zion, in Joel 2:23;
for the pastures of the wilderness do spring; grass in
abundance springs up in them, and covers them, so that there was plenty of food
for the beasts of the field:
for the tree beareth her fruit; brings forth and bears
fruit suitable to it, agreeable to its nature:
the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength; send forth
their branches, put forth their buds, their leaves and fruit. This and the
preceding clause cannot be understood as a reason why the beasts of the field
should not be afraid, for they relate not to them, but to men; and may serve to
confirm the mystic sense of the words, as they may refer to the great
fruitfulness produced in the wilderness of the Gentile world, through the
preaching of the Gospel in the times of the Messiah; which are more clearly
pointed at in Joel 2:23; and
which were introduced with great outward peace and plenty; and the JewsF6T.
Bab. Cetubot, fol. 112. 2. by the tree bearing her fruit, in the preceding
clause, understand barren trees bearing fruit.
Joel 2:23 23 Be
glad then, you children of Zion, And rejoice in the Lord your God; For
He has given you the former rain faithfully,[d] And He
will cause the rain to come down for you— The former rain, And the latter rain
in the first month.
YLT 23And ye sons of Zion, joy
and rejoice, In Jehovah your God, For He hath given to you the Teacher for
righteousness, And causeth to come down to you a shower, Sprinkling and
gathered -- in the beginning.
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, Zechariah 9:9;
and rejoice in the Lord your God; not in any creature or
creature enjoyment, but in the Lord. The Targum is,
"in
the Word of the Lord your God;'
in
Christ the essential Word; see Philemon 3:3;
though rather Jehovah the Father, the giver and sender of Christ, is here
meant, because of what follows; and who is to be rejoiced in by his people, not
as an absolute God, but as in Christ, and as their covenant God and Father in
him; who has chosen them for himself, and is their portion and inheritance;
which are reasons sufficient why they should rejoice in him, and others follow:
for he hath given you the former rain moderately; or rather,
"for he hath given you the teacher of righteousness"F7המורה לצדקה "doctorem
justitiae", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Munster. ; to which agrees the Targum,
"for
he hath returned to you your teacher in righteousness;'
and
so Jarchi paraphrases the words, and interprets them of the prophets in
general,
"your
prophets that teach you to return unto me, that I may justify you;'
and
R. Japhet says that מורה signifies a prophet that
should teach them in the way of righteousness; not Isaiah, as Grotius; but the
King Messiah as Abarbinel interprets it; who is the teacher sent from God, and
given by him, as his presence with him, and the miracles done by him, sufficiently
prove, John 3:2; for which
he was abundantly qualified, being the omniscient God, and the Son of God that
lay in the bosom of his Father; is the Wisdom of God, as Mediator; had the
Spirit of wisdom on him, and the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hid in him;
and who is able to make his teachings effectual, and to qualify others for such
work. This office he performed personally on earth, both in a doctrinal way,
and by way of example; and now executes it by his Spirit, and by his ministers:
and a "teacher of righteousness" he may be truly said to be; since he
not only taught the Gospel, the word of righteousness in general; but in
particular directed men to seek in the first place the righteousness of God,
which is no other than his own; and pronounced those happy that hungered after
it: he declared he came to fulfil all righteousness, even the law for
righteousness; and taught men to believe in him for it, and to live righteously
and godly. Aben Ezra observes, that the phrase is the same with "the sun
of righteousness", Malachi 4:2; which
is said of Christ the author of righteousness, who is our righteousness made so
by imputation, the Lord our righteousness: or, as here, "a teacher unto,
or for righteousness"F8"Doctorem ad justitiam",
Tigurine version, Mercerus, Castalio, Drusius, Cocceius, Burkius. , all which
is matter of joy and gladness; see Isaiah 61:10;
and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain,
and the latter rain in the first month; alluding to the two
seasons of the year in which rain was given to the Jews; the former rain fell
in Marchesvan, which answers to our September and, October, part of each, at
their seedtime; and the latter in Nisan, the first month of their
ecclesiastical year, and answers to part of March and April, and fell some time
before their harvest; and these former and latter rains now fall about the same
time. So Dr. ShawF9Travels, tom. 2. par. 2. c. 1. p. 335. Ed. 2.
observes, that
"the
first rains in these countries (Syria, Phoenicia, and the Holy Land) usually
fall about the beginning of November; the latter sometimes in the middle,
sometimes toward the end, of April:'
and
elsewhere he saysF11Ib. tom. 1. part 3. sect. 2. p. 137. ,
"in
Barbary the first rains fall some years in September, in others a month later;
the latter rains usually fall in the middle of April:'
and
the same traveller relatesF12Ib. tom. 2. part 2. c. 2. sect. 3. p.
377. , that
"upon
the coast (of Egypt) from Alexandria, all along to Damiata and Tineh, they have
their former and latter rains as in Barbary and the Holy Land.'
This
rain spiritually designs the doctrine of the Gospel, which is sometimes
compared to rain, Deuteronomy 32:2;
because as rain it comes from God, descends from heaven, is a divine gift, both
as to the ministry and experience of it; it tarries not for man, neither for
his desires nor deserts; falls according to divine direction, sometimes here,
and sometimes there; is a great blessing, and brings many with it, revives,
refreshes, and makes fruitful. Jerom interprets these two rains of the first
receiving of doctrine, and of a more perfect knowledge of it; as also of the
two Testaments, the Old and New: but it may be better interpreted of the
preaching of the Gospel by John the Baptist, and by Christ; or by Christ, and
then by his apostles; or of the first and second ministration of apostles,
first to the Jews, then to the Gentiles; or of the coming of Christ in the
flesh, for the same word is used here as in the former clause, and of his
spiritual coming in the latter day, both which are compared to rain, Hosea 6:3.
Joel 2:24 24 The
threshing floors shall be full of wheat, And the vats shall overflow with new
wine and oil.
YLT 24And full have been the
floors [with] pure corn, And overflown have the presses [with] new wine and
oil.
And the floors shall be
full of wheat,.... The churches of Christ, which will now be in Judea, and in
the Gentile world, which are his "floors", Matthew 3:12; and
which will be set up everywhere through the preaching of the Gospel, the
descent of the former and latter rain; these will be full of precious souls
gathered in, compared to wheat, and of the choice and excellent, doctrines of
the Gospel, and of all spiritual provisions, Matthew 13:30;
and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil; with the wine
of Gospel doctrine, and the oil of true grace; there shall be a flow, an
overflow, a redundancy of these, both in the ministers of the word and private
Christians, in whom the grace of God shall abound and superabound; see Romans 5:20.
Joel 2:25 25 “So
I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The
crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust,[e] My great
army which I sent among you.
YLT 25And I have recompensed to
you the years That consume did the locust, the cankerworm, And the caterpillar,
and the palmer-worm, My great force that I did send against you.
And I will restore to you
the years that the locust hath eaten,.... Or "I will
recompense to you the years"F13ושלמתי
לכם "et rependam vobis", Junius &
Tremellius, Piscator, Vatablus, Tarnovius; "compensabo", Grotius,
Cocceius. ; give you fruitful ones, as a full compensation for those in which
the locust ate up the fruits of the earth for some years running:
the canker worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer worm; of which see Joel 1:4;
my great army which I sent among you; as in Joel 2:11; the
Targum of the whole is,
"and
I will recompense unto you good years, in the room of the years in which the
people, nations, and tongues, the governors and kingdoms of vengeance, spoiled
you, my great army which I sent among you;'
and
Kimchi observes, that the sense of the Targumist is, that this verse is a
prophecy of the days of the Messiah; as no doubt it is, in which the Lord has
done for his people, as Moses prayed he would, "make them glad
according to the days wherein he afflicted them, and the years
wherein they had seen evil", Psalm 90:15; the
times of the Messiah, in which so many good things come to the people of God,
are a sufficient recompence for what they endured in times past. Of the
Mahometan notion of locusts being the army of God; see Gill on Joel 2:11.
Joel 2:26 26 You
shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the Lord your God, Who
has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame.
YLT 26And ye have eaten, eating
and being satisfied, And have praised the name of Jehovah your God, Who hath
dealt with you wonderfully, And not ashamed are My people to the age.
And ye shall eat in plenty,.... Or,
"in eating eat"F14אכל־תאם אכול "comedetis comedendo", Pagninus, Montanus;
"ceras", Vatablus, Piscator, Tarnovius. ; most surely eat, and in
great abundance; which Hebraism not only denotes the certainty of a thing, but
the increase and abundance of it; see Genesis 22:17;
there is plenty of spiritual provisions held forth under the Gospel
dispensation: much in God, in his goodness, grace, and love, truth and
faithfulness; in his covenant, the blessings and promises of it: much in
Christ, who is compared to many things eatable; is called the Lamb of God, the
fatted calf, the hidden manna, the tree of life, and the bread of God;
everything in him, and that belongs to him, is food for faith; his flesh is
meat indeed, his blood is drink indeed; the fulness of grace in him; the
righteousness wrought out by him; the salvation he is the author of; upon all
which the believer lives by faith: much in the Gospel, and the doctrines of it,
compared to honey for sweetness of taste; to milk for its nourishing nature,
easiness of digestion, and the suitableness of it for babes; and to strong meat
fit for men: and there is groat plenty also in the ordinances of the Gospel,
particularly in the Lord's supper, the feast of fat things, where saints are
invited to eat and drink abundantly; which eating is not a bare attendance on
outward ordinances, or a superficial taste of the things in them, but a feeding
upon them by faith, receiving and digesting them;
and be satisfied; eat to satiety; eat and be full, so as to
be entirely contented, and desire no other sort of food; thus saints, as
Naphtali, are satisfied with the favour and love of God, having a delightful
sensation of it, and a full persuasion of interest in it; with Christ as the
bread of life, so as not to hunger after other; with his righteousness, as not
to seek any other; and with his salvation, being so suitable to them; and with
the goodness and fatness of the Lord's house, his word and ordinances;
and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt
wondrously with you; acknowledge him to be the giver of all this spiritual food, and
that they are unworthy of it; ascribe it entirely to the grace of God, who has
done wonders for them; in wonderfully setting them apart for himself in eternal
election; in making such a well ordered covenant with them in Christ; in
sending him to be their Saviour and Redeemer; in calling them out of darkness
into marvellous light; in bestowing such love upon them, as to call them and
make them his children, and also heirs of him and eternal glory; see Psalm 22:26;
and my people shall never be ashamed; because they
shall always have food to eat; shall never be disappointed, when they rightly
apply for it in proper places and times; and not be like the troops of Tema,
and companies of Sheba, Job 6:19; they
shall not be ashamed of their faith and hope, and expectation of good things
promised them; nor of the word and ordinances, and the profession they have
made of Christ in this world; nor shall they be ashamed at his coming; but
shall be placed at his right hand, and received into his kingdom, and shall be
led by him to fountains of living water, and be satisfied with pleasures for
evermore.
Joel 2:27 27 Then
you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the Lord your God And
there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.
YLT 27And ye have known that in
the midst of Israel [am] I, And I [am] Jehovah your God, and there is none
else, And not ashamed are My people to the age.
And ye shall know that I am
in the midst of Israel,.... The presence of God among his people shall be so manifest,
the tokens of it so clear, that it shall be easily known, by the impressions of
his love upon them; the teachings of his Spirit in them; the usefulness of the
word and ordinances to them; the spiritual and heavenly frame of soul they
shall be favoured with, and the savouriness of their conversation; this is the
blessing Christ has promised to Gospel ministers and churches, Matthew 28:20;
and that I am the Lord your God, and none else; that he is
their covenant God and Father, and acknowledge none else:
and my people shall never be ashamed; which is
repeated for the certainty of it; see Joel 2:26.
Joel 2:28 28 “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, Your
young men shall see visions.
YLT 28And it hath come to pass
afterwards, I do pour out My Spirit on all flesh, And prophesied have your sons
and your daughters, Your old men do dream dreams, Your young men do see
visions.
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. Jeshua in Aben
Ezra and Jarchi both say this prophecy refers to time to come; and Kimchi
observes, that the phrase is the same with "in the last days"; and so
the Apostle Peter quotes it, Acts 2:17; a
phrase, as the above writer observes, which always signifies the days of the
Messiah, to which he applies these words; and so do other Jewish writers, both
ancient and modernF15Zohar in Numb. fol. 99. 2. Bemidbar Rabba,
sect. 15. fol. 219. 2. Debarim Rabba, sect. 6. fol. 242. 2. Abarbinel, Mashmia
Jeshua, fol. 9. 3. R. Isaac, Chizzuk Emunah, par. 1. p. 51. ; and there is no
doubt with us Christians that they belong to the times of Christ and his
apostles, since they are by an inspired writer said to be fulfilled in those
times, Acts 2:16; here
some begin a new chapter;
that I will pour
out my Spirit upon all flesh; not on such whose hearts are made tender as
flesh, according to Ezekiel 36:26; as
Jarchi; for the Spirit must be given first to make the heart such; nor only
upon men in the land of Israel, a place fit to prophesy in, as Aben Ezra and
Kimchi; but upon all men, as this phrase frequently signifies; see Isaiah 40:5; that
is, all sorts of men, Jews and Gentiles, men of all nations; and such there
were on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit was poured down upon the
apostles, and the grace of the Spirit was given to many of all nations; though that
was only the beginning of the fulfilment of this prophecy, which quickly had a
further accomplishment in the Gentile world; and denotes the abundance of the
gifts of the Spirit, both extraordinary and ordinary, and of his grace, and the
blessings of it, bestowed on them;
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; as Agabus,
Barnabas, Simeon, &c. and the four daughters of Philip the evangelist, Acts 11:28;
your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; as Ananias,
Peter, Paul, John, and others, some in their elder, some in their younger
years, Acts 9:10; though
prophecy, dreams, and visions, being the usual ways of conveying knowledge,
here signify that the knowledge of men in Gospel times should be equal to, yea,
exceed, whatever was communicated to men in the highest degree in former times:
John the Baptist was greater than any of the prophets, and yet the least in the
kingdom of heaven was greater than he, Luke 7:28.
Joel 2:29 29 And
also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My
Spirit in those days.
YLT 29And also on the
men-servants, and on the maid-servants, In those days I do pour out My Spirit.
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 1 Corinthians 7:21;
for that is not true what the JewsF16T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 92. 1.
say, the Shechinah or divine Majesty does not rest but upon a wise man, and one
mighty and rich; or prophecy, as MaimonidesF17Moreh Nevochim, par.
2. c. 32. has it.
Joel 2:30 30 “And
I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars
of smoke.
YLT 30And I have given wonders in
the heavens, and in the earth, Blood and fire, and columns of smoke.
And I will show wonders in
the heavens and in the earth,.... This, and what follow, refer to the
prodigies seen in the air, and done in the earth, a little before the
destruction of JerusalemF18Vid. Joseph. De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 5.
sect. 3. ; when in the air were seen comets and blazing stars, particularly one
in the form of a sword, hanging over Jerusalem, and appearances of armies
engaged in battle; and, on the earth, a flame was seen in the temple, and a
voice heard in it, saying, let us go hence; the doors of it opened of
themselves; an idiot went about, crying woe to the people, woe to the city,
&c.
blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke;
"blood" may design the great slaughter of then by the Roman army in
the land of Judea, and by murders committed among themselves in the city of
Jerusalem, which were very horrible, and of great numbers; "fire",
the burning of towns and cities; though Kimchi interprets it of lightnings in
the heavens; and "pillars of smoke", rising up in straightness and
height like palm trees, as the wordF19תמרות
עשן "palmas fumi", Piscator, Cocceius.
signifies, vast quantities of it arising from cities and towns burnt. GussetiusF20Ebr.
Comment. p. 947. interprets this of the burning of the martyrs in the first
ages of Christianity, and of their spiritual affections, which ascended upwards
to God, and were grateful to him; see Song of Solomon 3:6.
Joel 2:31 31 The
sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming
of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
YLT 31The sun is turned to
darkness, and the moon to blood, Before the coming of the day of Jehovah, The
great and the fearful.
The sun shall be turned
into darkness, and the moon into blood,.... Not by eclipses, as
Aben Ezra; but by the clouds of smoke arising from the burning of towns and
cities, which would be so great as to obscure the sun, and through which the
moon would look like blood: or all, this may be understood in a figurative
sense of the change that should be made in the ecclesiastic and civil state of
the Jewish nation, signified by the "heavens" and "earth";
and particularly that their king or kingdom should be in a low, mean, and
distressed condition, designed by the sun; and the change of their priesthood
is signified by the "moon": so Vitringa on Isaiah 24:23;
interprets the "sun" here of King Agrippa, the last king of the Jews
in obscurity; and the "moon" of Ananias junior, the high priest,
slain by the zealots:
before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come; not the fall
of Gog and Magog, as Kimchi; not the day of the last judgment, but of the
destruction of Jerusalem; not by the Chaldeans, but by the Romans; their last
destruction, which was very great and terrible indeed, and in which there was a
manifest appearance of the hand and power of God; see Malachi 4:1.
MaimonidesF21Moreh Nevochim, par. 2. c. 19. p. 271. interprets it of
the destruction of Sennacherib near Jerusalem; but if that sense is not
acceptable, he proposes that of the destruction of Gog and Magog, in the times
of the Messiah.
Joel 2:32 32 And
it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.
For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the Lord has said, Among
the remnant whom the Lord
calls.
YLT 32And it hath come to pass,
Every one who calleth in the name of Jehovah is delivered, For in mount Zion
and in Jerusalem there is an escape, As Jehovah hath said, And among the
remnants whom Jehovah is calling!
And it shall come to pass,
that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered,.... Or
"saved", as in Acts 2:21; from
those miseries and calamities before described, from the impending ruin and
destruction of the city; and so it was, that those that believed in Christ,
that were in the city, had an intimation of it beforehand, and removed from
thence to a place called PellaF23Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 3. c. 5. p.
75. , and so escaped being involved in the common calamity: though this also
may be understood of a spiritual deliverance and salvation by Christ, from sin,
Satan, and the world, and from the second death, and wrath to come, and out of
the hands of every enemy; which such share in who call on the name of the Lord,
pray to him for grace and mercy, life and salvation, through Christ; that have
a spiritual knowledge of God in Christ, real and sincere desires after him, and
trust and confidence in him, which this phrase supposes; and which also
includes the whole worship of God, internal and external, performed in a
spiritual and evangelical manner; see Romans 10:13;
for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the
Lord hath said; either by this prophet, or some others before him; see Psalm 14:7; this
cannot be understood literally of Mount Zion and Jerusalem, unless it be of
deliverance out of it; not in it, for Jerusalem was the seat of blood,
confusion, and distress; but mystically of the church of Christ, often called
Zion and Jerusalem, Hebrews 12:22;
hither the deliverer came, here he is, and to be seen; from hence the word of
the Lord came, the Gospel of salvation, which proclaims deliverance to the
captives; here it is to be heard, met with, and found, Isaiah 2:3;
and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call; not merely
externally, by the outward ministry of the word; but internally, according to
his purpose, and by his grace, powerfully and effectually, to the special
blessings of grace here, and eternal glory hereafter: these are the remnant
according to the election of grace; the little flock to whom God gives the
kingdom; the few that enter in at the strait gate; the little city, and few men
in it, delivered by the poor wise man; these share in the deliverance of Zion,
and shall be certainly and completely saved, with an everlasting salvation.
This may respect not only the remnant, or a small number of the Jews that
believed in Christ, upon his first coming, and the preaching of the Gospel by
his apostles, but the call and conversion of them in the latter day; which
sense connects the words better with the following chapter.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)