Joel 2:8-10

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Joel 2:8 tn “each one does not crowd his brother.”
2. Joel 2:8 tn Heb “each warrior walks in his own course.”
3. Joel 2:8 tn 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).
4. Joel 2:8 tn 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.
5. Joel 2:9 tn Heb “dart about in.”
6. Joel 2:9 tn Or “they run upon its wall.”
7. Joel 2:10 sn Witnesses of locust invasions have described the visual effect of large numbers of these creatures crawling over one another on the ground. At such times the ground is said to appear to be in motion, creating a dizzying effect on some observers. The reference in v. 10 to the darkening of the sun and moon probably has to do with the obscuring of visibility due to large numbers of locusts swarming in the sky.
8. Joel 2:10 tn Heb “before it.”
9. Joel 2:10 tn Heb “trembles.”
10. Joel 2:10 tn Heb “gather their brightness.”