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The Prophets · Old Testament

Joel 2

Joel 2: the trumpet in Zion, rend your heart, and the spirit poured out

General context

"Blow ye the trumpet in Zion," for the day of the Lord is near, "A day of darkness and of gloominess." A great and strong people come, unlike any before or after; fire before and behind them turns "the garden of Eden" into "a desolate wilderness." They look like horses, climb walls, keep ranks and enter windows like a thief; earth and heavens shake, sun and moon darken. Then "the Lord shall utter his voice before his army," and "who can abide it?" Then: "turn ye even to me with all your heart," with fasting, weeping and mourning; "rend your heart, and not your garments," for he is "gracious and merciful, slow to anger." "Who knoweth if he will return and repent"? A second trumpet calls a fast and an assembly; the priests are to weep "between the porch and the altar" and say, "Spare thy people, O Lord." The Lord will be jealous for his land and answer: corn, wine and oil, no reproach, and "the northern army" driven into a barren land. Land, beasts and children of Zion are told not to fear; the former rain is given and more promised, floors fill with wheat and fats overflow. "I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten," the devourers being "my great army which I sent among you." They will eat in plenty and know "that I am in the midst of Israel." The spirit is poured out "afterward," "upon all flesh": sons, daughters, old and young men, servants and handmaids. Wonders come, "blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke," before "the great and the terrible day of the Lord," and "whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered" in Zion and Jerusalem.

Cited passages: Joel 2:1, Joel 2:2, Joel 2:3, Joel 2:4, Joel 2:7, Joel 2:8, Joel 2:9, Joel 2:10, Joel 2:11, Joel 2:12, Joel 2:13, Joel 2:14, Joel 2:16, Joel 2:17, Joel 2:18, Joel 2:20, Joel 2:22, Joel 2:24, Joel 2:25, Joel 2:27, Joel 2:28, Joel 2:29, Joel 2:30, Joel 2:31, Joel 2:32

Joel 2 (KJV)

1Blow ye 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 cometh, for it is nigh at hand;

2A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

3A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.

4The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.

5Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.

6Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.

7They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:

8Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.

9They 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.

10The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

11And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

12Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

13And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

14Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God?

15Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:

16Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.

17Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?

18Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people.

19Yea, the Lord will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:

20But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.

21Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.

22Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.

23Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.

24And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil.

25And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.

26And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.

27And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.

28And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

29And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

30And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

31The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.

32And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

Who the invaders are is settled inside the chapter only in one direction: verse 25 names the locust, cankerworm, caterpiller and palmerworm of chapter 1 as "my great army which I sent among you," and verse 11 calls the approaching force "his army." The text also calls it "a great people and a strong" and "the northern army," and it never names a nation. Zion, "my holy mountain," Jerusalem and Israel are named; no king appears. The phrases "the east sea" and "the utmost sea" are given as directions for the army's removal without further description, and "the first month" is not explained. The Lord is marked as speaker at verse 12, "saith the Lord," and verse 19 introduces his answer, "the Lord will answer and say." Acts 2:17 quotes verse 28 with the words "in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh," and Romans 10:13 repeats verse 32, "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." The chapter twice says "my people shall never be ashamed." Whether the promised rain and harvest are narrated as happening or only announced is not stated; the chapter gives no event after the prayer of verse 17 except the Lord's words.

Cited passages: Joel 2:25, Joel 2:11, Joel 2:2, Joel 2:20, Joel 2:1, Joel 2:23, Joel 2:12, Joel 2:19, Acts 2:17, Romans 10:13, Joel 2:26, Joel 2:27

Literary context

Two trumpets divide the first half: an alarm in verse 1 and a summons to fast in verse 15. The army is described almost entirely in similes, "as the appearance of horses," "Like the noise of chariots," "like mighty men," "like a thief," so the reader is told what it resembles more than what it is. The hinge is "Therefore also now" in verse 12, and the confession of the Lord's character in verse 13 is followed by hesitation, "Who knoweth." The priests are given words to pray, ending in a question others might ask, "Where is their God?", and the Lord's answer reverses chapter 1 item by item: corn, wine and oil that had failed are sent; pastures that fire devoured "do spring"; the fig tree and vine that were barked and dried "yield their strength"; floors and fats that were empty are full. The four devourers return in verse 25 in a different order from 1:4. "Fear not" is said to the land, "Be not afraid" to the beasts and "Be glad" to the children of Zion. The sun and moon darken twice, before the turn (verse 10) and after it (verse 31), so the chapter's second half does not remove the day of the Lord but places deliverance inside it, "whosoever shall call."

Cited passages: Joel 2:1, Joel 2:15, Joel 2:5, Joel 2:7, Joel 2:12, Joel 2:14, Joel 2:17, Joel 1:10, Joel 2:19, Joel 2:22, Joel 1:4, Joel 2:25, Joel 2:21, Joel 2:23, Joel 2:10, Joel 2:31

Key moments

  1. Trumpet in Zion (Joel 2:1). An alarm is sounded on the holy mountain because the day of the Lord is near.
  2. Eden before, wilderness behind (Joel 2:3). Fire goes before and behind the invaders, leaving a garden turned to desolation.
  3. Rend your heart (Joel 2:13). The people are told to rend their heart rather than garments because the Lord is gracious and merciful.
  4. Spare thy people (Joel 2:17). Priests are to weep between porch and altar and ask the Lord to spare his people.
  5. Years the locust ate (Joel 2:25). The Lord promises to restore the years eaten by his great army of locusts.
  6. Spirit on all flesh (Joel 2:28). The Lord will pour out his spirit and sons, daughters, old and young will prophesy, dream and see visions.
  7. Whosoever shall call (Joel 2:32). Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered in Zion and Jerusalem.

For reflection

Right after saying the Lord is "gracious and merciful, slow to anger," the text asks, "Who knoweth if he will return and repent." Why might the chapter keep that uncertainty in place after the confession?

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