JOEL—NOTE ON 1:1–2:17 The Judgment against Judah and the Day of the Lord. This first part of Joel introduces the Lord’s judgment in the form of a locust infestation, drought, and the coming of a great army. These events on the “day of the LORD” are followed by a call to seek the Lord.
1:1–20 Locust Invasion: Forerunner of the Day of the Lord. The first unit (vv. 1–14) describes the devastation that has come upon Judah. This is the reason for the call to lament in the second unit (vv. 15–20).
JOEL—NOTE ON 1:1 The word . . . came to. This message is from God. The prophet is given the privilege of delivering that message to the people.
JOEL—NOTE ON 1:2 Elders likely refers to older members of the community.
JOEL—NOTE ON 1:3 Tell your children. See Deut. 6:4–9.
JOEL—NOTE ON 1:4 The locust is a kind of grasshopper. Under the right conditions they travel in large swarms and destroy all plant life in their path (cutting . . . swarming . . . hopping . . . destroying).
The desert locust has been a destructive force that has plagued agricultural production for thousands of years. Winds from the Sahara have been known to carry them across oceans. Their devastation of crops often leads to famine. Joel compares them to a great army.
JOEL—NOTE ON 1:5 drunkards, drinkers of wine. Both groups are unaware of the coming chaos. They will have no sweet wine to drink when the locusts destroy the vines.
JOEL—NOTE ON 1:6 Locusts are compared to a nation, powerful as a great army.
JOEL—NOTE ON 1:7 The vine and fig tree are symbols of a prosperous and peaceful life for Israel, which the Lord who provides it sees as his property.
JOEL—NOTE ON 1:8 bridegroom of her youth. The people are called to grieve as deeply as a betrothed virgin whose promised husband dies before they are married.
JOEL—NOTE ON 1:9 offering. Nothing is left for the offerings that accompany the daily burnt offering (see Lev. 1:3–17). priests mourn. Their loss is personal, since they would ordinarily eat a portion of the offering.
JOEL—NOTE ON 1:10 ground mourns . . . oil languishes. Joel poetically personifies these things as experiencing grief. The presence of grain, wine, and oil is evidence of God’s covenant blessing, and their absence is evidence of his judgment.
JOEL—NOTE ON 1:13 The commands to put on and lament imitate the actions of the virgin (v. 8). The priests lament because the offering is withheld.
JOEL—NOTE ON 1:14 Consecrate and gather are further tasks for the priests. a fast . . . cry out. Old Testament fasts are a sign of mourning, repentance, and humility. They are a way of seeking God’s help.
JOEL—NOTE ON 1:15 The day of the LORD is a major theme in Joel. It can refer to a particular act of judgment, like the devastation of the locusts, or it can refer to the future final judgment. “That day” can also be a blessing. For God’s people, it is also associated with his presence, blessing, and salvation.
JOEL—NOTE ON 1:17 seed shrivels . . . clods. The precise meaning of these three words is uncertain. Nevertheless, it is clear from what follows that a drought has also come upon the land.
JOEL—NOTE ON 1:18 the flocks of sheep suffer. Creation suffers because of Israel’s guilt.
JOEL—NOTE ON 1:19–20 To you, O LORD, I call. The devastation brought by the Lord can be relieved only by him.
2:1–17 Army Invasion: The Arrival of the Day of the Lord. Joel describes the coming of an army, whose arrival may yet be prevented by a wholehearted return to the Lord. Verses 1–11 describe the coming of this great army, and vv. 12–17 describe the command to return to the Lord.
JOEL—NOTE ON 2:1 Zion is the place of the Lord’s throne. The name can refer to the temple area or to all of Jerusalem.
JOEL—NOTE ON 2:3 Fire devours . . . flame burns. The army is associated with destructive fire. like the garden of Eden . . . a desolate wilderness. The destructive power of this “great . . . people” (v. 2) can only be compared to the devastation of God’s original creation by mankind’s fall (Genesis 3).
JOEL—NOTE ON 2:4–5 like . . . horses. Joel compares the threatened locust plague to a powerful army.
JOEL—NOTE ON 2:7–9 they do not swerve. . . . They do not jostle. This army cannot be moved from its assigned course.
JOEL—NOTE ON 2:10 quakes before them . . . tremble. . . . darkened. Only the day of the Lord could produce this effect on the earth. In many cases in the Prophets, the Hebrew verb for “tremble” was associated with the end of the age and God’s final judgment.
JOEL—NOTE ON 2:11 utters his voice. Thunder is associated with the events of v. 10. his army. The force that brings such dread and terror is under God’s command. He who executes probably refers to the army, which carries out the Lord’s command.
JOEL—NOTE ON 2:12 Yet even now . . . return. There is still time for the people to repent.
JOEL—NOTE ON 2:13 Rend your hearts is an expression of internal anguish. This response, along with wholehearted devotion (v. 12), is similar to the circumcised heart described in Deut. 30:6.
JOEL—NOTE ON 2:14 Who knows. The sovereign God acts according to his own purposes. Turn and relent suggests that the Lord, in keeping with his revealed character, will bring blessing instead of disaster.
The name Joel means “Yahweh is God.” Little is known about the prophet, who was probably from Judah. It is likely that he ministered during a national calamity sometime after Judah returned from exile in Babylon. The primary theme in the book of Joel is the “day of the LORD”—a time when the presence of the Lord will bring both judgment and deliverance. Joel teaches that, while the day of the Lord will bring destruction on the nations, it will also be a time of salvation for God’s people. Judah will be the means through which God pours out his Spirit on all people (2:28–32), and he will preserve them against all who seek to destroy them. (Joel 2:11–14)
JOEL—NOTE ON 2:16 Consecrate the congregation. As in 1:14, all members of the community assemble for worship, preparing to call upon the Lord with a fast. Even nursing infants and newlyweds are required to participate.
JOEL—NOTE ON 2:17 The place of prayer was between the entrance to the temple and the altar. Your people is an appeal to God’s covenantal care for his people. A byword means a common saying, often used in scorn. See also esv footnote.
JOEL—NOTE ON 2:18–3:21 The Mercy of the Lord and Judgment against the Nations. The change from prophetic utterances to more of a conversational tone marks the beginning of the second half of Joel.
2:18–32 Mercy: The Lord Responds by Restoring His People. The Lord answers the prayer of v. 17. He restores the reputation of his people (vv. 18–20), the land (vv. 21–27), and his presence through pouring out the Spirit (vv. 28–32).
JOEL—NOTE ON 2:18 jealous. Jealousy here is a deep devotion that leads the Lord to intervene, saving his people for the sake of his own glory.
JOEL—NOTE ON 2:20 The northerner is probably a final apocalyptic enemy of Israel. The words vanguard . . . rear guard show that destruction is complete and final.
JOEL—NOTE ON 2:21 The “foul smell” (v. 20) of corpses is all that remains of the great enemy. This contrasts with the great things done by the Lord, whose acts of salvation are the reason for the command to fear not.
JOEL—NOTE ON 2:22 The Hebrew verb represented by are green is found elsewhere in Scripture only at Gen. 1:11. Perhaps Joel wants his readers to imagine the restoration of the land to an Eden-like state.
JOEL—NOTE ON 2:25 Being human often means bearing loss. Yet the same Lord who brings disaster when his people sin is also the Lord of mercy and abundant grace. He is fully able to give back what was taken: I will restore to you.
JOEL—NOTE ON 2:27 You shall know. The great purpose of the nation’s trauma is that they will know God’s presence, know that he is the covenant-keeping God, and know that he will remove their shame.
JOEL—NOTE ON 2:28–29 pour out my Spirit. Just as God will send life-giving rain (vv. 18–27), so also will he pour out his Spirit on his people in the future. all flesh. All God’s people will share this experience. All will prophesy and dream dreams and see visions.
JOEL—NOTE ON 2:30–31 Some scholars believe that the events of judgment described here, which did not take place at Pentecost (see notes on Acts 2:17; 2:19–21), will still take place sometime in the future, at the return of Christ. Others believe that these verses should be understood as prophetic symbolism for God’s judgment, and that no specific literal fulfillment is intended.
JOEL—NOTE ON 2:32 everyone. Salvation is extended beyond the devastation caused by the locusts. calls on the name. Paul quotes this in Rom. 10:13. He understood these verses to describe events in the messianic age, when Jews and Gentiles alike would be saved.
The sun shall be turned to darkness could be describing a solar eclipse, but more broadly this refers to the disintegration of the cosmos, which was understood by Jews to be a sign of God’s judgment. Note that when Jesus was on the cross, the earth became dark for three hours, indicating God’s judgment (see Mark 15:33).
3:1–21 Judgment: The Lord’s Judgment against the Nations and His Dwelling with His People. The Lord provides reasons for judgment (vv. 1–8), a description of the climactic judgment on the day of the Lord (vv. 9–16), and certain hope of the Lord dwelling with his people (vv. 17–21).
JOEL—NOTE ON 3:1 In those days recalls the events of 2:28–32, particularly the day of the Lord.
JOEL—NOTE ON 3:2 all the nations. That is, all oppressors of God’s people. Valley of Jehoshaphat refers to a place of final judgment. Scattered refers to deportation associated with exile.
JOEL—NOTE ON 3:3 cast lots for my people. In order to take them away as slaves.
Slave trading (3:3) was a big business during wartime. Prisoners of war were regularly sold to slave dealers, who often took them far from their native lands. Most likely they would then be sold to the highest bidder.
JOEL—NOTE ON 3:4 Tyre and Sidon were Phoenician cities along the Mediterranean coast. Relations between Israel and Phoenicia were occasionally good. Philistia, on the other hand, was a longtime enemy of Israel. I will return your payment on your own head. God will judge, or pay back, the Phoenicians and Philistines for stealing Judah’s silver and gold.
JOEL—NOTE ON 3:6 sold . . . to the Greeks. Both the Philistines and the Phoenicians are accused of selling slaves to the Edomites.
JOEL—NOTE ON 3:7–8 stir them up. The enslaved will become the enslavers. Sidon was destroyed by Artaxerxes III in 343 B.C., and Tyre was defeated by Alexander the Great in 332. Sabeans. Most commentators identify this people as inhabitants of the land of Sheba or Saba, located far away in southern Arabia.
JOEL—NOTE ON 3:9 Consecrate. The nations are told to spiritually prepare themselves for war, unaware that the Lord of heaven and earth is their opponent.
JOEL—NOTE ON 3:10 Beat your plowshares into swords. The warfare preparation is so thorough that agricultural tools must be transformed into weapons. the weak. The great need for soldiers means that even those unfit for battle must become warriors.
JOEL—NOTE ON 3:13 harvest is ripe. . . . winepress is full. . . . vats overflow. The nations’ evil is compared to grain and wine, and judgment to harvest and wine making. Their evil is full-grown. It is time to harvest (that is, to judge).
JOEL—NOTE ON 3:14 Multitudes. All the people of the world, standing before the Lord for judgment. valley of decision. The Valley of Jehoshaphat (see note on v. 2). the day of the LORD is near. The nations will soon be judged.
JOEL—NOTE ON 3:16 roars . . . utters his voice. God’s voice alone causes the world to quake. refuge, stronghold. Amid the confusion, the people of God are secure.
JOEL—NOTE ON 3:17 you shall know that I am the LORD your God. Judgment and salvation lead to knowledge of the covenant Lord and the removal of the people’s shame. Zion stands for the promise of God’s presence among his people. Jerusalem shall be holy. Where God is present, all is purified. strangers. Those who do not worship the Lord.
JOEL—NOTE ON 3:18 in that day. That is, the day of the Lord (2:2; 3:1). wine . . . milk . . . water. This and other descriptions of God’s provision recall the earlier absence of these things. a fountain . . . from the house of the LORD. Compare Ezek. 47:1–13.
JOEL—NOTE ON 3:19 Egypt and Edom were ancient enemies of Israel, representing all of those opposed to God’s people. Desolation was prophesied against Egypt and Edom. The nations shed, that is, “poured out” blood, but the Lord will “pour out” his Spirit.
JOEL—NOTE ON 3:20 The Lord’s residence in Zion ensures that his people live in unending security.
JOEL—NOTE ON 3:21 The verse brings together the two primary themes of Joel: judgment on the day of the Lord, and the fact that the Lord dwells in Zion.