Joel 2:10

Joe 2:10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

Ver. 10. The earth shall quake before them, &c.] Tragicis figuris calamitatem amplificat, saith Luther here. By such tragic terms the prophets used to set forth a horrible desolation, such as first the Assyrians and afterwards the Romans brought upon the Jews; the Turks and Saracens upon the Christian Churches. Whether there were any such earthquake or stupendous concussions of the heavenly bodies as is here described, is uncertain. Strange forerunners there were both in heaven and earth of the last destruction of Jerusalem, as Christ also had foretold. In the days of Justinian the emperor, the sun for the greatest part of a year gave so little light that it was but equal to the light of the moon, the sky being clear without clouds or anything to shadow it; after which, there followed a great famine, and much war and bloodshed.

The sun and the moon shall be dark] Wondrous expressions to meet with their wondrous stupidity. The Hebrew doctors (and Oecolampadius much disliketh it not) allegorize the text; and by the earth understand the common people, by the heavens the grandees, by the sun and moon the king and kingdom, as by the stars those of indifferent rank, all which are woe begone (as they say) by reason of the present calamities; as when upon the death of Prince Henry, Great Britain was said to be all in black; and as Demades was wont to say of the Athenians, nunquam eos sapere nisi pullis vestibus indutos, that they were never so wise as when they were in mourning weeds (Plutarch).

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The whole universe trembles at this judgment of God. Joe 2:10. "Before it the earth quakes, the heavens tremble: sun and moon have turned black, and the stars have withdrawn their shining. Joe 2:11. And Jehovah thunders before His army, for His camp is very great, for the executor of His word is strong; for the day of Jehovah is great and very terrible, and who can endure it?" The remark of Jerome on Joe 2:10, viz., that "it is not that the strength of the locusts is so great that they can move the heavens and shake the earth, but that to those who suffer from such calamities, from the amount of their own terror, the heavens appear to shake and the earth to reel," is correct enough so far as the first part is concerned, but it by no means exhausts the force of the words. For, as Hitzig properly observes, the earth could only quake because of the locusts when they had settled, and the heavens could only tremble and be darkened when they were flying, so that the words would in any case be very much exaggerated. But it by no means follows from this, that לפניו is not to be taken as referring to the locusts, like מפּניו in Joe 2:6, but to the coming of Jehovah in a storm, and that it is to be understood in this sense: "the earth quakes, the air roars at the voice of Jehovah, i.e., at the thunder, and storm-clouds darken the day." For although nâthan qōlō (shall utter His voice) in Joe 2:11 is to be understood as referring to the thunder, Joel is not merely describing a storm, which came when the trouble had reached its height and put an end to the plague of locusts (Credner, Hitzig, and others). לפניו cannot be taken in any other sense than that in which it occurs in Joe 2:3; that is to say, it can only refer to "the great people and strong," viz., the army of locusts, like מפּניו. Heaven and earth tremble at the army of locusts, because Jehovah comes with them to judge the world (cf. Isa 13:13; Nah 1:5-6; Jer 10:10). The sun and moon become black, i.e., dark, and the stars withdraw their brightness ('âsaph, withdraw, as in Sa1 14:19), i.e., they let their light shine no more. That these words affirm something infinitely greater than the darkening of the lights of heaven by storm-clouds, is evident partly from the predictions of the judgment of the wrath of the Lord that is coming upon the whole earth and upon the imperial power (Isa 13:10; Eze 32:7), at which the whole fabric of the universe trembles and nature clothes itself in mourning, and partly from the adoption of this particular feature by Christ in His description of the last judgment (Mat 24:29; Mar 13:24-25). Compare, on the other hand, the poetical description of a storm in Psa 18:8., where this feature is wanting. (For further remarks, see at Joe 3:4.) At the head of the army which is to execute His will, the Lord causes His voice of thunder to sound (nâthan qōl, to thunder; cf. Psa 18:14, etc.). The reason for this is given in three sentences that are introduced by kı̄. Jehovah does this because His army is very great; because this powerful army executes His word, i.e., His command; and because the day of judgment is so great and terrible, that no one can endure it, i.e., no one can stand before the fury of the wrath of the Judge (cf. Jer 10:10; Mal 3:1).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

2:10 The quaking of the earth and the heavens is a typical sign of theophany, an appearance of God (see Exod 19:16-19; Isa 13:13; Nah 1:5-6). The darkening of the sun and moon symbolizes divine judgment (Isa 13:9-11).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Read Joel 2:31 and Isa. 13:10; Ezek. 32:7; Joel 3:15; Matt. 24:29.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

earth . . . quake before them--that is, the inhabitants of the earth quake with fear of them.

heavens . . . tremble--that is, the powers of heaven (Mat 24:29); its illumining powers are disturbed by the locusts which intercept the sunlight with their dense flying swarms. These, however, are but the images of revolutions of states caused by such foes as were to invade Judea.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 10. The earth shall quake - the heavens shall tremble] Poetical expressions, to point out universal consternation and distress. The earth quaked to see itself deprived of its verdure; the heavens trembled to find themselves deprived of their light.

The sun and the moon shall be dark] Bochart relates that "their multitude is sometimes so immense as to obscure the heavens for the space of twelve miles!" - Ibid. p. 479.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Then he adds, Before their face shall the earth tremble, and in anguish shall be the heavens; the sun and the moon shall become dark, and the stars shall withdraw their brightness. The Prophet speaks here more hyperbolically; but we must ever remember that he addressed men extremely stupid: it then behaved him to speak in an unusual manner, that he might touch their feelings; for it avails nothing to speak in all ordinary way to perverse men, especially to those who have divested themselves of all shame, and whom Satan has fascinated, so that they fear nothing and grieve at nothing. When therefore each stupidity lays hold on the minds of men, God must thunder that his word may be heard. As then the listlessness of the people was monstrous, so it was necessary, so to speak, for the Prophet to utter monstrous words. This is the reason why he now says, Before their face (namely, that of the enemies) shall the land tremble; and then he adds, The heavens also shall be in anguish; not that the heavens would fear the Assyrians; but the Prophet intimates that such would be the vengeance, that it would terrify the whole world; and this he intimates, that the Jews might cease to expect any subterfuges, for they flattered themselves, as though they could fly on the clouds, or could find for themselves some hiding-places or some corners at a distance. The Prophet gives them to understand that the whole world would be full of horror, when the Lord would come furnished with his army. He speaks also of the sun and the moon; as though he said, “There will be no more any hope of aid from created things; for the vital light itself shall fail, when the Lord shall pour forth the flood of his fury: The sun and the moon, he says, shall become dark; and the stars shall withhold their brightness. Though then ye lift up your eyes, not even a spark of light will there be to comfort you, for darkness on every side will cover you; and ye shall know by heaven as well as by earth that God is angry with you. Here, in short, he shuts up against the Jews every avenue to hope; for not only the Assyrian will rage on earth, but God will also give signs of vengeance from heaven, so that the sun will be constrained to show such a sign, as well as the moon and all the stars.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(10) The earth shall quake before them.—Some commentators call this description “a specimen of the highly-wrought hyperbolical features of Hebrew poetry,” but it is the presence and judgment, the voice of the Lord in the thunder, which causes this trepidation. The signs in the heavens will be manifested at the judgment day.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10, 11. The locusts of Joe_2:2-9, as was remarked on Joe_2:1, are to a certain extent idealized, and pictured as more alarming and formidable than ordinary locusts; and in these two verses, other extraordinary, awe-inspiring concomitants of their approach are signalized. Earth and heaven tremble before them; sun, moon, and stars withdraw their light; Jehovah at their head utters His voice in thunder. For the preternatural cosmical phenomena accompanying Jehovah’s Day, comp. Joe_2:31, Joe_3:15; Isa_13:10; Isa_13:13 (of the day on which Babylon is to be captured by the Medes); also Amo_8:9; Eze_32:7 f.

Before them the earth trembleth] Amo_8:8; Psa_77:18; and figuratively 1Sa_14:15; Pro_30:21.

before them] לפניו, not, as in Joe_2:6, מפניו (implying causality): the phenomena here described are not caused by the locusts, but simply herald their approach.

the heavens quake] The heavens being conceived as a solid vault resting upon the earth (comp. on Amo_8:6). Cf. 2Sa_22:8 (“And the earth shook and quaked, the foundations of the heavens trembled”); Isa_13:13 (“Therefore will I make the heavens to tremble, and the earth shall quake out of its place”).

are dark] are black, clothed, as it were in mourning, of which the word (קדר) is often used. Cp. 1Ki_18:45 (“and the heavens grew black with clouds and rain”); Isa_50:3 (“I clothe the heavens with blackness”); Eze_32:7 (“I will make their stars black”).

and the stars withdraw their shining] Joe_3:15.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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. Pliny (t) 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.

(t) Ibid. (Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 29.)

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The earth shall quake before them - “Not,” says Jerome, “as though locusts or enemies had power to move the heavens or to shake the earth; but because, to those under trouble, for their exceeding terror, the heaven seems to fall and the earth to reel. But indeed, for the multitude of the locusts which cover the heavens, sun and moon shall be turned into darkness, and the stars shall withdraw their shining, while the cloud of locusts interrupts the light, and allows it not to reach the earth.” Yet the mention of moon and stars rather suggests that something more is meant than the locusts, who, not flying by night except when they cross the sea, do not obscure either. Rather, as the next verse speaks of God’s immediate, sensible, presence, this verse seems to pass from the image of the locusts to the full reality, and to say that heaven and earth should shake at the judgments of God, before He appeareth. Our Lord gives the same description of the forerunners of the Day of Judgment; “there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring, people’s hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven shall be shaken” Luk 21:25-26.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Shining. The cloud of locusts intercepts the light; or, people in distress think all nature is in confusion. (St. Jerome; Ezechiel xxxii.; Jeremias iv. 23.) --- Aloysius (13.) saw locusts in the air for the space of twelve miles; and among the Cossacks, clouds of them may be found six leagues in length and three in breadth. They frequently occasion a famine in Ethiopia. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Literally taken, this verse is an elegant description of most unparalleled armies of locusts, sent of God to waste this sinful people, in the description whereof the prophet shows his lofty style, and in a divine hyperbole warns the people: but there is another sense of the words we must look to; these locusts in this prophecy are hieroglyphics and emblems, and so are the earth, heaven, sun, moon, and stars. By

earth, thus considered, the vulgar, mean multitudes are many times set forth; here, the common people among the Jews.

Shall quake before them; locusts first, and armies of foreign enemies afterwards, and that ere long.

The heavens shall tremble; grandees, rulers, and counsellors, or the whole frame of the kingdom and government, shall shake and tremble, their hearts shall sink within them who should be a support to others.

The sun, their king,

and the moon, their queen, who may as particularly be here pointed at as the queen of Nineveh is Nah 2:7,

shall be dark; overwhelmed with amazement from the greatness of their troubles. The stars shall withdraw their shining; the courtiers and men of eminency, that were as stars for glory and brightness, shall be covered with clouds, and these thick and black; all this miserable confusion threatened against them for their sins, and in this emblem of vast multitudes of locusts presented to their thoughts.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 10, 11. These verses picture the dreadful consequences of the then present and temporary visitation of the locusts, and of the future and final judgment of which it was a type. The earth shall quake before them;

(1) the locusts. The heavens tremble. The alighting of the locusts on the earth would make it quake, and their flight through the heavens would make it tremulous. As applied to the visitation o! locusts, the language would be hyperbolical, unless we accept Jerome"s explanation as follows: "It is not that the strength of the locusts is so great that they can move the heavens and shake the earth, but that to those who suffer from such calamities, from the amount of their own terror the heavens appear to shake and the earth to reel.

(2) Before him; i.e. Jehovah himself amid the storm; and all in accordance with fact. But a greater judgment than that of the locusts is typified by the language of the prophet. Kimchi observes on this (tenth)verse that "all the expressions are parabolical, or figurative, to set forth the greatness of a calamity; for this is the usage of Scripture, as, "The sun shall be darkened in his going forth," and the like." So also Abarbauel on this verse: "Which all is a parabolical expression of the calamities of the Jews." Aben Ezra understands it differently: "Men of the earthquake." Rashi: "The heavens quake and tremble because of the punishment that comes upon Israel." The second part of the verse, as also the verse following, appear to us to indicate this. The sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: and the Lord shall utter his voice before his army. That a storm succeeded and put an end to the plague of locusts, and that the darkening of the sun and moon and stars signified the obscuration of the heavenly luminaries by the storm-clouds that overspread the heavens and darkened the face of day, would fall short of expressions of such solemn grandeur as are here employed by the prophet, Besides, our Lord applies language of the same import to the last judgment in the Gospels: "The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven." Thunder, no doubt, is the voice of the Lord, which he utters while marching at the head of his army to execute judgment and manifest his wrath against his enemies. 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? Three reasons are here assigned for the preceding sublime description of Jehovah coming to judgment at the head of his hosts. These are the following: the greatness of his army in number and might; the power with which his army executes his word of command; and the terrible character of the day of judgment when the vials of Divine wrath shall be poured forth.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The earth - A divine hyperbole. But this also may have a reference to the great day.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The earth shakes in front of them, the heavens tremble

Joel speaks of the earth and heavens as if they were people who are shaking with fear. This can be translated as either a hyperbole, that the army is so frightening that even things that are not alive are afraid, or as metonymy, that the earth and the heavens are metonyms for the beings who live there. AT: "Everyone on earth and in the heavens is very afraid" (See: Personification and Hyperbole and Generalization)

the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars stop shining

This exaggeration claims that there are so many locusts that people cannot see the sun, moon, or stars. (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)

Yahweh raises his voice

"Yahweh speaks loudly" to give commands.

great and very terrible

In this phrase both descriptions mean basically the same thing. AT: "greatly terrible" (See: Hendiadys)

Who can survive it?

This can be translated as a statement. AT: "No one will be strong enough to survive Yahweh's judgment." (See: Rhetorical Question)

translationWords

earth

heaven

Yahweh

command

day of the Lord

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

the heavens tremble—Because of the retribution coming upon Israel, they quake and tremble.

withdraw their shining—Take in their light.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.