2 Kings 23:1-37 
Context23:1 The king summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. 1 23:2 The king went up to the Lord’s temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, all the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the prophets. All the people were there, from the youngest to the oldest. He read aloud 2 all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the Lord’s temple. 23:3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed 3 the covenant before the Lord, agreeing to follow 4 the Lord and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being, 5 by carrying out the terms 6 of this covenant recorded on this scroll. All the people agreed to keep the covenant. 7
23:4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the high-ranking priests, 8 and the guards 9 to bring out of the Lord’s temple all the items that were used in the worship of 10 Baal, Asherah, and all the stars of the sky. 11 The king 12 burned them outside of Jerusalem in the terraces 13 of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 14 23:5 He eliminated 15 the pagan priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to offer sacrifices 16 on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the area right around Jerusalem. (They offered sacrifices 17 to Baal, the sun god, the moon god, the constellations, and all the stars in the sky.) 23:6 He removed the Asherah pole from the Lord’s temple and took it outside Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley, where he burned it. 18 He smashed it to dust and then threw the dust in the public graveyard. 19 23:7 He tore down the quarters 20 of the male cultic prostitutes in the Lord’s temple, where women were weaving shrines 21 for Asherah.
23:8 He brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and ruined 22 the high places where the priests had offered sacrifices, from Geba to Beer Sheba. 23 He tore down the high place of the goat idols 24 situated at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the city official, on the left side of the city gate. 23:9 (Now the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat unleavened cakes among their fellow priests.) 25 23:10 The king 26 ruined Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that no one could pass his son or his daughter through the fire to Molech. 27 23:11 He removed from the entrance to the Lord’s temple the statues of horses 28 that the kings of Judah had placed there in honor of the sun god. (They were kept near the room of Nathan Melech the eunuch, which was situated among the courtyards.) 29 He burned up the chariots devoted to the sun god. 30 23:12 The king tore down the altars the kings of Judah had set up on the roof of Ahaz’s upper room, as well as the altars Manasseh had set up in the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple. He crushed them up 31 and threw the dust in the Kidron Valley. 23:13 The king ruined the high places east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Destruction, 32 that King Solomon of Israel had built for the detestable Sidonian goddess Astarte, the detestable Moabite god Chemosh, and the horrible Ammonite god Milcom. 23:14 He smashed the sacred pillars to bits, cut down the Asherah pole, and filled those shrines 33 with human bones.
23:15 He also tore down the altar in Bethel 34 at the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin. 35 He burned all the combustible items at that high place and crushed them to dust; including the Asherah pole. 36 23:16 When Josiah turned around, he saw the tombs there on the hill. So he ordered the bones from the tombs to be brought; 37 he burned them on the altar and defiled it. This fulfilled the Lord’s announcement made by the prophet while Jeroboam stood by the altar during a festival. King Josiah 38 turned and saw the grave of the prophet who had foretold this. 39 23:17 He asked, “What is this grave marker I see?” The men from the city replied, “It’s the grave of the prophet 40 who came from Judah and foretold these very things you have done to the altar of Bethel.” 23:18 The king 41 said, “Leave it alone! No one must touch his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed, as well as the bones of the Israelite prophet buried beside him. 42
23:19 Josiah also removed all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria. The kings of Israel had made them and angered the Lord. 43 He did to them what he had done to the high place in Bethel. 44 23:20 He sacrificed all the priests of the high places on the altars located there, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
23:21 The king ordered all the people, “Observe the Passover of the Lord your God, as prescribed in this scroll of the covenant.” 23:22 He issued this edict because 45 a Passover like this had not been observed since the days of the judges; it was neglected for the entire period of the kings of Israel and Judah. 46 23:23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, such a Passover of the Lord was observed in Jerusalem.
23:24 Josiah also got rid of 47 the ritual pits used to conjure up spirits, 48 the magicians, personal idols, disgusting images, 49 and all the detestable idols that had appeared in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. In this way he carried out the terms of the law 50 recorded on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the Lord’s temple. 23:25 No king before or after repented before the Lord as he did, with his whole heart, soul, and being in accordance with the whole law of Moses. 51
23:26 Yet the Lord’s great anger against Judah did not subside; he was still infuriated by all the things Manasseh had done. 52 23:27 The Lord announced, “I will also spurn Judah, 53 just as I spurned Israel. I will reject this city that I chose – both Jerusalem and the temple, about which I said, “I will live there.” 54
23:28 The rest of the events of Josiah’s reign and all his accomplishments are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 55 23:29 During Josiah’s reign Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt marched toward 56 the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to fight him, but Necho 57 killed him at Megiddo 58 when he saw him. 23:30 His servants transported his dead body 59 from Megiddo in a chariot and brought it to Jerusalem, where they buried him in his tomb. The people of the land took Josiah’s son Jehoahaz, poured olive oil on his head, 60 and made him king in his father’s place.
23:31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. 61 His mother 62 was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. 23:32 He did evil in the sight of 63 the Lord as his ancestors had done. 64 23:33 Pharaoh Necho imprisoned him in Riblah in the land of Hamath and prevented him from ruling in Jerusalem. 65 He imposed on the land a special tax 66 of one hundred talents 67 of silver and a talent of gold. 23:34 Pharaoh Necho made Josiah’s son Eliakim king in Josiah’s place, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He took Jehoahaz to Egypt, where he died. 68 23:35 Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh the required amount of silver and gold, but to meet Pharaoh’s demands Jehoiakim had to tax the land. He collected an assessed amount from each man among the people of the land in order to pay Pharaoh Necho. 69
23:36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. 70 His mother was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah, from Rumah. 23:37 He did evil in the sight of 71 the Lord as his ancestors had done.
Hebrews 5:1-14
Context5:1 For every high priest is taken from among the people 72 and appointed 73 to represent them before God, 74 to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. 5:2 He is able to deal compassionately with those who are ignorant and erring, since he also is subject to weakness, 5:3 and for this reason he is obligated to make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people. 5:4 And no one assumes this honor 75 on his own initiative, 76 but only when called to it by God, 77 as in fact Aaron was. 5:5 So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming high priest, but the one who glorified him was God, 78 who said to him, “You are my Son! Today I have fathered you,” 79 5:6 as also in another place God 80 says, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” 81 5:7 During his earthly life 82 Christ 83 offered 84 both requests and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his devotion. 5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through the things he suffered. 85 5:9 And by being perfected in this way, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 5:10 and he was designated 86 by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek. 87
5:11 On this topic we have much to say 88 and it is difficult to explain, since you have become sluggish 89 in hearing. 5:12 For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, 90 you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. 91 You have gone back to needing 92 milk, not 93 solid food. 5:13 For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness, because he is an infant. 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil.
Joel 2:1-32
Context2:1 Blow the trumpet 94 in Zion;
sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear,
for the day of the Lord is about to come.
2:2 It will be 97 a day of dreadful darkness, 98
a day of foreboding storm clouds, 99
like blackness 100 spread over the mountains.
It is a huge and powerful army 101 –
there has never been anything like it ever before,
and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come! 102
2:3 Like fire they devour everything in their path; 103
a flame blazes behind them.
The land looks like the Garden of Eden 104 before them,
but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness –
for nothing escapes them! 105
2:4 They look like horses; 106
they charge ahead like war horses.
2:5 They sound like 107 chariots rumbling 108 over mountain tops,
like the crackling 109 of blazing fire consuming stubble,
like the noise of 110 a mighty army 111 being drawn up for battle. 112
2:6 People 113 writhe in fear when they see them. 114
All of their faces turn pale with fright. 115
2:7 They 116 charge 117 like warriors;
they scale walls like soldiers. 118
Each one proceeds on his course;
they do not alter 119 their path.
2:8 They do not jostle one another; 120
each of them marches straight ahead. 121
They burst through 122 the city defenses 123
and do not break ranks.
2:9 They rush into 124 the city;
they scale 125 its walls.
They climb up into the houses;
they go in through the windows like a thief.
2:10 The earth quakes 126 before them; 127
the sky reverberates. 128
The sun and the moon grow dark;
the stars refuse to shine. 129
2:11 The voice of the Lord thunders 130 as he leads his army. 131
Indeed, his warriors 132 are innumerable; 133
Surely his command is carried out! 134
Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome 135
and very terrifying – who can survive 136 it?
2:12 “Yet even now,” the Lord says,
“return to me with all your heart –
with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
Tear your hearts, 137
not just your garments!”
2:13 Return to the Lord your God,
for he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to anger and boundless in loyal love 138 – often relenting from calamitous punishment. 139
2:14 Who knows?
Perhaps he will be compassionate and grant a reprieve, 140
and leave blessing in his wake 141 –
a meal offering and a drink offering for you to offer to the Lord your God! 142
2:15 Blow the trumpet 143 in Zion.
Announce a holy fast;
proclaim a sacred assembly!
2:16 Gather the people;
sanctify an assembly!
Gather the elders;
gather the children and the nursing infants.
Let the bridegroom come out from his bedroom
and the bride from her private quarters. 144
2:17 Let the priests, those who serve the Lord, weep
from the vestibule all the way back to the altar. 145
Let them say, “Have pity, O Lord, on your people;
please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked,
to become a proverb 146 among the nations.
Why should it be said 147 among the peoples,
“Where is their God?”
2:18 Then the Lord became 148 zealous for his land;
he had compassion on his people.
2:19 The Lord responded 149 to his people,
“Look! I am about to restore your grain 150
as well as fresh wine and olive oil.
You will be fully satisfied. 151
I will never again make you an object of mockery among the nations.
2:20 I will remove the one from the north 152 far from you.
I will drive him out to a dry and desolate place.
Those in front will be driven eastward into the Dead Sea, 153
and those in back westward into the Mediterranean Sea. 154
His stench will rise up as a foul smell.” 155
Indeed, the Lord 156 has accomplished great things.
2:21 Do not fear, my land!
Rejoice and be glad,
because the Lord has accomplished great things!
2:22 Do not fear, wild animals! 157
For the pastures of the wilderness are again green with grass.
Indeed, the trees bear their fruit;
the fig tree and the vine yield to their fullest. 158
2:23 Citizens of Zion, 159 rejoice!
Be glad because of what the Lord your God has done! 160
For he has given to you the early rains 161 as vindication.
He has sent 162 to you the rains –
both the early and the late rains 163 as formerly.
2:24 The threshing floors are full of grain;
the vats overflow with fresh wine and olive oil.
2:25 I will make up for the years 164
that the ‘arbeh-locust 165 consumed your crops 166 –
the yeleq-locust, the hasil-locust, and the gazam-locust –
my great army 167 that I sent against you.
2:26 You will have plenty to eat,
and your hunger will be fully satisfied; 168
you will praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has acted wondrously in your behalf.
My people will never again be put to shame.
2:27 You will be convinced that I am in the midst of Israel.
I am the Lord your God; there is no other.
My people will never again be put to shame.
2:28 (3:1) 169 After all of this 170
I will pour out my Spirit 171 on all kinds of people. 172
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your elderly will have revelatory dreams; 173
your young men will see prophetic visions.
2:29 Even on male and female servants
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
2:30 I will produce portents both in the sky 174 and on the earth –
blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
2:31 The sunlight will be turned to darkness
and the moon to the color of blood, 175
before the day of the Lord comes –
that great and terrible day!
2:32 It will so happen that
everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered. 176
For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem 177 there will be those who survive, 178
just as the Lord has promised;
the remnant 179 will be those whom the Lord will call. 180
Psalms 142:1-7
ContextA well-written song 182 by David, when he was in the cave; 183 a prayer.
142:1 To the Lord I cry out; 184
to the Lord I plead for mercy. 185
142:2 I pour out my lament before him;
I tell him about 186 my troubles.
142:3 Even when my strength leaves me, 187
you watch my footsteps. 188
In the path where I walk
they have hidden a trap for me.
142:4 Look to the right and see!
No one cares about me. 189
I have nowhere to run; 190
no one is concerned about my life. 191
142:5 I cry out to you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my shelter,
my security 192 in the land of the living.”
142:6 Listen to my cry for help,
for I am in serious trouble! 193
Rescue me from those who chase me,
for they are stronger than I am.
142:7 Free me 194 from prison,
that I may give thanks to your name.
Because of me the godly will assemble, 195
for you will vindicate me. 196
1 tn Heb “and the king sent and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem gathered to him.”
map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
2 tn Heb “read in their ears.”
3 tn Heb “cut,” that is, “made, agreed to.”
4 tn Heb “walk after.”
5 tn Or “soul.”
6 tn Heb “words.”
7 tn Heb “stood in the covenant.”
8 tn Heb “the priests of the second [rank],” that is, those ranked just beneath Hilkiah.
9 tn Or “doorkeepers.”
10 tn Heb “for.”
11 tn Heb “all the host of heaven” (also in v. 5).
12 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 tn Or “fields.” For a defense of the translation “terraces,” see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 285.
14 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
15 tn Perhaps, “destroyed.”
16 tn Or “burn incense.”
17 tn Or “burned incense.”
18 tn Heb “and he burned it in the Kidron Valley.”
19 tc Heb “on the grave of the sons of the people.” Some Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, Aramaic, and Latin witnesses read the plural “graves.”
tn The phrase “sons of the people” refers here to the common people (see BDB 766 s.v. עַם), as opposed to the upper classes who would have private tombs.
20 tn Or “cubicles.” Heb “houses.”
21 tn Heb “houses.” Perhaps tent-shrines made from cloth are in view (see BDB 109 s.v. בַּיִת). M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 286) understand this as referring to clothes made for images of the goddess.
22 tn Heb “defiled; desecrated,” that is, “made ritually unclean and unusable.”
23 sn These towns marked Judah’s northern and southern borders, respectively, at the time of Josiah.
24 tc The Hebrew text reads “the high places of the gates,” which is problematic in that the rest of the verse speaks of a specific gate. The translation assumes an emendation to בָּמוֹת הַשְּׁעָרִים (bamot hashÿ’arim), “the high place of the goats” (that is, goat idols). Worship of such images is referred to in Lev 17:7 and 2 Chr 11:15. For a discussion of the textual issue, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 286-87.
25 tn Heb “their brothers.”
26 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
27 sn Attempts to identify this deity with a god known from the ancient Near East have not yet yielded a consensus. For brief discussions see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor II Kings (AB), 288 and HALOT 592 s.v. מֹלֶךְ. For more extensive studies see George C. Heider, The Cult of Molek, and John Day, Molech: A God of Human Sacrifice in the Old Testament.
28 tn The MT simply reads “the horses.” The words “statues of” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
29 tn Heb “who/which was in the […?].” The meaning of the Hebrew term פַּרְוָרִים (parvarim), translated here “courtyards,” is uncertain. The relative clause may indicate where the room was located or explain who Nathan Melech was, “the eunuch who was in the courtyards.” See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 288-89, who translate “the officer of the precincts.”
30 tn Heb “and the chariots of the sun he burned with fire.”
31 tc The MT reads, “he ran from there,” which makes little if any sense in this context. Some prefer to emend the verbal form (Qal of רוּץ [ruts], “run”) to a Hiphil of רוּץ with third plural suffix and translate, “he quickly removed them” (see BDB 930 s.v. רוּץ, and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings [AB], 289). The suffix could have been lost in MT by haplography (note the mem [מ] that immediately follows the verb on the form מִשֳׁם, misham, “from there”). Another option, the one reflected in the translation, is to emend the verb to a Piel of רָצַץ (ratsats), “crush,” with third plural suffix.
32 sn This is a derogatory name for the Mount of Olives, involving a wordplay between מָשְׁחָה (mashÿkhah), “anointing,” and מַשְׁחִית (mashÿkhit), “destruction.” See HALOT 644 s.v. מַשְׁחִית and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 289.
33 tn Heb “their places.”
34 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
35 tn Heb “And also the altar that is in Bethel, the high place that Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin, also that altar and the high place he tore down.” The more repetitive Hebrew text is emphatic.
36 tn Heb “he burned the high place, crushing to dust, and he burned the Asherah pole.” High places per se are never referred to as being burned elsewhere. בָּמָה (bamah) here stands by metonymy for the combustible items located on the high place. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 289.
37 tn Heb “and he sent and took the bones from the tombs.”
38 tn Heb “the king”; this has been specified as “King Josiah” in the translation for clarity (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).
39 tc The MT is much shorter than this. It reads, “according to the word of the
sn This recalls the prophecy recorded in 1 Kgs 13:2.
40 tn Heb “man of God.”
41 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
42 tn Heb “and they left undisturbed his bones, the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.” If the phrase “the bones of the prophet” were appositional to “his bones,” one would expect the sentence to end “from Judah” (see v. 17). Apparently the “prophet” referred to in the second half of the verse is the old prophet from Bethel who buried the man of God from Judah in his own tomb and instructed his sons to bury his bones there as well (1 Kgs 13:30-31). One expects the text to read “from Bethel,” but “Samaria” (which was not even built at the time of the incident recorded in 1 Kgs 13) is probably an anachronistic reference to the northern kingdom in general. See the note at 1 Kgs 13:32 and the discussion in M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 290.
43 tc Heb “which the kings of Israel had made, angering.” The object has been accidentally omitted in the MT. It appears in the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate versions.
44 tn Heb “and he did to them according to all the deeds he had done in Bethel.”
map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
45 tn The Hebrew text has simply “because.” The translation attempts to reflect more clearly the logical connection between the king’s order and the narrator’s observation. Another option is to interpret כִּי (ki) as asseverative and translate, “indeed.”
46 tn Heb “because there had not been observed [one] like this Passover from the days of the judges who judged Israel and all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah.”
47 tn Here בִּעֵר (bi’er) is not the well attested verb “burn,” but the less common homonym meaning “devastate, sweep away, remove.” See HALOT 146 s.v. בער.
48 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 21:6.
49 sn See the note at 1 Kgs 15:12.
50 tn Heb “carrying out the words of the law.”
51 tn Heb “and like him there was not a king before him who returned to the
sn The description of Josiah’s devotion as involving his whole “heart, soul, and being” echoes the language of Deut 6:5.
52 tn Heb “Yet the
53 tn Heb “Also Judah I will turn away from my face.”
54 tn Heb “My name will be there.”
55 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Josiah, and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
56 tn Heb “went up to.” The idiom עַל…עָלָה (’alah …’al) can sometimes mean “go up against,” but here it refers to Necho’s attempt to aid the Assyrians in their struggle with the Babylonians.
57 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Necho) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
58 map For location see Map1 D4; Map2 C1; Map4 C2; Map5 F2; Map7 B1.
59 tn Heb “him, dead.”
60 tn Or “anointed him.”
61 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
62 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
63 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
64 tn Heb “according to all which his fathers had done.”
65 tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has “when [he was] ruling in Jerusalem,” but the marginal reading (Qere), which has support from Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, and Latin witnesses, has “[preventing him] from ruling in Jerusalem.”
66 tn Or “fine.”
67 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold (cf. NCV, NLT); CEV “almost four tons of silver and about seventy-five pounds of gold.”
68 tn Heb “and he took Jehoahaz, and he came to Egypt and he died there.”
69 tn Heb “And the silver and the gold Jehoiakim gave to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the silver at the command of Pharaoh, [from] each according to his tax he collected the silver and the gold, from the people of the land, to give to Pharaoh Necho.”
70 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
71 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
72 tn Grk “from among men,” but since the point in context is shared humanity (rather than shared maleness), the plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) has been translated “people.”
73 tn Grk “who is taken from among people is appointed.”
74 tn Grk “appointed on behalf of people in reference to things relating to God.”
75 sn Honor refers here to the honor of the high priesthood.
76 tn Grk “by himself, on his own.”
77 tn Grk “being called by God.”
78 tn Grk “the one”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
79 tn Grk “I have begotten you”; see Heb 1:5.
sn A quotation from Ps 2:7.
80 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
81 sn A quotation from Ps 110:4.
82 tn Grk “in the days of his flesh.”
83 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
84 tn Grk “who…having offered,” continuing the description of Christ from Heb 5:5-6.
85 sn There is a wordplay in the Greek text between the verbs “learned” (ἔμαθεν, emaqen) and “suffered” (ἔπαθεν, epaqen).
86 tn Grk “having been designated,” continuing the thought of Heb 5:9.
87 sn The phrase in the order of Melchizedek picks up the quotation from Ps 110:4 in Heb 5:6.
88 tn Grk “concerning which the message for us is great.”
89 tn Or “dull.”
90 tn Grk “because of the time.”
91 tn Grk “the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God.”
92 tn Grk “you have come to have a need for.”
93 tc ‡ Most texts, including some early and important ones (א2 A B* D Ψ 0122 0278 1881 Ï sy Cl), have καί (kai, “and”) immediately preceding οὐ (ou, “not”), but other equally significant witnesses (Ì46 א* B2 C 33 81 1739 lat Or Did) lack the conjunction. As it was a natural tendency for scribes to add a coordinating conjunction, the καί appears to be a motivated reading. On balance, it is probably best to regard the shorter reading as authentic. NA27 has καί in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
94 tn The word translated “trumpet” here (so most English versions) is the Hebrew שׁוֹפָר (shofar). The shophar was a wind instrument made from a cow or ram’s horn and used as a military instrument for calling people to attention in the face of danger or as a religious instrument for calling people to occasions of communal celebration.
95 tn Or “for.”
96 sn The interpretation of 2:1-11 is very difficult. Four views may be mentioned here. (1) Some commentators understand this section to be describing a human invasion of Judah on the part of an ancient army. The exact identity of this army (e.g., Assyrian or Babylonian) varies among interpreters depending upon issues of dating for the book of Joel. (2) Some commentators take the section to describe an eschatological scene in which the army according to some is human, or according to others is nonhuman (i.e., angelic). (3) Some interpreters argue for taking the section to refer to the potential advent in the fall season of a severe east wind (i.e., Sirocco) that would further exacerbate the conditions of the land described in chapter one. (4) Finally, some interpreters understand the section to continue the discussion of locust invasion and drought described in chapter one, partly on the basis that there is no clear exegetical evidence in 2:1-11 to suggest a shift of referent from that of chapter one.
97 tn The phrase “It will be” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style.
98 tn Heb “darkness and gloom.” These two terms probably form a hendiadys here. This picture recalls the imagery of the supernatural darkness in Egypt during the judgments of the exodus (Exod 10:22). These terms are also frequently used as figures (metonymy of association) for calamity and divine judgment (Isa 8:22; 59:9; Jer 23:12; Zeph 1:15). Darkness is often a figure (metonymy of association) for death, dread, distress and judgment (BDB 365 s.v. חשֶׁךְ 3).
99 tn Heb “a day of cloud and darkness.”
100 tc The present translation here follows the proposed reading שְׁחֹר (shÿkhor, “blackness”) rather than the MT שַׁחַר (shakhar, “morning”). The change affects only the vocalization; the Hebrew consonants remain unchanged. Here the context calls for a word describing darkness. The idea of morning or dawn speaks instead of approaching light, which does not seem to fit here. The other words in the verse (e.g., “darkness,” “gloominess,” “cloud,” “heavy overcast”) all emphasize the negative aspects of the matter at hand and lead the reader to expect a word like “blackness” rather than “dawn.” However, NIrV paraphrases the MT nicely: “A huge army of locusts is coming. They will spread across the mountains like the sun when it rises.”
101 tn Heb “A huge and powerful people”; KJV, ASV “a great people and a strong.” Many interpreters understand Joel 2 to describe an invasion of human armies, either in past history (e.g., the Babylonian invasion of Palestine in the sixth century
102 tn Heb “it will not be repeated for years of generation and generation.”
103 tn Heb “a fire devours before it.”
104 tn Heb “like the garden of Eden, the land is before them.”
105 tn Heb “and surely a survivor there is not for it.” The antecedent of the pronoun “it” is apparently עַם (’am, “people”) of v. 2, which seems to be a figurative way of referring to the locusts. K&D 26:191-92 thought that the antecedent of this pronoun was “land,” but the masculine gender of the pronoun does not support this.
106 tn Heb “Like the appearance of horses [is] its appearance.”
sn The fact that a locust’s head resembles a miniature replica of a horse’s head has often been noticed. For example, the German word for locust (Heupferd, “hay horse”) and the Italian word as well (cavaletta, “little horse”) are based on this similarity in appearance.
107 tn Heb “like the sound of.”
sn The repetition of the word of comparison (“like”) in vv. 4-7 should not go unnoticed. The author is comparing the locust invasion to familiar aspects of human invasion. If the preposition has its normal force here, it is similarity and not identity that is intended. In other words, locusts are being likened to human armies, but human armies are not actually present. On the other hand, this Hebrew preposition is also on occasion used to indicate exactitude, a function described by grammarians as kaph veritatis.
108 tn Heb “jostling” or “leaping.” There is question whether this pictures chariots rumbling over the mountains (e.g., 2 Sam 6:14,16; 1 Chr 15:29; Nah 3:2) or the locusts flying – or “leaping” – over the mountains (e.g., Job 21:11); see BDB 955 s.v. רָקַד.
109 tn Heb “sound.”
110 tn The phrase “the noise of” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is implied by the parallelism, so it has been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
111 tn Heb “people.”
112 tn Heb “being arrayed of battle.”
113 tn Or “nations.”
114 tn Heb “before it.”
115 tn Heb “all faces gather beauty”; or “all faces gather a glow.” The Hebrew word פָּארוּר (pa’rur) is found in the OT only here and in Nah 2:11. Its meaning is very uncertain. Some scholars associate it with a root that signifies “glowing”; hence “all faces gather a glow of dread.” Others associate the word with פָּרוּר (parur, “pot”); hence “all faces gather blackness.” Still others take the root to signify “beauty”; hence “all faces gather in their beauty” in the sense of growing pale due to fear. This is the view assumed here.
116 sn Since the invaders are compared to warriors, this suggests that they are not actually human, but instead an army of locusts.
117 tn Heb “run.”
118 tn Heb “men of battle.”
119 tc The translation reads יְעַבְּתוּן (yÿ’abbÿtun) for MT יְעַבְּטוּן (yÿ’abbÿtun). The verb found in MT (עָבַט, ’avat) means “take or give a pledge” (cf. Deut 15:6, 8; 24:10) and does not fit the context. Some scholars have proposed various emendations: (1) יְעָוְּתוּן (yÿ’avvÿtun, “they make crooked”); (2) יָטּוּן (yattun, “they turn aside”); (3) יָעַוּוּן (ya’avvun, “they err”); and (4) יְעָבְּתוּן (adopted in the present translation) from the root I עָבַת (’avat, “to twist, pervert”) or II עָבַת (’avat, “to change, abandon”). KBL adopt the latter option, but the only biblical evidence for this is the problematic reference in Joel 2:7. Another option is to view it as a variant of the root חבט (khavat, “turn aside from”), a meaning attested for the Arabic cognate. The difference in spelling would be due to the interchange of the guttural letters khet (ח) and ayin (ע). This may lay behind LXX rendering ἐκκλίνωσιν (ekklinwsin; cf. Syriac Peshitta nstwn and Vg declinabunt). See S. F. Whitley, “‘bt in Joel 2, 7,” Bib 65 (1984): 101-2.
120 tn “each one does not crowd his brother.”
121 tn Heb “each warrior walks in his own course.”
122 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).
123 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.
124 tn Heb “dart about in.”
125 tn Or “they run upon its wall.”
126 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.
127 tn Heb “before it.”
128 tn Heb “trembles.”
129 tn Heb “gather their brightness.”
130 tn Heb “the
131 tn Heb “before his army.”
132 tn Heb “military encampment.”
133 tn Heb “very large.”
134 tn Heb “he makes his word powerful.”
135 tn Or “powerful.” Heb “great.”
136 tn Heb “endure.” The MT and LXX read “endure,” while one of the Qumran manuscripts (4QXXIIc) has “bear.”
137 sn The figurative language calls for genuine repentance, and not merely external ritual that goes through the motions.
138 tn Heb “and great of loyal love.”
139 tn Heb “and he relents from calamity.”
140 tn Heb “turn” or “turn back.”
141 tn Heb “leave a blessing behind him.”
142 tn The phrase “for you to offer” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
143 tn See the note on this term in 2:1.
144 sn Mosaic law allowed men recently married, or about to be married, to be exempt for a year from certain duties that were normally mandatory, such as military obligation (cf. Deut 20:7; 24:5). However, Joel pictures a time of such urgency that normal expectations must give way to higher requirements.
145 tn Heb “between the vestibule and the altar.” The vestibule was located at the entrance of the temple and the altar was located at the other end of the building. So “between the vestibule and the altar” is a merism referring to the entire structure. The priestly lament permeates the entire house of worship.
146 tn For the MT reading לִמְשָׁל (limshol, an infinitive, “to rule”), one should instead read לְמָשָׁל (lÿmashal, a noun, “to a byword”). While the consonantal Hebrew text permits either, the context suggests that the concern here is more one of not wanting to appear abandoned by God to ongoing economic depression rather than one of concern over potential political subjection of Israel (cf. v. 19). The possibility that the form in the MT is an infinitive construct of the denominative verb II מָשַׁל (mashal, “to utter a proverb”) does not seem likely because of the following preposition (Hebrew בְּ [bÿ], rather than עַל [’al]).
147 tn Heb “Why will they say?”
148 tn The time-frame entertained by the verbs of v.18 constitutes a crux interpretum in this chapter. The Hebrew verb forms used here are preterites with vav consecutive and are most naturally understood as describing a past situation. However, some modern English versions render these verbs as futures (e.g., NIV, NASV), apparently concluding that the context requires a future reference. According to Joüon 2:363 §112.h, n.1 Ibn Ezra explained the verbs of Joel 2:18 as an extension of the so-called prophetic perfect; as such, a future fulfillment was described with a past tense as a rhetorical device lending certainty to the fulfillment. But this lacks adequate precedent and is very unlikely from a syntactical standpoint. It seems better to take the verbs in the normal past sense of the preterite. This would require a vantage point for the prophet at some time after the people had responded favorably to the Lord’s call for repentance and after the Lord had shown compassion and forgiveness toward his people, but before the full realization of God’s promises to restore productivity to the land. In other words, it appears from the verbs of vv. 18-19 that at the time of Joel’s writing this book the events of successive waves of locust invasion and conditions of drought had almost run their course and the people had now begun to turn to the Lord.
149 tn Heb “answered and said.”
150 tn Heb “Look! I am sending grain to you.” The participle used in the Hebrew text seems to suggest imminent action.
151 tc One of the Qumran manuscripts (4QXXIIc) inserts “and you will eat” before “and you will be fully satisfied” (the reading of the MT, LXX).
152 sn The allusion to the one from the north is best understood as having locusts in view. It is not correct to say that this reference to the enemy who came form the north excludes the possibility of a reference to locusts and must be understood as human armies. Although locust plagues usually approached Palestine from the east or southeast, the severe plague of 1915, for example, came from the northeast.
153 tn Heb “his face to the eastern sea.” In this context the eastern sea is probably the Dead Sea.
154 tn Heb “and his rear to the western sea.” The western sea refers to the Mediterranean Sea.
155 sn Heb “and his foul smell will ascend.” The foul smell probably refers to the unpleasant odor of decayed masses of dead locusts. The Hebrew word for “foul smell” is found only here in the Old Testament. The Hebrew word for “stench” appears only here and in Isa 34:3 and Amos 4:10. In the latter references it refers to the stench of dead corpses on a field of battle.
156 tn The Hebrew text does not have “the
157 tn Heb “beasts of the field.”
158 tn Heb “their strength.” The trees and vines will produce a maximum harvest, in contrast to the failed agricultural conditions previously described.
159 tn Heb “sons of Zion.”
160 tn Heb “be glad in the
161 tn Normally the Hebrew word הַמּוֹרֶה (hammoreh) means “the teacher,” but here and in Ps 84:7 it refers to “early rains.” Elsewhere the word for “early rains” is יוֹרֶה (yoreh). The phrase here הַמּוֹרֶה לִצְדָקָה (hammoreh litsdaqah) is similar to the expression “teacher of righteousness” (Heb., מוֹרֶה הַצֶּדֶק , moreh hatsedeq) found in the Dead Sea Scrolls referring to a particular charismatic leader, although the Qumran community seems not to have invoked this text in support of that notion.
162 tn Heb “caused to come down.”
163 sn For half the year Palestine is generally dry. The rainy season begins with the early rains usually in late October to early December, followed by the latter rains in March and April. Without these rains productive farming would not be possible, as Joel’s original readers knew only too well.
164 tn Heb “I will restore to you the years.”
sn The plural years suggests that the plague to which Joel refers was not limited to a single season. Apparently the locusts were a major problem over several successive years. One season of drought and locust invasion would have been bad enough. Several such years would have been devastating.
165 sn The same four terms for locust are used here as in 1:4, but in a different order. This fact creates some difficulty for the notion that the four words refer to four distinct stages of locust development.
166 tn The term “your crops” does not appear in the Hebrew, but has been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.
167 sn Here Joel employs military language to describe the locusts. In the prophet’s thinking this invasion was far from being a freak accident. Rather, the Lord is pictured here as a divine warrior who leads his army into the land as a punishment for past sin and as a means of bringing about spiritual renewal on the part of the people.
168 tn Heb “you will surely eat and be satisfied.”
169 sn Beginning with 2:28, the verse numbers through 3:21 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 2:28 ET = 3:1 HT, 2:29 ET = 3:2 HT, 2:30 ET = 3:3 HT, 2:31 ET = 3:4 HT, 2:32 ET = 3:5 HT, 3:1 ET = 4:1 HT, etc., through 3:21 ET = 4:21 HT. Thus Joel in the Hebrew Bible has 4 chapters, the 5 verses of ch. 3 being included at the end of ch. 2 in the English Bible.
170 tn Heb “Now it will be after this.”
171 sn This passage plays a key role in the apostolic explanation of the coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2:17-21. Peter introduces his quotation of this passage with “this is that spoken by the prophet Joel” (Acts 2:16; cf. the similar pesher formula used at Qumran). The New Testament experience at Pentecost is thus seen in some sense as a fulfillment of this Old Testament passage, even though that experience did not exhaustively fulfill Joel’s words. Some portions of Joel’s prophecy have no precise counterpart in that experience. For example, there is nothing in the experience recorded in Acts 2 that exactly corresponds to the earthly and heavenly signs described in Joel 3:3-4. But inasmuch as the messianic age had already begun and the “last days” had already commenced with the coming of the Messiah (cf. Heb 1:1-2), Peter was able to point to Joel 3:1-5 as a text that was relevant to the advent of Jesus and the bestowal of the Spirit. The equative language that Peter employs (“this is that”) stresses an incipient fulfillment of the Joel passage without precluding or minimizing a yet future and more exhaustive fulfillment in events associated with the return of Christ.
172 tn Heb “all flesh.” As a term for humanity, “flesh” suggests the weakness and fragility of human beings as opposed to God who is “spirit.” The word “all” refers not to all human beings without exception (cf. NAB, NASB “all mankind”; NLT “all people”), but to all classes of human beings without distinction (cf. NCV).
173 tn Heb “your old men will dream dreams.”
174 tn Or “in the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
175 tn Heb “to blood,” but no doubt this is intended to indicate by metonymy the color of blood rather than the substance itself. The blood red color suggests a visual impression here – something that could be caused by fires, volcanic dust, sandstorms, or other atmospheric phenomena.
176 tn While a number of English versions render this as “saved” (e.g., NIV, NRSV, NLT), this can suggest a “spiritual” or “theological” salvation rather than the physical deliverance from the cataclysmic events of the day of the Lord described in the context.
177 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
178 tn Heb “deliverance”; or “escape.” The abstract noun “deliverance” or “escape” probably functions here as an example of antimeria, referring to those who experience deliverance or escape with their lives: “escaped remnant” or “surviving remnant” (Gen 32:8; 45:7; Judg 21:17; 2 Kgs 19:30, 31; Isa 4:2; 10:20; 15:9; 37:31, 32; Ezek 14:22; Obad 1:17; Ezra 9:8, 13-15; Neh 1:2; 1 Chr 4:43; 2 Chr 30:6).
179 tn Heb “and among the remnant.”
180 tn The participle used in the Hebrew text seems to indicate action in the imminent future.
181 sn Psalm 142. The psalmist laments his persecuted state and asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies.
182 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.
183 sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm while in “the cave.” This probably refers to either the incident recorded in 1 Sam 22:1 or to the one recorded in 1 Sam 24:3. See the superscription of Ps 57.
184 tn Heb “[with] my voice to the
185 tn Heb “[with] my voice to the
186 tn Heb “my trouble before him I declare.”
187 tn Heb “my spirit grows faint.”
188 tn Heb “you know my path.”
189 tn Heb “there is no one who recognizes me.”
190 tn Heb “ a place of refuge perishes from me.”
191 tn Heb “there is no one who seeks for the sake of my life.”
192 tn Heb “my portion.” The psalmist compares the
193 tn Heb “for I am very low.”
194 tn Heb “bring out my life.”
195 tn Or “gather around.”
196 tn The Hebrew idiom גָּמַל עַל (gamal ’al) means “to repay,” here in a positive sense.
