1:12 The vine has dried up;
the fig tree languishes –
the pomegranate, date, and apple 1 as well.
In fact, 2 all the trees of the field have dried up.
Indeed, the joy of the people 3 has dried up!
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. 4
2:19 The Lord responded 5 to his people,
“Look! I am about to restore your grain 6
as well as fresh wine and olive oil.
You will be fully satisfied. 7
I will never again make you an object of mockery among the nations.
2:26 You will have plenty to eat,
and your hunger will be fully satisfied; 8
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) 9 After all of this 10
I will pour out my Spirit 11 on all kinds of people. 12
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your elderly will have revelatory dreams; 13
your young men will see prophetic visions.
3:16 The Lord roars from Zion;
from Jerusalem 14 his voice bellows out. 15
The heavens 16 and the earth shake.
But the Lord is a refuge for his people;
he is a stronghold for the citizens 17 of Israel.
3:19 Egypt will be desolate
and Edom will be a desolate wilderness,
because of the violence they did to the people of Judah, 18
in whose land they shed innocent blood.
1 tn This Hebrew word וְתַפּוּחַ (vÿtappuakh) probably refers to the apple tree (so most English versions), but other suggestions that scholars have offered include the apricot, citron, or quince.
2 tn These words are not in the Hebrew text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “the sons of man.”
4 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.
5 tn Heb “answered and said.”
6 tn Heb “Look! I am sending grain to you.” The participle used in the Hebrew text seems to suggest imminent action.
7 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).
8 tn Heb “you will surely eat and be satisfied.”
9 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.
10 tn Heb “Now it will be after this.”
11 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.
12 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).
13 tn Heb “your old men will dream dreams.”
14 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
15 tn Heb “he sounds forth his voice.”
16 tn Or “the sky.” See the note on “sky” in 2:30.
17 tn Heb “sons.”
18 tn Heb “violence of the sons of Judah.” The phrase “of the sons of Judah” is an objective genitive (cf. KJV “the violence against the children of Judah”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “violence done to the people of Judah”). It refers to injustices committed against the Judeans, not violence that the Judeans themselves had committed against others.