1:19 To you, O Lord, I call out for help, 1
for fire 2 has burned up 3 the grassy pastures, 4
flames have razed 5 all the trees in the fields.
3:11 Lend your aid 6 and come,
all you surrounding nations,
and gather yourselves 7 to that place.”
Bring down, O Lord, your warriors! 8
1 tn The phrase “for help” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
2 sn Fire here and in v. 20 is probably not to be understood in a literal sense. The locust plague, accompanied by conditions of extreme drought, has left the countryside looking as though everything has been burned up (so also in Joel 2:3).
3 tn Heb “consumed.” This entire line is restated at the end of v. 20.
4 tn Heb “the pastures of the wilderness.”
5 tn Heb “a flame has set ablaze.” This fire was one of the effects of the drought.
6 tn This Hebrew verb is found only here in the OT; its meaning is uncertain. Some scholars prefer to read here עוּרוּ (’uru, “arouse”) or חוּשׁוּ (khushu, “hasten”).
7 tc The present translation follows the reading of the imperative הִקָּבְצוּ (hiqqavÿtsu) rather than the perfect with vav (ו) consecutive וְנִקְבָּצוּ (vÿniqbbatsu) of the MT.
8 tc Some commentators prefer to delete the line “Bring down, O