Joel 2:3

2:3 Like fire they devour everything in their path;

a flame blazes behind them.

The land looks like the Garden of Eden before them,

but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness –

for nothing escapes them!

Joel 3:16

3:16 The Lord roars from Zion;

from Jerusalem his voice bellows out.

The heavens and the earth shake.

But the Lord is a refuge for his people;

he is a stronghold for the citizens of Israel.


tn Heb “a fire devours before it.”

tn Heb “like the garden of Eden, the land is before them.”

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.

map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

tn Heb “he sounds forth his voice.”

tn Or “the sky.” See the note on “sky” in 2:30.

tn Heb “sons.”