Discovery BoxJoel 2:3 
Context2:3 Like fire they devour everything in their path; 1
a flame blazes behind them.
The land looks like the Garden of Eden 2 before them,
but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness –
for nothing escapes them! 3
Joel 3:16
Context3:16 The Lord roars from Zion;
from Jerusalem 4 his voice bellows out. 5
The heavens 6 and the earth shake.
But the Lord is a refuge for his people;
he is a stronghold for the citizens 7 of Israel.
1 tn Heb “a fire devours before it.”
2 tn Heb “like the garden of Eden, the land is before them.”
3 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.
4 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
5 tn Heb “he sounds forth his voice.”
6 tn Or “the sky.” See the note on “sky” in 2:30.
7 tn Heb “sons.”
