Discovery BoxJoel 2:8-9 
Context2:8 They do not jostle one another; 1
each of them marches straight ahead. 2
They burst through 3 the city defenses 4
and do not break ranks.
2:9 They rush into 5 the city;
they scale 6 its walls.
They climb up into the houses;
they go in through the windows like a thief.
1 tn “each one does not crowd his brother.”
2 tn Heb “each warrior walks in his own course.”
3 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).
4 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.
5 tn Heb “dart about in.”
6 tn Or “they run upon its wall.”
