² tn Or “thunderbolt,” i.e., lightning. Heb “the roaring of voices/sounds,” which describes the nature of the storm.

³ sn The line is perhaps best understood as describing one who thinks he is invested with the power of God.

¹ sn The old translation of “daysman” came from a Latin expression describing the fixing of a day for arbitration.

¹ tn Heb “will arise and build.” The idiom “arise and…” means to begin the action described by the second verb.

¹ tn The Hebrew text has “Celubai,” but see v. 18, where Caleb is described as the son of Hezron.

¹ tn The construct has “young men of the Israelites,” and so “Israelite” is a genitive that describes them.

³ tn The description “fearers of God” uses an objective genitive. It describes them as devout, worshipful, obedient servants of God.

² tn The word “finger” is a bold anthropomorphism (a figure of speech in which God is described using human characteristics).

² tn Heb “I am about to be gathered.” The participle is used here to describe what is imminent.

¹ tn The perfect verbal form is used rhetorically, describing coming events as though they have already taken place.

² tn The verb means “to bow down to the ground.” It is used to describe worship and obeisance to masters.

¹ tn Or “bore a grudge against” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV). The Hebrew verb שָׂטַם (satam) describes persistent hatred.

¹ tn The disjunctive clause describes an important circumstance accompanying the birth. Whereas Esau was passive at birth, Jacob was active.

¹ tn The Hebrew verb שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) was used earlier to describe the effect of the flood.

⁴ sn Heb “the husband of her youth.” The woman described here may already be married, so the reference is to the death of a husband rather than a fiancé (a husband-to-be). Either way, the simile describes a painful and unexpected loss to which the national tragedy Joel is describing may be compared.

² tn The imperfect verb (תֹאכֵל, toʾkel) is used in its past habitual sense. The verbs describing the woman from verses 12-29 include 19 perfects and 9 preterites which describe actions with past time references. Thus the four imperfect verbs that describe her (vv. 14, 18, 21, 27) should be understood as modal and operating in a past time frame.

² tn The imperfect verb (תִירָא, tiraʾ) is used in its past habitual sense. The verbs describing the woman from verses 12-29 include 19 perfects and 9 preterites which describe actions with past time references. Thus the four imperfect verbs that describe her (vv. 14, 18, 21, 27) should be understood as modal and operating in a past time frame.

³ tn The imperfect verb (תָּבִיא, taviʾ) is used in its past habitual sense. The verbs describing the woman from verses 12-29 include 19 perfects and 9 preterites which describe actions with past time references. Thus the four imperfect verbs that describe her (vv. 14, 18, 21, 27) should be understood as modal and operating in a past time frame.

² tn As in 2:23 and 3:4, the author uses πᾶς (pas) with the present articular participle as a generalization to describe a category of people.

¹ tn Although some translations have simply “these” or “these people,” since in v. 14 they are described as having eyes “full of an adulteress,” men are in view.