A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn spreading on the mountains, a great and strong people; there has never been the like, neither will there be any more after them, even to the years of many generations.
A fire devours before them, and behind them, a flame burns. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them, a desolate wilderness. Yes, and no one has escaped them.
Their appearance is as the appearance of horses, and they run as horsemen.
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains, they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, like a strong people set in battle array.
At their presence the peoples are in anguish. All faces have grown pale.
They run like mighty men. They climb the wall like warriors. They each march in his line, and they don’t swerve off course.
Neither does one jostle another; they march everyone in his path, and they burst through the defenses, and don’t break ranks.
They rush on the city. They run on the wall. They climb up into the houses. They enter in at the windows like thieves.
The earth quakes before them. The heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 And then he says, A day of darkness and…
And then he says, A day of darkness and of thick darkness, a day of clouds and of obscurity, as the dawn which expands over the mountains. By calling it a dark and gloomy day, he wished to show that there would be no hope of deliverance; for, according to the common usage of Scripture, we know that by light is designated a cheerful and happy state, or the hope of deliverance from any affliction: but the Prophet now extinguishes, as it were, every hope in this world, when he declares that the day of Jehovah would be dark, that is, without hope of restoration. This is his meaning. When he says afterwards, As the dawn which expands, etc., he mentions this to signify the celerity with which it would come; for we know how sudden is the rising of the dawn on the mountains: the dawn spreads in a moment on the mountains, where darkness was before. For the light penetrates not immediately either into valleys or even into plains; but if any one looks at the summits of mountains, he will see that the dawn rises quickly. It is then the settle as though the Prophet said, “The day of the Lord is nigh, for the Lord can suddenly stretch forth his hand, as the dawn spreads over the mountains.”
He then mentions its character, A people great and strong to whom there has not been the like from the beginning, or from ages and after whom there will be no more the like, to the years of a generation and a generation. Here the Prophet specifies the kind of judgment that would be, of which he had generally spoken before; and he shows that what he had hitherto recorded of God’s vengeance ought not to be so understood as that God would descend openly and visibly from heaven, but that the Assyrians would be the ministers and executioners of his vengeance. In short, the Prophet shows here that the coming of that people ought to have been as much dreaded as if God had put forth his hand and executed on his people the vengeance deserved by their sins. And by these words he teaches us, that men gain nothing by being blind to the judgments of God; for God will notwithstanding execute his works and use the instrumentality of men; for men are the scourges by which he chastises his own people. The Chaldeans and the Assyrians were unbelievers; yet God used them for the purpose of correcting the Jews. This the Prophet now shows, that is, that God was the avenger in these very Assyrians, for he employed them as the ministers and executioners of his judgment. We see at the same time that the Prophet describes here the terrible wrath of God to shake off from the Jews their tardiness; for he saw that they were not moved by all his threatening, and ever laid hold on some new flattering pretenses. This is the reason why he gives such a long description.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 6, 8, 10 Of affliction and trouble.
Of affliction and trouble.
Meaning, the Assyrians.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv2–10 Joe 2:2 A day of darkness and of gloominess,…
Joe 2:2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, [even] to the years of many generations.
Ver. 2. A day of darkness and of gloominess] Lest they should imagine it to be some light matter that hath been, and is still threatened, he sets forth to the life, the bitterness of that day, so lowering and lightless, that it can hardly be called a day; a dark and doleful doomsday it will be to the impenitent, infaustus et infelix, dismal and dreadful. What better can be expected by those Tenebriones, that delight in the deeds of darkness, and are acted by those rulers of the darkness of this world, Eph 6:12, the devils, whom they follow as they are led, 1Co 12:2, till they fall into outer darkness, σκοτος εξωτερον, even that darkness beyond a darkness (as the dungeon is beyond or below the prison), where they shall never see the light again till they see all the world on a light fire. Let those Lucifugae look to it, that love darkness better than light; for, besides what they meet with here, they shall one day have their bellies full of it in that dungeon of darkness.
Read full note →
A day of clouds and of thick darkness]. Caused by that huge army of locusts, coming in great swarms and darkening the air.
As the morning spread upon the mountains] i.e. longe, lateque, far and near, all the country over, and that in an instant; even as the morning spreadeth abroad suddenly over the tops of hills, though they be a great way off. Postera vix summos spargebat lumine montes Orta dies (Virg.) Lux subit, et primo feriente cacumina sole. (Ovid.) Hereby is imported that the calamity here threatened is such as they can neither avert nor avoid. Irretensibilis est, saith Luther.
A great people and a strong] So the locusts are called, see Joe 1:4-6, not without some respect to the Chaldeans, that should afterwards carry them captive, as Jerome here glosseth.
There hath not been ever the like] sc. in the land of Judea, nor of the like continuance. See Joe 1:2-3.
Even to the years of many generations] Heb. Of an age and an age, so Deu 32:7 Joe 3:20. This assureth us of the greatness of this people’s sin, since they were so signally punished, for God doth not use to kill flies with beetles, as they say.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv2–10 A day of darkness and of gloominess; metaphorically taken…
A day of darkness and of gloominess; metaphorically taken for a time of exceeding great troubles and calamities, according to the style of the Scriptures, which express prosperity by the metaphor of light, and adversity by darkness. which certainly is intended here; and the synonymous terms are here multiplied, to intimate the extremity and length of these troubles. And this passage may well allude to the day of judgment, and the calamities which shall precede that day.
Thick darkness does undoubtedly imply, as the gradual approach, so the dismal effect of God’s judgments and the Jews’ miseries. See this word used 2Sa 22:10, with 12-16; Psa 18:9,11. It was such terror with which God gave the law, and in such he will punish the transgressors of his law.
Read full note →
As the morning spread upon the mountains; as the morning spreads itself suddenly over all the hemisphere, and as it first spreads itself upon the high mountains, so should the approaching calamities overtake this people.
A great people: this seems more directly to intend the Babylonians rather than locusts, yet both are numerous, as the word imports, Heb.: see Joe 1:6.
And a strong; bold to attempt, and mighty in strength to execute; both true of Assyrians or Babylonians, or the locusts.
There hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more: locusts, emblem of the warlike nations, and the spoil done by both, are here described the greatest that ever yet were known; and of the Assyrian or Babylonian spoil made in Judea, the history doth ascertain this.
Even to the years of many generations; if ever the like be, it shall not be in many ages to come.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–10 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day…
A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness,.... Alluding to the gloomy and thick darkness caused by the locusts, which sometimes come in prodigious numbers, like thick clouds, and darken the air; so the land of Egypt was darkened by them, Exo 10:15; historians and travellers relate, as Bochart (f) has shown, that these creatures will fly like a cloud, and darken the heavens at noonday, cover the sun, and hinder the rays of it from touching the earth; though all these phrases may be expressive of great afflictions and calamities, which are often in Scripture signified by darkness, as prosperity is by light; see Isa 8:22;
as the morning spread upon the mountains; as the morning light, when it first appears, diffuses itself in a moment throughout the earth, and is first seen on the tops of the mountains (g); so these locusts, and this calamity threatened, should suddenly and at once come, and be spread over the whole land; and which could no more be resisted than the morning light. The Vulgate Latin version renders it, in connection with the next clause, "as the morning spread upon the mountains, a people much and mighty"; but the accents will not admit of it; though it may seem a little improper that the same thing should be as a dark day, and: the morning light; wherefore Cocceius understands the whole of the day of Christ, which was light to many nations, and darkness to the wicked Jews:
Read full note →
a great people and a strong; numerous and mighty, many in number, mighty in strength; so the locusts are represented as a nation and people for might and multitude, Joe 1:6; an emblem of the Chaldeans and Babylonians, who were a large and powerful people:
there hath not been ever the like, neither shall any more after it,
even to the years of many generations; that is, in the land of Judea; otherwise there might have been the like before in other places, as in Egypt, and since in other countries. Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi, account for it thus; that it was never known, before or since, that four kinds of locusts came together; as for the plague of Egypt, there was but one sort of them, they say; but it is best to understand it of the like not having been in the same country: and such a numerous and powerful army as that of the Chaldeans had not been in Judea, and made such havoc and desolation as that did; nor would any hereafter, for many generations, even until the Romans came and took away their place and nation.
(f) Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 4. c. 5. p. 479. (g) "Postera vix summos spargebat lumine montes Orta dies----", Virgil. Aeneid. 12.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 A day of darkness - A time of exceeding…
A day of darkness - A time of exceeding great troubles and calamities. And this passage may well allude to the day of judgment, and the calamities which precede that day. As the morning - As the morning spreads itself over all the hemisphere and first upon the high mountains, so shall the approaching calamities overspread this people. A great people - This seems more directly to intend the Babylonians.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 Verse 2. A day of darkness, c.] The depredations…
Verse 2. A day of darkness, c.] The depredations of the locusts are described from the second to the eleventh verse, and their destruction in the twentieth. Dr. Shaw, who saw locusts in Barbary in 1724 and 1725, thus describes them: -
"I never observed the mantes, bald locusts, to be gregarious. But the locusts, properly so called, which are so frequently mentioned by sacred as well as profane writers, are sometimes so beyond expression. Those which I saw in 1724 and 1725 were much bigger than our common grasshopper and had brown spotted wings, with legs and bodies of a bright yellow. Their first appearance was toward the latter end of March, the wind having been for some time south. In the middle of April their numbers were so vastly increased that, in the heat of the day, they formed themselves into large and numerous swarms; flew in the air like a succession of clouds; and, as the prophet Joel expresses it, (Joe 2:10) they darkened the sun. When the wind blew briskly, so that these swarms were crowded by others, or thrown one upon another, we had a lively idea of that comparison of the psalmist, (Ps 109:23,) of being 'tossed up and down as the locust.' In the month of May, when the ovaries of those insects were ripe and turgid, each of these swarms began gradually to disappear; and retired into the Mettijiah, and other adjacent plains, where they deposited their eggs. These were no sooner hatched in June, than each of these broods collected itself into a compact body of a furlong or more in square; and, marching immediately forward in the direction of the sea, they let nothing escape them; eating up every thing that was green and juicy, not only the lesser kinds of vegetables, but the vine likewise; the fig tree, the pomegranate, the palm, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, Joe 1:12; in doing which they kept their ranks like men of war; climbing over, as they advanced, every tree or wall that was in their way. Nay, they entered into our very houses and bedchambers, like so many thieves. The inhabitants, to stop their progress, made a variety of pits and trenches all over their fields and gardens, which they fined with water; or else they heaped up in them heath, stubble, and such like combustible matter, which were severally set on fire upon the approach of the locusts. But this was all to no purpose, for the trenches were quickly filled up, and the fires extinguished, by infinite swarms succeeding one another; while the front was regardless of danger, and the rear pressed on so close, that a retreat was altogether impossible. A day or two after one of these broods was in motion, others were already hatched to march and glean after them; gnawing off the very bark, and the young branches, of such trees as had before escaped with the loss only of their fruit and foliage. So justly have they been compared by the prophet Joel (Joe 2:3) to a great army; who further observes, that 'the land is as the garden of Eden before them and behind them a desolate wilderness.'
Read full note →
"Having lived near a month in this manner (like a μυριοστομον ξιφος, or sword with ten thousand edges, to which they have been compared,) upon the ruin and destruction of every vegetable substance which came in their way, they arrived at their full growth, and threw old their nympha state by casting their outward skin. To prepare themselves for this change, they clung by their hinder feet to some bush, twig, or corner of a stone; and immediately, by using an undulating motion, their heads would first break out, and then the rest of their bodies. The whole transformation was performed in seven or eight minutes, after which they lay for a short time in a torpid and seemingly languishing condition; but as soon ad the sun and air had hardened their wings, by drying up the moisture which remained upon them, after casting their sloughs, they reassumed their former voracity, with an addition both of strength and agility. Yet they did not continue long in this state before they were entirely dispersed, as their parents were before, after they had laid their eggs; and as the direction of the marches and flights of them both was always to the northward, and not having strength, as they have sometimes had, to reach the opposite shores of Italy, France, or Spain, it is probable they perished in the sea, a grave which, according to these people, they have in common with other winged creatures." - Travels, 4to. edition pp. 187, 188.
A day of darkness] They sometimes obscure the sun. And Thuanus observes of an immense crowd, that "they darkened the sun at mid-day."
As the morning spread upon the mountains] They appeared suddenly: as the sun, in rising behind the mountains, shoots his rays over them. Adanson, in his voyage to Senegal, says: "Suddenly there came over our heads a thick cloud which darkened the air, and deprived us or the rays of the sun. We soon found that it was owing to a cloud of locusts." Some clouds of them are said to have darkened the sun for a mile, and others for the space of twelve miles! See on Joe 2:10.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 7, 9 Joe 2:2. A day of darkness and of gloominess…
Joe 2:2. A day of darkness and of gloominess — A day of great calamity and trouble, which is often expressed in the Scripture by darkness. Or, perhaps, the prophet’s words are to be taken here in the literal sense; for it is certain that, in the eastern countries, locusts will sometimes, on a sudden, cover the sky like a cloud, intercept the light of the sun, and diffuse a darkness on the tract of country over which they are flying. “Solem obumbrant,” They darken the sun, says Pliny, Nat. Hist. lib. 11:28. Thuanus, (lib. 34:7, p. 364, vol. 5.,) describing a calamity of this kind, says, Laborabat eo tempore, &c. “Syria was afflicted at that time with the want of every kind of forage and provisions, on account of such a multitude of locusts as was never seen before in the memory of man, which, like a thick cloud, darkening the light in mid-day, flying to and fro, devoured the fruits of the ground everywhere.” And Adanson, in his Voyage to Senegal, p. 127, says, “Suddenly there came over our heads a thick cloud, which darkened the air and deprived us of the rays of the sun. We soon found that it was owing to a cloud of locusts.” And in Chandler, on Joe 2:10, Hermanus is quoted, as saying that “locusts obscure the sun for the space of a mile;” and Aloysius, “for the space of twelve miles.” For a further account of them, see note on Exo 10:5; Exo 10:13. As the morning spread upon the mountains — This signifies, that the darkness occasioned by the locusts should be very diffusive or general; that they should spread themselves everywhere, as the rays of the morning do upon the mountains. A great people and strong — The locusts, being represented as a great army coming to destroy, are here termed a great and strong people: see note on chap. Joe 1:6. There hath not been ever the like, &c. — The locusts which plagued Egypt are described after the same manner, Exo 10:14. The expression in both places seems to be proverbial, and intended to set forth the extraordinary greatness of the judgment; but is not to be understood too strictly, according to the grammatical sense of the words. Thus we read of Hezekiah, that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, 2Ki 18:5; and yet the same character is given of Josiah, 2Ki 23:25.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv2–10 A day of darkness and of gloominess - o:…
A day of darkness and of gloominess - o: “A day full of miseries; wherefore he accumulates so many names of terrors. There was inner darkness in the heart, and the darkness of tribulation without. They hid themselves in dark places. There was the cloud between God and them; so that they were not protected nor heard by Him, of which Jeremiah saith, “Thou hast covered Thyself with a cloud, that our prayers should not pass through” Lam 3:44. There was the whirlwind of tempest within and without, taking away all rest, tranquility and peace. Whence Jeremiah hath, “A whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth injury, it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord shall not return, until He have executed it” Jer 23:19. “The Day of the Lord too shall come as a thief in the night” 1Th 5:2. “Clouds and darkness are round about Him” Psa 97:2.
A day of clouds and of thick darkness - The locusts are but the faint shadow of the coming evils, yet as the first harbingers of God’s successive judgments, the imagery, even in tills picture is probably taken from them. At least there is nothing in which writers, of every character, are so agreed, as in speaking of locusts as clouds darkening the sun. : “These creatures do not come in legions, but in whole clouds, 5 or 6 leagues in length and 2 or 3 in breadth. All the air is full and darkened when they fly. Though the sun shine ever so bright, it is no brighter than when most clouded.” : “In Senegal we have seen a vast multitude of locusts shadowing the air, for they come almost every three years, and darken the sky.” : “About 8 o’clock there arose above us a thick cloud, which darkened the air, depriving us of the rays of the sun. Every one was astonished at so sudden a change in the air, which is so seldom clouded at this season; but we soon saw that it was owing to a cloud of locusts. It was about 20 or 30 toises from the ground (120-180 feet) and covered several leagues of the country, when it discharged a shower of locusts, who fed there while they rested, and then resumed their flight. This cloud was brought by a pretty strong wind, it was all the morning passing the neighborhood, and the same wind, it was thought, precipitated it in the sea.” : “They take off from the place the light of day, and a sort of eclipse is formed.” : “In the middle of April their numbers were so vastly increased, that in the heat of the day they formed themselves into large bodies, appeared like a succession of clouds and darkened the sun.” : “On looking up we perceived an immense cloud, here and there semi-transparent, in other parts quite black, that spread itself all over the sky, and at intervals shadowed the sun.”
Read full note →
The most unimaginative writers have said the same ; “When they first appear, a thick dark cloud is seen very high in the air, which, as it passes, obscures the sun. Their swarms were so astonishing in all the steppes over which we passed in this part of our journey (the Crimea,) that the whole face of nature might have been described as concealed by a living veil.” : “When these clouds of locusts take their flight to surmount some obstacle, or traverse more rapidly a desert soil, one may say, to the letter, that the heaven is darkened by them.”
As the morning spread upon the mountains - Some have thought this too to allude to the appearance which the inhabitants of Abyssinia too well knew, as preceding the coming of the locusts (see the note at Joe 2:6). A sombre yellow light is cast on the ground, from the reflection, it was thought, of their yellow wings. But that appearance itself seems to be unique to that country, or perhaps to certain flights of locusts. The image naturally describes, the suddenness, universality of the darkness, when people looked for light. As the mountain-tops first catch the gladdening rays of the sun, ere yet it riseth on the plains, and the light spreads from height to height, until the whole earth is arrayed in light, so wide and universal shall the outspreading be, but it shall be of darkness, not of light; the light itself shall be turned into darkness.
A great people and a strong - The imagery throughout these verses is taken from the flight and inroad of locusts. The allegory is so complete, that the prophet compares them to those things which are, in part, intended under them, warriors, horses and instruments of war; and this, the more, because neither locusts, nor armies are exclusively intended. The object of the allegory is to describe the order and course of the divine judgments; how they are terrific, irresistible, universal, overwhelming, penetrating everywhere, overspreading all things, excluded by nothing. The locusts are the more striking symbol of this, through their minuteness and their number. They are little miniatures of a wellordered army, unhindered by what would be physical obstacles to larger creatures, moving in order inimitable even by man, and, from their number, desolating to the uttermost. “What more countless or mightier than the locusts,” asks Jerome, who had seen their inroads, “which human industry cannot resist?” “It is a thing invincible,” says Cyril, “their invasion is altogether irresistible, and suffices utterly to destroy all in the fields.” Yet each of these creatures is small, so that they would be powerless and contemptible, except in the Hands of Him, who brings them in numbers which can be wielded only by the Creator. Wonderful image of the judgments of God, who marshals and combines in one, causes each unavailing in itself but working together the full completion of His inscrutable Will.
There hath not been ever the like - The courses of sin and of punishment are ever recommencing anew in some part of the world and of the Church. The whole order of each, sin and punishment, will culminate once only, in the Day of Judgment. Then only will these words have their complete fulfillment. The Day of Judgment alone is that Day of terror and of woe, such as never has been before, and shall never be again. For there will be no new day or time of terror. Eternal punishment will only be the continuation of the sentence adjudged then. But, in time and in the course of God’s Providential government, the sins of each soul or people or Church draw down visitations, which are God’s final judgments there. Such to the Jewish people, before the captivity, was the destruction of the temple, the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and that captivity itself. The Jewish polity was never again restored as before.
Such, to the new polity after the captivity, was the destruction by the Romans. Eighteen hundred years have seen nothing like it. The Vandals and then the Muslims swept over the Churches of North Africa, each destructive in its own way. twelve centuries have witnessed one unbroken desolation of the Church in Africa. In Constantinople, and Asia Minor, Palestine, Persia, Churches of the Redeemer became the mosques of the false prophet. Centuries have flowed by, “yet we see not our signs, neither is there any among us, that knoweth how long” Psa 74:9. Wealthy, busy, restless, intellectual, degraded, London, sender forth of missionaries, but, save in China, the largest pagan city in the world; converter of the isles of the sea, but thyself unconverted; fullest of riches and of misery, of civilization and of savage life, of refinements and debasement; heart, whose pulses are felt in every continent, but thyself diseased and feeble, wilt thou, in this thy day, anticipate by thy conversion the Day of the Lord, or will It come upon thee, “as hath never been the like, nor shall be, for the years of many generations?” Shalt thou win thy lost ones to Christ, or be thyself the birthplace or abode of antichrist? “O Lord God, Thou knowest.”
Yet the words have fulfillments short of the end. Even of successive chastisements upon the same people, each may have some aggravation unique to itself, so that of each, in turn, it may be said, in that respect, that no former visitation had been like it, none afterward should resemble it. Thus the Chaldaeans were chief in fierceness, Antiochus Epiphanes in his madness against God, the Romans in the completeness of the desolation. The fourth beast which Daniel saw “was dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly, and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it” Dan 7:7-19. The persecutions of the Roman Emperors were in extent and cruelty far beyond any before them. They shall be as nothing, in comparison to the deceivableness and oppression of antichrist. The prophet, however, does not say that there should be absolutely none like it, but only not “for the years of many genertions.” The words “unto generation and generation” elsewhere mean “forever;” here the word “years” may limit them to length of time. God, after some signal visitation, leaves a soul or a people to the silent workings of His grace or of His Providence. The marked interpositions of His Providence, are like His extraordinary miracles, rare; else, like the ordinary miracles of His daily operations, they would cease to be interpositions.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 Darkness. This implies great misery, ver. 10. (Calmet) ---…
Darkness. This implies great misery, ver. 10. (Calmet) --- People. The Assyrians or Chaldeans. Others understand all this of the army of locusts laying waste the land. (Challoner) --- Morning; unexpectedly, (Calmet) and soon. (Haydock) --- No human force can prevent the ravages of the locusts --- Beginning, in Palestine. Moses says the same; but speaks of Egypt, Exodus x. 14.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2–10 darkness . . . gloominess . . . clouds…
darkness . . . gloominess . . . clouds . . . thick darkness--accumulation of synonyms, to intensify the picture of calamity (Isa 8:22). Appropriate here, as the swarms of locusts intercepting the sunlight suggested darkness as a fit image of the coming visitation.
as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people--Substitute a comma for a colon after mountains: As the morning light spreads itself over the mountains, so a people numerous [MAURER] and strong shall spread themselves. The suddenness of the rising of the morning light, which gilds the mountain tops first, is less probably thought by others to be the point of comparison to the sudden inroad of the foe. MAURER refers it to the yellow splendor which arises from the reflection of the sunlight on the wings of the immense hosts of locusts as they approach. This is likely; understanding, however, that the locusts are only the symbols of human foes. The immense Assyrian host of invaders under Sennacherib (compare Isa 37:36) destroyed by God (Joe 2:18, Joe 2:20-21), may be the primary objects of the prophecy; but ultimately the last antichristian confederacy, destroyed by special divine interposition, is meant (see on Joe 3:2).
Read full note →
there hath not been ever the like--(Compare Joe 1:2; Exo 10:14).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv4, 7 4-11. Having described in general terms the destructiveness of…
4-11. Having described in general terms the destructiveness of the people great and strong, the prophet pictures most vividly the appearance of the host and its terrible advance. The locusts he compares to horses (4), the noise accompanying the advance to the noise of advancing armies and of a consuming fire (5), producing terror wherever they go (6), their attack to the attack of a well-equipped, well-organized army (7-9); even the sky is darkened (10); surely the day of Jehovah is at hand (11). The prophet has been so successful in his description that the thing compared and the object to which it is compared have been confused, and the locusts have been regarded as mere symbols of a hostile army (compare above, pp 142ff).
4. As… horses — The head of the locust bears a strong resemblance to the head of a horse, as Theodoret (c. 450 A.D.) remarked: “If you carefully consider the head of the locust you will find it exceedingly like that of a horse.” Tristram, referring to this passage, says, “To this day the same metaphor is familiar in every Arab camp. One of my Arabs gave me a long list of reasons why the locust is like the horse or horseman.” It is this similarity that explains one of the German words for locust, Heupferd (hay-horse). Not only in appearance, but also in rapidity of motion, locusts resemble horses. For A.V. “horsemen” read margin of R.V., “war-horses.” In Joe_2:5 the noise accompanying the advance of the innumerable horses is compared to the rattling of chariots — Low two-wheeled vehicles used for military and other purposes. Chariots were not adapted to the hills of Palestine, but the Canaanites used them in the valleys (Jos_17:16; Jdg_4:3). They were common also among other ancient nations. The Persians armed the axles and sometimes the tongue with scythes, and such chariots were known in Palestine during the Seleucidan period (2Ma_13:2). For an expansion of this picture compare Rev_9:7 ff.
Read full note →
On the tops of mountains — Not to be connected with “chariots,” for chariots cannot well be used on the mountains, but with they leap — The locusts are seen to approach over the mountains, and “they come so near the top of the mountains that they seem to leap over them rather than to fly.” The noise meant is the indistinct sound heard in the distance; the next comparison brings them nearer. Travelers compare the noise made by the wings of the locusts to the blowing of a wind, the rush of a torrent, the roar of the sea. “The noise made by them in marching and foraging was like that of a heavy shower falling upon a distant forest” (Thomson).
Having pictured the locusts approaching from the distance, he now describes them as they are devouring herbs, plants, shrubs, and trees.
Flame — The noise made while eating is like the noise of a flame that sweeps over a dry field.
Stubble — Fires during the dry season are not uncommon in Palestine (Joe_1:19; Isa_5:24; Amo_7:4); sometimes the stubbles are set on fire for purposes of fertilization. Our passage refers to fire, whatever its origin.
Strong people in battle array — The point of comparison is not the noise, but the orderly steady advance. “Their number was astounding; the whole face of the mountain was black with them; on they came like a disciplined army” (Thomson). “They seemed to march in regular battalions, crawling over everything that lay in their passage” (Morier). The impression made is the same as that made by a hostile army. Everybody is terror-struck.
The people — R.V., “the peoples.” Neither is correct; the Hebrew has no article — “peoples,” that is, whole nations.
Shall be much pained — Or, with R.V., “are in anguish,” a very strong word, used especially of the anguish of women in travail (Deu_2:5; Isa_13:8; Mic_4:9). Hardly an exaggeration, for locusts do cause immense loss of property and are responsible for disastrous famines. “In Algiers after an invasion of locusts in 1866 two hundred thousand persons are said to have perished from famine” (Driver). “The Bedouins who occupy the Sinaitic peninsula are frequently driven to despair by the multitudes of locusts” (Burkhardt).
All faces… gather blackness — So Targum, Peshitto, Vulgate, and a few later writers, but an impossible translation of the Hebrew; better, R.V., “all faces are waxed pale”; literally, all faces draw in redness, that is, beauty, healthy color. As a result of terror the blood leaves the face and returns to the inward parts of the body; only paleness remains (Jer_30:6).
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv2–10 2–11. The signs of the approaching Day.
2–11. The signs of the approaching Day.
A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness] So Zep_1:15. Four synonyms are combined, for the purpose of emphasizing the darkness, which the prophet has in view. Darkness is, in Hebrew poetry, a common figure for calamity (comp. on Amo_5:18); but here, no doubt, the image is suggested by the fact that a flight of locusts, as it approaches, presents the appearance of a black cloud, which, as it passes, obscures the sun, and even sometimes darkens the whole sky. Speaking of a ‘column of locusts,’ which appeared in India, a writer says, ‘it was so compact that, like an eclipse, it completely hid the sun; so that no shadow was cast by any object, and some lofty tombs, not more than 200 yards distant, were rendered quite invisible’ (ap. Kirby on Entomology, Letter VI.). “Our attention has often been attracted by the sudden darkening of the sun in a summer sky, accompanied by the peculiar noise which a swarm of locusts always makes moving through the air” (Van Lennep, Bible Lands, p. 315; comp. the illustration, p. 317). Many other observers speak similarly; cf. below, p. 87 ff.
Read full note →
As the dawn spread upon the mountains, a people great and strong!] The words as the dawn &c. are to be connected with what follows, not with what precedes (which belongs rather to Joe_2:1); and the allusion is probably to the glimmering brightness produced by the reflexion of the sun’s rays from the wings of the locusts, which the prophet compares poetically to the early dawn as it first appears upon the mountains. “The day before the locusts arrived, we were certain that they were, approaching from a yellow reflexion produced by their yellow wings in the heavens. As soon as this was observed, no one doubted that a vast swarm of locusts was at hand” (from a description quoted by Credner, p. 274). Of a flight of locusts in the Sinai peninsula, the Rev. F. W. Holland writes, “They soon increased in number, and as their glazed wings glanced in the sun, they had the appearance of a snow-storm. Many settled on the ground, which was soon in many places quite yellow with them, and every blade of green soon disappeared” (ap. Tristram, N.H.B[35] p. 316). “Their flight may be likened to an immense snow storm, extending from the ground to a height at which our visual organs perceive them only a minute, darting scintillations …, a vast cloud of animated specks, glittering against the sun. On the horizon they often appear as a dust tornado, riding upon the wind like an ominous hail-storm, eddying and whirling about and finally sweeping up to and past you, with a power that is irresistible” (C. V. Riley, The Rocky Mountain Locust, p. 85 f.).
[35] .H.B. … H. B. Tristram, Natural History of the Bible (1868).
a great people and a strong] terms applied elsewhere to a human nation (Exo_1:9; Deu_7:1 : comp. on ch. Joe_1:6); and suitable to locusts, because they advance not only in vast numbers, but also (comp. on Joe_2:5; Joe_2:7-8) with the order and directness of an organized host, against which all measures of defence are practically unavailing.
there hath not been, &c.] cf. Exo_10:14 b.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10 (2) The morning spread upon the mountains.—The Hebrew word…
(2) The morning spread upon the mountains.—The Hebrew word here used for morning is derived from a verb, Shachar, which has for one meaning “to be or become black,” for the second “to break forth” as light. From this latter signification is derived the word for morning—dawn; from the former comes the word “blackness,” which gives the name Sihor to the Nile (Isa_23:3). It seems accordingly more in harmony with the present context to take the sense of the word in its reference to blackness, and to understand it as indicating a thick, dark, rolling cloud settled upon the mountain top. The description following comprehends equally the natural and political locusts.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv2–10 A day of darkness and of glooming, a day…
A day of darkness and of glooming, a day of clouds and of thick darkness. It was, indeed, a day of Divine judgment, a day of sore distress. Besides the common terms for "darkness" and "cloud," there are two other terms, hlpea, thick and dense darkness, such as ensues after sunset; the root lpa, though not used in the Hebrew, is cognate with the Arabic afala, properly, to "set as the sun:" compare naphal, nabhal, abhal; while lpr is blended from the triliterals pyri, a cloud, and lpa, to be dark (compare orfnov and orfnh ), darkness of donas, thick clouds.
(1) Some understand this darkness literally, as in the description of the plague of locusts in Egypt it is written, "They covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened.
Read full note →
(2) Others understand it figuratively, as light denotes prosperity, and darkness adversity. Thus Kimchi says, "Affliction is likened to darkness, as joy is likened to light." At the same time, he mentions the literal exposition: "Or," he says, "through the multitude of the locusts the land is darkened;" and refers to Exo_10:15, "For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened.
As the morning spread upon the mountains.
(1) Some explain this of the locust-army stretching far like the morning light, as it breaks over the hills. Thus Pococke, "If shachar be rendered, as most generally, the morning, and the light thereof meant, then the meaning thereof seems to express the sudden coming and the wide-spreading of the thing spoken of, so as not to be hindered, in that resembling the morning light, which in a moment discovers itself on the tops of the mountains (on which it first appeareth), though at never so great a distance one from another." The wide and quick diffusion of this plague, like that of the morning light, is the thing meant. But
(2) Keil understands shachar of the yellow light which proceeds from swarms of locusts as they approach, and translates, "Like morning dawn spread over the mountains is it" (i.e. the glimmer on their wings). "The prophet"s meaning," he adds, "is evident enough from what follows. He clearly refers to the bright glimmer, or splendour, which is seen in the sky as a swarm of locusts approaches, from the reflection of the sun"s rays from their wings." Thus the subject is neither yom nor am, which the Vulgate, contrary to the accents, joins to it.
(3) Others. again, connect the expression closely with the "darkness" preceding, and translate, "Like the morning twilight spread upon the mountains," that is, before it descends into the valleys. Rather, as Wunsche, "Like the gray of the morning," etc. (comp. Exo_10:15 and dwj and rwjy Exposition
(1) is confirmed by Rashi, who says, "The locusts and the palmer-worms are spread over the mountains, as the morning dawn is spread through (in) the world." Similarly Aben Ezra, "Like the dawn which is diffused in an instant." Kimchi"s comment is fuller, but to the same effect: "As the morning dawn which is spread over the mountains as in an instant, for there is called the beginning of the sun in his going forth, because of their height; so then the locusts are spread and extended over the land in an instant." With this exposition of the clause we may compare Virgil"s"Postera vix summos spargebat lumine montes Orta dies." "The following daybreak had scarce begun to sow the mountain-tops with light.
There hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. This is a hyperbolic mode of speech, to denote the extraordinary and unusual severity of the disaster. The Hebrew commentators are at pains to reconcile what appears to them a discrepancy. They say, "It was never known before or since that four kinds of locusts came to-together;" as for the plague of Egypt; there was but one sort of them, they say. The correct explanation is that the like had not been in the same country, that is, the land of Judaea, though elsewhere there might have been the like, as in Egypt before, or in other countries since.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v8 Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every…
Joe_2:8
Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path.
Read full note →
Order is heavens first law
Reference is to the orderly march of locusts. Note the order which reigns throughout the whole of Gods world. After this fashion there should be order and arrangement in the Christian Church. Note the order of the movements of the heavenly bodies. The same law holds good with the whole animal creation. There is also order in the providence of God. An the events in our own little lives are marching straight on to a gracious consummation. We may rise higher; we may think of God Himself. We may say of all His attributes, neither doth one thrust another, but each one walketh in his path. The same order is perceptible in the doctrines of the Word. Doctrines which look as if they contradicted each other, are nevertheless fully agreed. Apply the lesson to the Christian life. We should remember that our thoughts, graces, and actions, ought all to keep their proper position. We ought to endeavour, as God shall teach us by His Spirit, to keep our thoughts of Gods Word in their due harmony. Doctrine is not all that is taught in the Word, there are duties and promises also. The same should hold good in the graces which we cultivate. The same proportions and balancings should be found in our Christian duties. God would have us attend to all duties. The difficulty is often felt as to how much is due to diligence in business, and how much to fervency in spirit. Each one must decide and draw the line for himself. There is a greater difficulty with regard to the arrangement of distinct duties, when they are likely to run counter to one another. What is true in the little commonwealth of the heart and home, ought also to be true of the Church at large. There are different orders of workers, and these must co-operate. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The army of the locusts
I. They are very bold and daring. Some of the ancients have observed that the head of a locust is very like in shape to the head of a horse.
2. Very loud and noisy. Like the noise of chariots, of many chariots, when driven furiously over rough ground. Historians tell us that the noise made by swarms of locusts in those countries that are infested with them has sometimes been heard six miles off. The noise is compared to that of a roaring fire.
3. They are very regular, and keep ranks in their march. They shall march every one on his ways, straight forward, as if they had been trained up by the discipline of war to keep their post and observe their right-hand man. Their number and swiftness shall breed no confusion. See how God can make creatures to act by rule that have no reason to act by, when He designs to serve His own purposes by them. And see how necessary it is that those who are employed in any service for God should observe order and keep rank, should diligently go on in their own work, and not stand in one anothers way. (Matthew Henry.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 4, 6, 8, 10 General Information:
General Information:
Joel's description of the coming army continues.
Read full note →
A fire is consuming everything in front of it
A fire destroys everything as it moves, and the "army" (Joel 2:2), whether of humans or of locusts, destroys everything as it moves. (See: Metaphor)
behind it a flame is burning
After a wall of flame goes through dry land and burns the dryest and smallest fuel, there will still be flames as the larger and less dry fuel burns, (See: Metaphor)
land is like the garden of Eden
The garden of Eden was a beautiful place, and the land was beautiful. (See: Simile)
translationWords
Eden
ruin
desert
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10 2:2 Some religious leaders had taught the people of…
2:2 Some religious leaders had taught the people of Jerusalem and Judah that the day of the Lord would be a time of blessing for God’s people. Echoing the prophet Zephaniah (Zeph 1:15), Joel proclaimed that it would instead be a day of darkness and gloom (see also Amos 5:18-20).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.