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John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joel 2:9

They shall run to and fro in the city ,.... Leap about from place to place, as locusts do; see Isaiah 33:4 ; and as the Chaldeans did when they became masters of the city of Jerusalem; they ran about from place to place to seize upon their spoil and plunder: they shall run upon the wall ; which before they climbed, now they shall run upon, and go from tower to tower, as the Chaldeans did, and broke clown the walls and fortifications: they shall climb up upon the houses, and enter in... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joel 2:10

The earth shall quake before them ,.... The inhabitants of it, because of the desolating judgments they bring with them, and those enemies that are signified by them: the heavens shall tremble ; being obscured by them: the sun and moon shall be dark ; the locusts sometimes come in such large numbers as to intercept the rays of the sun. Pliny F20 Ibid. (Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 29.) says they sometimes darken it; and though some thought they did not fly in the night, because of the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joel 2:11

And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army ,.... Either the army of the locusts, whom Pliny F21 Ibid. (Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 29.) calls "pestis deorum", "the plague of the gods"; and the Arabians frequently style them the army of God. It is a tradition of theirs that locusts fell into the hands of Mahomet, with this inscription on their backs and wings, "we are the army of the most high God;' and because they were, for that reason Mahomet made a law that none should kill... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joel 2:12

Therefore also now, saith the Lord ,.... Before this terrible and intolerable day, which is near at hand, comes; before these judgments and calamities threatened take place, though just at hand; serious repentance is never too late, now is the accepted time; see Luke 19:42 ; turn ye even to me with all your heart ; against whom they had sinned, and who had prepared his army against them, and was at the head of it, just ready to give the orders, and play his artillery upon them; and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joel 2:13

And rend your heart, and not your garments ,.... Which latter used to be done in times of distress, either private or public, and as a token of grief and sorrow, Genesis 37:34 ; nor was it criminal or unlawful, the apostles themselves used it, Acts 14:14 ; nor is it absolutely forbidden here, only comparatively, that they should rend their hearts rather than their garments; or not their garments only, but their hearts also; in like sense as the words in Hosea 6:6 ; are to be taken as... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joel 2:14

Who knoweth if he will return and repent ,.... Which some understand of man, and of his returning and repentance; either thus whosoever he be that knows the ways of repentance, he will return, and God will repent of this evil: which sense is mentioned by Kimchi and Ben Melech: or he that knoweth that iniquity is on him will return and repent; so Jarchi, with which agrees the Targum, "he that knows that sins are in him will return from them, and he shall obtain mercy; and whoever repents,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joel 2:15

Blow the trumpet in Zion ,.... For the calling of the people together to religious duties, which was one use of the silver trumpets made for and blows by the priests, Numbers 10:2 ; sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly ; See Gill on Joel 1:14 . read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joel 2:1

Blow ye the trumpet in Zion - This verse also shows that the temple was still standing. All assemblies of the people were collected by the sound of the trumpet. The day of the Lord cometh - This phrase generally means a day of judgment or punishment. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joel 2:2

A day of darkness, etc - 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... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joel 2:3

A fire devoureth before them - They consume like a general conflagration. "They destroy the ground, not only for the time, but burn trees for two years after." Sir Hans Sloane, Nat. Hist. of Jamaica, vol. i., p. 29. Behind them a flame burneth - "Wherever they feed," says Ludolf, in his History of Ethiopia, "their leavings seem as if parched with fire." Nothing shall escape them - "After devouring the herbage," says Adanson, "with the fruits and leaves of trees, they attacked even... read more

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