Read & Study the Bible Online - Bible Portal
John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Joel 2:1-32

Repentance followed by RestorationJoel 2:1-17 are another description of the locust plague. An alarm is sounded as though the Day of Jehovah had come (Joel 2:1-3). The advance of the locusts into the city is described under the figure of an invading army (Joel 2:4-11). A message to the penitent is given from Jehovah (Joel 2:12-14), and a call is issued for a fast of supplication (Joel 2:15-17). Then follow the announcements that Jehovah has had pity on His people, and that He will remove the... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Joel 2:6

(6) All faces shall gather blackness.—There are different explanations of this Hebrew phrase, which expresses the result of terror. Some translate it “withdraw their ruddiness,” i.e., grow pale; others, “draw into themselves their colour;” others, “contract a livid character.” The alternative rendering in the margin, “pot,” which is that of the LXX., the Vulg., and of Luther’s translation, is obtained from the similarity of the Hebrew words for “ruddiness” and “pot.” The comparison is in this... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Joel 2:1-32

Conversion (Ash Wednesday) Joel 2:12 A great national calamity, either impending or just passed, was the occasion of the prophecy of Joel. It is traceable to national sin, and its remedy is national repentance. The words of our text bring before us a matter which is peculiarly fit for Ash Wednesday consideration the doctrine of Conversion; for conversion is the first step in that life of penitence to which Lent calls us. But conversion is a subject about which there is much misunderstanding. ... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Joel 2:1-17

THE LOCUSTS AND THE DAY OF THE LORDJoel 1:2-20; Joel 2:1-17JOEL, as we have seen, found the motive of his prophecy in a recent plague of locusts, the appearance of which and the havoc they worked are described by him in full detail. Writing not only as a poet but as a seer, who reads in the locusts signs of the great Day of the Lord, Joel has necessarily put into his picture several features which carry the imagination beyond the limits of experience. And yet, if we ourselves had lived through... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Joel 2:1-32

II. THE COMING DAY OF THE LORD: THE REPENTANCE AND RESTORATION OF ISRAEL CHAPTER 2 1. The alarm sounded and the day at hand (Joel 2:1-2 ) 2. The invading army from the north (Joel 2:3-11 ) 3. The repentance of the people and cry for help (Joel 2:12-17 ) 4. “Then.” The great change (Joel 2:18 ) 5. Promises of restoration, and the early and latter rain (Joel 2:19-27 ) 6. The outpouring of the Spirit upon all flesh (Joel 2:28-31 ) 7. Deliverance in Mount Zion and Jerusalem (Joel... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Joel 2:6

2:6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces {e} shall gather blackness.(e) They will be pale and black because of fear, as in Nahum 2:10 . read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - Joel 2:1-32

JOEL GENERAL OVE RV IEW OF THE BOOK Joel was probably the earliest of the prophets whose writings have descended to us. His personal history is unknown further than the bare statement (1:1). His field of labor was presumably Judah rather than Israel, the southern rather than the northern kingdom, because of allusions to the center of public worship which was at Jerusalem (1:9, 13-14; 2:15), and because of non-allusions to Israel distinctively. Such places as 2:27, and 3:16 are thought to... read more

Joseph Parker

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - Joel 2:1-32

Night and Day In Zion Joel 2:0 The whole chapter is one of the most picturesque description to be found in all the record even of ancient prophecy. It is full of judgment, and it is full of gospel. The whole morning is darkened with locusts, yet at eventide there is light. Merely as an exercise in the pictorial art, were it nothing more, this chapter ought to stand amongst the masterpieces of literature. No man who had any regard to his own literary reputation could have written this could... read more

Robert Hawker

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - Joel 2:4-11

It will be very easy for a child of God to make a gracious improvement of what is here said, if read spiritually with an eye to soul exercises, in the conflicts of flesh and spirit, when once a life of grace is begun in the soul. The concluding sentence in this portion is very striking, with an eye to this state of mind; for indeed the voice of the Lord is heard through the whole, in all the chambers of the awakened heart. read more

George Haydock

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - Joel 2:6

Kettle. The Jews were naturally of a dark complexion. Fear causing the blood to retire, would make them black, Isaias xiii. 8., Lamentations iv. 8., and v. 10. (Calmet) read more

Group of Brands