Joel 2:3 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Joel 2:1-11

Here we have God contending with his own professing people for their sins and executing upon them the judgment written in the law (Deut. 28:42), The fruit of thy land shall the locust consume, which was one of those diseases of Egypt that God would bring upon them, Deut. 28:60. I. Here is the war proclaimed (Joel 2:1): Blow the trumpet in Zion, either to call the invading army together, and then the trumpet sounds a charge, or rather to give notice to Judah and Jerusalem of the approach of the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joel 2:3

A fire devoureth before them, and behind them aflame burneth ,.... This is not to be understood of the heat of the sun, or of the great drought that went before and continued after the locusts; but of them themselves, which were like a consuming fire; wherever they came, they devoured all green grass, herbs, and leaves of trees, as fire does stubble; they sucked out the juice and moisture of everything they came at, and what they left behind shrivelled up and withered away, as if it had been... 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

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Joel 2:3

Verse 3 Before them, he says,the fire will devour, and after them the flame will burn. He means that the vengeance of God would be such as would consume the whole people: for God has in various ways begun to chastise the people, but, as we have seen, without any advantage. The Prophet then says here that the last stroke remained, and that the Lord would wholly destroy men so refractory, and whom he could not hitherto restore to a sound mind by moderate punishments. For he had in a measure... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 2:1-3

The purposes for which a trumpet was blown and an alarm sounded. I. THE PARTICULAR PURPOSE ON THIS OCCASION . II. THE PLACE WHERE THE WARNING WAS GIVEN . III. THE PRIESTS WHO WERE TO SOUND THE ALARM . We are informed in Numbers 10:8 that it was the "sons of Aaron, the priests," that were to blow with the trumpets, either in sounding the alarm of war, or convening an assembly of the people, or for the journeying of the camps. Similar is... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 2:1-11

These verses contain a further description of the calamity occasioned by the locusts and the appearance presented by them; the calling of a congregational meeting for penitence and prayer; the reason assigned in the coming of the day of the Lord. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 2:1-11

The ministry of alarm. "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion," etc. Zion was the meeting-place for the people of God, and may be fairly taken as a type of the true Church in all ages. We may take these verses as setting forth one aspect of the Church's ministry, namely, the ministry of alarm. I. IT HAS TO ANNOUNCE A JUDGMENT THAT IS TERRIBLE . How graphically and appallingly does the prophet set forth the tremendousness of the calamity that was about being inflicted on Judah! It... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 2:3

A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth. (1) The fire was the extreme drought preceding them; and the flame refers to the devastation of the locusts, for the places laid waste by them presented the appearance of being burnt with fire, the locusts consuming not only the grain and grass, but the very roots. (2) Or it may refer to the locusts themselves; their destructive power being as though fire spread along before them. and flame swept the ground behind them. (3)... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Joel 2:3

A fire devoureth before them ... - Travelers, of different nations and characters, and in different lands, some unacquainted with the Bible words, have agreed to describe under this image the ravages of locusts. : “They scorch many things with their touch.” : “Whatever of herb or leaf they gnaw, is, as it were, scorched by fire.” : “Wherever they come, the ground seems burned, as it were with fire.” : “Wherever they pass, they burn and spoil everything, and that irremediably.” : “I have myself... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Joel 2:3

Joel 2:3. A fire devoureth before them, &c. They consume like a general conflagration. “They destroy the ground,” says Sir Hans Sloane, ( Natural History of Jamaica, 1: 29,) “not only for the time, but burn trees for two years after.” “Wheresoever they feed, says Ludolphus, ( History of Ethiopia, lib. 1. c. 13,) “their leavings seem, as it were, parched with fire.” Pliny bears the same testimony, 11:29, Multa contactu adurentes, “Burning things up by the touch.” The land is as the... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Joel 2:1-11

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joel 2:3

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

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Joel 2:3

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 2:1-3

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 2:1-11

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 2:1-11

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 2:3

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Joel 2:3

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Joel 2:3

Group of Brands