Joel 2:4-11

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 2:4

The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses ,.... in their running, as Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it; they came with, as much swiftness and eagerness, with as much fierceness and courage, as horses rush into the battle. Bochart F8 Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 4. c. 5. p. 474, 475. has shown, from various writers, that the head of a locust is in shape like that of a horse; and Theodoret on the text observes, that whoever thoroughly examines the head of a locust will easily... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joel 2:5

Like the noise of chariots on the tops of that mountains shall they leap ,.... The motion of the locusts is leaping from place to place; for which the locusts have legs peculiarly made, their hindermost being the longest; wherefore Pliny F9 Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 48. observes, that insects which have their hindermost legs long leap locusts; to which agrees the Scripture description of them: "which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth; even those of them ye may eat;... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joel 2:6

Before their face the people shall be much pained ,.... Or, "at their presence"; at the sight of them they shall be in pain, as a woman in travail; into such distress an army of locusts would throw them, since they might justly fear all the fruits of the earth would be devoured by them, and they should have nothing left to live upon; and a like consternation and pain the army of the Assyrians or Chaldeans upon sight filled them with, as they expected nothing but ruin and destruction from... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joel 2:7

They shall run like mighty men ,.... Like men of war, in a hostile way, as soldiers run upon their enemy with undaunted courage and bravery. Bochart from Pisidas describes the locusts' manner of fighting, who says, they strike not standing, but running: they shall climb the wall like men of war ; scale the walls of cities as besiegers do; walls and bulwarks cannot keep them out; all places are accessible to them, walled cities, towns, yea, even houses, Exodus 10:6 ; and they shall... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joel 2:8

Neither shall one thrust another ,.... Press upon another, thrust him out of his place, or push him forward, or any ways straiten and distress him, or in the least hinder him in his progress: they shall walk everyone in his path ; or "highway" F15 במסלתו "per aggerem suum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "via elevata", Drusius; "via strata sua", Cocceius. ; everyone should have his path, and keep in it, and it should be as roomy to him as if he had a highway to walk in by... read more

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

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joel 2:4

The appearance of horses - The head of the locust is remarkably like that of the horse; and so Ray on Insects describes them: Caput oblongum, equi instar, prona spectans - "They have an oblong head, like to that of a horse, bending downward." On this account the Italians call them cavaletta , cavalry. Bochart remarks, from an Arabic writer, that the locusts resemble ten different kinds of animals: The Horse in its head. The Elephant in its eyes. The Bull in its neck. The Stag in... read more

Group of Brands