Joel 2:10

Translations

Modern

Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness.

Traditional

The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

Literal

Before their faces quakes the earth; the heavens quake; the sun and moon grow dark, and the stars withdraw their brightness.

Latin

A facie ejus contremuit terra, moti sunt cæli, sol et luna obtenebrati sunt, et stellæ retraxerunt splendorem suum.

Original

Hebrew

English

Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness.

Notes

Joel 2:10

The shaking of the earth and sky often signals a theophany, which is an appearance of God (see Exodus 19:16–19; Isaiah 13:13; Nahum 1:5–6). The darkening of the sun and moon represents divine judgment (Isaiah 13:9–11).

Joel 2:1–11

Some scholars understand this section as a second description of the locust plague in chapter 1. But in chapter 1, the plague is described as a past event. In this section, the verb tenses seem to describe a future event.

For this reason, other scholars understand the passage as a warning of another locust plague that has not yet happened.

Still other commentators understand this passage as apocalyptic language (symbolic language about God’s future judgment). In this view, the writer uses the imagery of a locust plague to describe an invading human army on the coming day of the Lord.

Joel 1:1–2:17

The prophet Joel describes a severe locust plague that struck Judah and Jerusalem.

Theme notes and profiles

The Day of the Lord

Events

Prophecies of Joelc. 820 BC

Related verses

Matthew 24:29
Immediately after the tribulation of those days: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’
Isaiah 13:10
For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.
Joel 3:15–16
The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine.
Psalm 18:7
Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled; they were shaken because He burned with anger.
Acts 2:20
The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and glorious Day of the Lord.
Mark 13:24–25
But in those days, after that tribulation: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;
Ezekiel 32:7–8
When I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light.
Revelation 6:12
And I watched as the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black like sackcloth of goat hair, and the whole moon turned blood red,
Jeremiah 4:23
I looked at the earth, and it was formless and void; I looked to the heavens, and they had no light.
Isaiah 34:4
All the stars of heaven will be dissolved. The skies will be rolled up like a scroll, and all their stars will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like foliage from the fig tree.
Joel 2:31
The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
Revelation 8:12
Then the fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun and moon and stars were struck. A third of the stars were darkened, a third of the day was without light, and a third of the night as well.

Joel 2:10

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