Joel 2:3

Translations

Modern

Before them a fire devours, and behind them a flame scorches. The land before them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland—surely nothing will escape them.

Traditional

A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.

Literal

Before its face a fire devours, and behind them burns a flame; like the garden of Eden is the land before its face, and behind it a wilderness of desolation—and surely nothing shall escape from them.

Latin

Ante faciem ejus ignis vorans, et post eum exurens flamma. Quasi hortus voluptatis terra coram eo, et post eum solitudo deserti, neque est qui effugiat eum.

Original

Hebrew

English

Before them a fire devours, and behind them a flame scorches. The land before them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland—surely nothing will escape them.

Notes

Joel 2:3

The destruction caused by the invading army would be like a fire that spreads quickly and destroys everything in its path. Before the attack, the land looked like the garden of Eden. After the attack, the land would be empty and ruined. This image reverses the hope described in Isaiah 51:3 and Ezekiel 36:35.

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

Isaiah 51:3
For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song.
Genesis 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.
Joel 1:19–20
To You, O LORD, I call, for fire has consumed the open pastures and flames have scorched all the trees of the field.
Zechariah 7:14
But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known, and the land was left desolate behind them so that no one could come or go. Thus they turned the pleasant land into a desolation.”
Amos 7:4
This is what the Lord GOD showed me: The Lord GOD was calling for judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the land.
Psalm 50:3
Our God approaches and will not be silent! Consuming fire precedes Him, and a tempest rages around Him.
Genesis 13:10
And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
Ezekiel 31:8–9
The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it; the cypresses could not compare with its branches, nor the plane trees match its boughs. No tree in the garden of God could compare with its beauty.
Jeremiah 5:17
They will devour your harvest and food; they will consume your sons and daughters; they will eat up your flocks and herds; they will feed on your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust.”
Exodus 10:5
They will cover the face of the land so that no one can see it. They will devour whatever is left after the hail and eat every tree that grows in your fields.
Exodus 10:15
They covered the face of all the land until it was black, and they consumed all the plants on the ground and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left behind. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.
Joel 1:4–7
What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.

Parallels

Amos 7:1–9

Places

Eden: The perfect garden where God placed Adam and Eve

Glossary

Book of Joel Darkness Day of the Lord Last Judgment Locusts

Topics

Eden: The Garden of Eden Gardens of Eden: Fertility of Canaan Like Joel: Declares the Terribleness of God's Judgments Prophecies Concerning Israel: Prophecies Concerning of War and Other Judgments The Garden of Eden The Locust of Destructive Enemies War: Evils of

Joel 2:3

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Related verses?

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Translations

Original

Notes

Events

Related verses

Parallels

Glossary

Topics