CHAPTER 1
1. The word of YHWH that came to Yoel, the son of P’thu-El:
P’thu-El means “Elohim has opened up/made spacious”.
2. “Hear this, you old men, and cup your ear, all you who inhabit the Land. Has this come about in your day, or even in your fathers’ time?
Has this: Aramaic, has anything like this…? In your day: He is addressing those who have already lived long lives and can see that this does not fit the normal pattern.
3. “Tell your children stories about it, and [have] your children [recount it] to their children, and their children to [yet] another generation.
The devastation that is coming is so vast that it will be the fuel for campfire-tales for centuries. The reason to recount is so that they do not repeat the same error, because YHWH will repeat the lesson if He has to.
4. “What the devouring worm left, the swarming locust has eaten; and what the swarming locust left, the locust-larva has eaten; what the locust-larva left, the stripping-locust has eaten.
Stripping-locust: the root word means “to finish off”. One wave after another comes, and a little at a time is eaten.
5. “Wake up, you drunkards! All you who drink wine, both weep and howl on account of the [freshly] pressed-out juice, because it has been cut off from your mouth.
Cut off: Wine is no longer available, because the vines have all been eaten away.
6. “Because a nation has come up over My Land, vast and innumerable, its teeth the teeth of a lion and having the fangs of a roaring lion.
Nation: the locusts are also symbolic of an actual nation that will overrun the Land if Yehudah does not repent. The reference to a lion suggests Babylon, for that was its symbol.
7. “It has rendered My vine an appalling waste, and splintered My fig tree, stripping it completely bare and tossing it aside; its [intertwining] branches have been made white.
My vine…fig tree: both prophetic idioms for Israel—meant to be a delight to YHWH. (Yeshayahu 5; Hoshea 9:10) White: the sappy heart of the fig tree is exposed by the locusts. This is the third layer from the surface. The buds—the hope for growth in the days to come—would have to have been removed to get to this layer.
8. “Lament as a virgin clothed with sackcloth [weeps] over the bridegroom of her youth!
Wine is a symbol of joy (Psalm 104:15), and if it is gone (v. 5), it bespeaks cause for mourning—here, over being bereaved of her betrothed husband before they could consummate their marriage.
9. “The tribute and the libation have been cut off from the House of YHWH; the priests who minister to YHWH have [begun to] mourn.
Though YHWH used the lack of wine to get their attention since it seems nothing else would (v. 5), here is the real reason for mourning when there are no grapes: we can no longer keep YHWH’s commands to drink-offerings along with many of the required slaughterings.
10. “The cultivated field has been ruined; the ground mourns, because the grain has been devastated. The new wine is dried up; the fresh oil has been used up.
Or, the oil-bearing tree has withered; the Aramaic targum renders it, the olives have fallen off.
11. “Be dried up, you who plow! Howl, O vinedressers, over wheat and over barley, because the harvest of the field has been lost!
So many of YHWH’s lessons are built around the motif of nature that it behooves us to be involved more physically with crops and animal husbandry so that we can get His point more easily.
12. “The vine has been dried up and the fig tree has drooped! Pomegranate, date-palm too, and apple—all the cultivated trees—have dried up, because joy has dried up from the sons of Adam.”
Drooped: again, a picture of the loss of hope of harvest. Most of these trees are mentioned as part of the blessings YHWH would bring to those who remember to thank and obey Him. (Deut. 8:6-20) Apples, on the other hand, are seldom mentioned in Scripture without relation to courtship and love. So even this is now lost to YHWH. His people complained when these things were missing from their diet (Numbers 25); now He is complaining that they have not provided for Him. They have not taken care of the vineyard He entrusted to them, so He is taking it away. (Mat. 21:33-41)
13. Tie on [sackcloth] and lament, O priests; howl, O ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my Elohim, because the tribute and the libation have been held back from the House of your Elohim!
Priests: Repentance should begin with those who know best, and who are chosen to teach others. (Mal. 2:6-7) His protection is removed because they have not paid attention to the sins of their brothers and corrected them. Everyone is making sure they have enough joy, and have not noticed that the keg is almost empty. We cannot just obey and mind our own business, for in Israel our brother’s actions are our business. Today we are even worse at this. We must repent.
14. Have a fast set apart; proclaim a restraint! Gather the elders—all who inhabit the Land—[into] the House of YHWH your Elohim, and call out to YHWH [for help].
The priests cannot be content to repent themselves; to see the tragedy overcome, everyone must be called together again to concentrate on repentance and restraint: or stopping (of work) –“dropping everything” for the purpose of assembling together. At Yom Kippur (and during the days leading up to it) we mourn so that we can have absolute joy only five days later at Sukkoth. Many of those who know they are Israel are still worshipping a god-man, when this is a concept that began with Tammuz. We must finish cleaning the closet and tend YHWH’s vine more carefully!
15. Alas for the day, because the Day of YHWH is near! Indeed, like a destruction from Shaddai it will come!
Though this was one instance of the “Day of YHWH”, there is a larger one coming, but the purpose is the same: purging His Land of wickedness.
16. Isn’t the food cut off in front of our eyes, [and] gladness and rejoicing from the House of our Elohim?
17. The grains of seed shrivel up under their clods [that are swept away]. The storehouses have been ravaged, the granaries broken into, because the grain has dried up.
18. How the beast gasps! The herds of cattle are confused, because there is no [pasture] for them to feed on. The flocks of sheep, too, have been harmed.
19. To You, O YHWH, will I call, because the fire has devoured meadows of the wilderness, and the flame has scorched all the trees of the field!
Fire: Aramaic, an east wind as mighty as fire. With all the greenery devoured, it is easy for the wildfire to spread.
20. Even the wild animals pant longingly after You, because the water-channels have dried up; the fire has devoured the meadows of the wilderness.
CHAPTER 2
1. “Blow a shofar in Tzion! Sound an alarm-signal in My set-apart mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the Land quake, because the Day of YHWH has arrived (because it is drawing near)--
Though this is sometimes quoted with excitement, such a scenario was horrifying to those who first heard it.
2. “a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, like the dawn that spreads over the mountains—a people vast and numerous; from ancient times, there has not been one like it, nor will there be another after it throughout the years of generation upon generation!
Like the dawn: this is a terrifying army, but it brings light where it goes. Thick darkness: from a term meaning to drip, so this darkness is like that of rain droplets so dense that they blacken the clouds “angrily”. As in Mal’akhi 3:1-2, Yoel might ask, “Are you really eager for it to come?”
3. “A fire consumes in front of it, and behind it a flame will scorch. Before them the Land is like the Garden of Eden; after them, an uninhabited wasteland, nor is there any escaping it.
The Aramaic targum adds, “for the wicked”.
4. “Its appearance is like the appearance of horses, and they will gallop like steeds of war.
5. “They jump around like the noise of chariots on the mountaintops, like the noise of a flame of fire devouring chaff, like a numerous people in battle formation.
6. “Because of their presence the peoples will writhe in anguish; every face will heap together glowing heat.
Heap together: Aramaic, be covered with a coating of black like a pot.
7. “They will run like brave heroes; they scale a wall like men of war. Each of them goes on his own path, and they will not change their course.
8. “Not a man [among them] will crowd his brother out, and they walk [as] a hero on the causeway he has raised up; when they attack with missiles, they will not be stopped
Causeway: a siege-ramp.
9. “They will rush about in the city; they will run along the wall. They will climb up onto the houses; they will come in through the windows like a thief.
10. “The ground has begun to shake before them; the skies have begun to tremble! Sun and moon have darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their brightness.
This army does not look like human beings, but like horses. (v. 4) The description seems in a way more like tanks, yet they need to be small enough to come into windows. It could be that they are “drones” designed to keep unwilling soldiers from needing to go to the battlefield. This is a new type of unmanned fighting vehicle being released by the Pentagon that is equipped with machine guns and cameras so that it can be driven by remote control. Children today who are becoming experts at video war games may actually grow up to direct them, possibly even without knowing the war is real. They can even run over bombs without being destroyed. (A possible alternate reading of the last phrase in verse 8 is “though they lunge between the weapons, they will not be cut down.”)
11. “And YHWH has employed His voice before His force, because His camp is very vast, for the one who carries out His word is mighty! Because the Day of YHWH is great and very terrifying; who can endure it?
Any army YHWH employs, even Bavel, can be called His, for He would have spared them if they had not gloated over their victory and given themselves credit for it.
12. “Yet even now,” declares YHWH, “return to Me with your whole heart and fasting and weeping and lamentation.”
Even now: It is too late to avoid this punishment completely; it has already been determined. (v. 8) But it is not too late to repent.
13. So tear your heart and not your clothes, and return to YHWH your Elohim, because He is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness, and [can be] moved to pity in regard to the calamity.
Tear your heart: The heart is a muscle. Tearing a muscle makes it grow back stronger and more full. YHWH takes a fatherly approach here rather than a motherly; He lets us experience the pain so we will remember not to repeat the same error. Not your clothes: Do not show the outward signs of mourning if you are not actually contrite. This is Yom Kippur language. YHWH does not want obedience to His commandments pretended. We cannot make things right merely by saying, “I’m sorry.” Requiring accountability for our actions is the way of love, because we thus help the wrongdoer make things right again. The one who was wronged has the responsibility to rebuke and thereby teach, and both parties come out better. This pattern fosters intimacy between Israelite brothers. Someone else is sharing the same burden. But Paul warns us to be sure the one doing the correcting is also solidly on his own path of repentance so he does not fall into the same temptation. (Gal. 6:1-8) Slow to anger: literally, long of nose. Remember how Nin’weh responded to Yonah and how his prophecy was not carried out for that reason; some prophecies are contingent on our response:
14. Who knows? He may relent and be moved to pity and leave behind Him something to present [on one’s knees]—a contribution and a libation for YHWH your Elohim.
He is not saying He will make the chastening less severe, but that amidst the devastation that is bound to come, He may allow enough to be spared to fulfill the requirements for the Temple which are in danger of being unavailable (1:9, 13), so that at least their guilt will not be aggravated further.
15. Blow a shofar in Tzion! Set apart a fast! Proclaim a shutdown [for the purpose of convocation]!
YHWH wants us to drop everything and focus on repentance. If we learn from it and walk in it, we will be able to endure this chastening.
16. Gather in [the] nation! Set the congregation apart! Assemble the elders! Collect the little children and those who nurse at the breasts! Let the bridegroom come out of his bed-chamber and the bride from her wedding-canopy!
Everyone, great or small, no matter how preoccupied with the best of pursuits, needs to come be part of the collective repentance. Like Dr. Seuss' "Whos" on their dust-speck, it will take every last Israelite being about Israel rather than self to save us from destruction this time. Even the aged still have a responsibility, and babies count too! Even honeymooners need to put aside their pleasure and help, for we need them to do their part too.
17. Let the officiators--the ministers of YHWH—weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, “Spare Your people, O YHWH, and do not let your inheritance be given over to disgrace, so that Gentiles would dominate them! Why should they say among the nations, ‘Where is their Elohim?’”
18. Then YHWH may be jealous for His Land and have pity on His people.
May: The rest of the chapter is not a blank-check promise, but is contingent on obedience to verses 12-17.
19. Indeed, YHWH may respond and say to His people, “Here I am, sending you the grain and the new wine and the fresh shining oil, that you may be satisfied with it, and I will never again make you an object of scorn among the nations.
20. “And I will take the northerner far away from you, and cause him to be banished to a dry, desolate land with his face toward the eastern sea and his rear toward the backmost sea, and his stench will ascend, and his foul odor will go up because of causing great things to be done.
The northerner: that is, the army that is coming down from the north (for the northern Kingdom, the Assyrians; for the southern, the Babylonians, for both have to traverse the fertile crescent and approach from that direction rather than taking the shorter route across the desert). Foul odor: from the word for putrefaction.
21. “Don’t be afraid, O ground; rejoice and be glad, because YHWH is causing great things to be done.
22. “Don’t be afraid, O wild beasts, because the meadows of the uninhabited land are sprouting [and greening up]—because the tree has borne its fruit; the fig tree and the vine have employed their ability!
YHWH is concerned to provide for the animals too.
23. “And sons of Tzion! [You] rejoice and be glad in YHWH your Elohim, because He has given you the early rain to the right [extent], and will cause the rain—the early and the latter in the first [month]—to come down for you.
Early rain: pouring rains, which follow hard on the heels of the fall festivals, sinking into the ground and replenishing the aquifers. (Compare Hoshea 6:3.) To the right extent: the whole phrase can also be read “teacher into righteousness”, so we can expect there to be a symbolic sense to this as well. This is the title of a person that the Dead Sea Scrolls described as the priestly Messiah, and is alluded to in Yochanan 11:28. Aramaic, has given you back your teacher in righteousness. Deut. 32:2 compares YHWH’s teaching to rain and dew. Mikha 5:7 compares the remnant of Yaaqov to the dew and rain from heaven in its relation to the peoples around it. Undoubtedly this also alludes to our role as teachers, since we have learned Torah first. Latter rain: the term means “gatherer of the aftercrop” such as when one gleans the field. First month: the month of the Aviv, in the spring, when the timely rain brings the crops to maturity.
24. “The threshing-floor will be full of grain; the winevats will overflow with new wine and fresh oil.
25. “Then I will cause you to be compensated for the years that the swarming locust, the locust-larva, the stripping locust, and the devouring worm have eaten—My great army that I sent upon you.
Compensated: with better years, according to the Aramaic targum. The four waves of locusts may represent the four successive empires that enslaved Yehudah, as laid out by Dani’el. The ways of these nations continue to affect us, and thus we still need to be healed of their influence on us, which did devour our heritage.
26. “And you will eat to consume, and will be satisfied, and you will rave about the Name of YHWH your Elohim, who has done extraordinary things with you, and My people will not be disconcerted forever.
Done extraordinary things: the phraseology used in Psalm 126:3. Disconcerted: or ashamed, disappointed. My people: here and in v. 27, the Aramaic adds, the house of Israel.
27. “Then you will know that I am in the innermost part of Israel, and I am YHWH your Elohim, and there is none in addition, and My people will not be disconcerted forever.
28. [3:1 in Hebrew] “And afterward what will take place is that I will pour out My spirit on all flesh, and your sons and daughters will prophesy, and your old men will dream dreams; your choice young men will see ecstatic visions,
29. “and I will even pour out My spirit on the slaves and maid-servants in those days,
No one who is willing will be excluded from the blessings and knowledge of YHWH.
30. “and I will appoint conspicuous signs in the skies and on the land—blood and fire and columns of smoke.
Columns: actually spreading wider at the top like the shape of a palm tree (which is the root word). This strongly suggests a mushroom cloud such as that produced by a nuclear bomb.
31. “The sun will be transformed into darkness, and the moon into blood before the great and terrifying Day of YHWH arrives.
32. “And what will take place [is that] any who may call on the name of YHWH will be rescued, because on Mount Tzion and in Yerushalayim there will be a refuge [to escape to], just as YHWH has said, as well as among the surviving remnant whom YHWH calls [by name].
Any who call: This is the answer to “Who can endure it?” in v. 11. Those who find shelter in the “secret place of the Most High” will see many fall right beside them, but be spared (Psalm 91—the well-known “table in the presence of their enemies” of Psalm 23:5; compare Yeshayahu/Isa. 26:20). Those who grieve for the failure to attend YHWH’s appointments will be gathered in. (Ts’fanyah 3:18) An earthquake will allow those held captive in the city to escape. (Zkh. 14:4ff) Calls by name: Aramaic, they will be delivered whom YHWH appoints.
CHAPTER 3 [4 in Hebrew]
1. “Because, watch! In those days and at that time, [in] which I will bring back the captives of Yehudah and Yerushalayim,
2. “I will also assemble all the Gentiles and bring them down to the Valley of Y’hoshafat and will enter into legal proceedings with them over My people and for Israel, My inherited share, whom they have caused to be dispersed among the nations and have divided up My Land.
Legal proceedings: the Hebrew word is related to the name Y’hoshafat (“YHWH has judged”). This valley may be the confluence of the Qidron and Hinnom valleys surrounding Yerushalayim. The Aramaic has the Valley of Judicial Decision, and I will call them to account. Divided up: to distribute amongst themselves—just what is being done to the Land of Israel today.
3. “They have also cast lots for My people and have been assigning the boy to be a [temple] prostitute and have sold a girl with wine, and they drank [it] up.
4. “And after all, what are you to Me, O Tzur and Tzidon and all the districts of Filistia? Are you completing repayment to Me? And if you are repaying Me, I will bring your recompense back on your own head swiftly and soon,
What are you to Me: Aramaic, what are you reckoned before Me? Bring your recompense back: Aramaic, make your deeds recoil.
5. “as you have carried away My silver and gold, and brought the pleasant things [that] I treasure into your temples.
6. “And the children of Yehudah and the children of Yerushalayim you have sold to the children of the Greeks, in order to take them far away from their border[s].
Greeks: Heb., Yavanim. This has been done to us again through the Church, with its making the Greek version of the "New Testament" pre-eminent over the earlier Hebrew and Aramaic versions, and thus giving a Greek slant to everything about it.
7. “Watch as I stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, when I have brought your recompense back on your own head.
Stir them up: awaken them to their identity and where they belong—a stage we are at today. Aramaic, bring them back openly.
8. “That is, I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the descendants of Yehudah, and they will sell them to the Shva’im—to [go toward] a far-away nation, because YHWH has spoken!”
Shva’im: Sabeans, the Kushite people of the Queen of “Sheba”. Since these nations have never brought the balance and shown mercy to Israel by knowing when to stop their cruelty when we had had enough punishment, there is no mercy available to them either.
9. Call this out among the nations: “[Prepare for] a holy war! Wake up the brave [heroes]! Let them approach! Let all the men of war come up!
The holy wars known today are related to Islamic jihad. This may be the reference since the people being addressed (v. 4) are in the land of Lebanon today.
10. “Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-tools into spears; let [even] the disabled say, ‘I am a brave [hero]!’”
Disabled: Aramaic, weakling. This is the reverse of what YHWH says in Yeshayahu 11. The fact that the Gentiles have only plowshares means that by this point they have pretty well made peace between one another, but just when they think they have peace sewn up, He calls them on the carpet with the one renegade, Israel, which abstains from its unification. YHWH is issuing a challenge and a dare like Golyath did with Israel. He makes use of their pride to bring them all to the place where He can do away with them all in “one fell swoop”. He tells them to go ahead and rattle their swords and beat their shields, but knows there is no power behind them.
11. Hurry and come [to the aid], all [you] nations from round about, and assemble yourselves there! O YHWH, lead [as] Your brave heroes [press] downward!
12. “Let the Gentiles be stirred up and let them climb to the Valley of Y’hoshafat, because there I will sit down to judge all the nations from round about [on every side].”
13. Extend the sickle, because the harvest is ripe! Come in! Get down [to work], because the winepress is full; the winevats have overflowed, because their wickedness is [so] abundant!
Extend the sickle: Aramaic, Put the sword into them, for the time of their end has arrived. Winepress: linked with YHWH’s wrath in Rev. 19:15, which also says a sharp sword proceeds from Y’shua’s mouth to accomplish this.
14. Murmuring crowds in an uproar in the Valley of Decisiveness—because the Day of YHWH is near in the Valley of Decisiveness!
Murmuring crowds: Aramaic, army upon army. Decisiveness: strict, final decision. Like the Latin-based term, which is based on the word for cutting, as we see in the related terms “incisive” or “excise”, the Hebrew term is also based on the word for sharpness. The outcome is described in Yeshayahu 66:24.
15. Sun and moon have darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their brightness.
16. YHWH, too, will roar from Tzion and employ His voice, and the heavens and earth will quake—but YHWH is a shelter for His people and a place of protection for the descendants of Israel.
Roar: The Temple was nicknamed Ariel--“the lion of Elohim” because of its shape. At the same time He is a violent threat to our enemies, seeing what they are really made of, His merciful, protective side toward His own is seen in vivid contrast.
17. “Then you will recognize that I am YHWH your Elohim, who dwells in Tzion, mountain of My set-apartness, when Yerushalayim has become consecrated and those who are alienated do not pass through her anymore.”
18. And what will take place on that Day [is that] the mountains will drip [with] sweet wine [that is pressed out], and the hills will bring milk, and all the channels of Yehudah will bring water when a spring from the House of YHWH proceeds forth to irrigate the dry river bed of acacias.
Bring milk: Aramaic, flow with beneficial things. All the channels: as opposed to the present situation, in which most of them are only seasonal streams.
19. “Egypt will become a wasteland and Edom a desolate wilderness due to the cruelty of the sons of Yehudah [in] which they shed innocent blood in their Land.
Cruelty: injustice, wrong, violence; the Aramaic interprets it as violence done to the people of Yehudah, not by them. Shed innocent blood: alt., who poured out blood with impunity.
20. “But Yehudah will remain forever, and Yerushalayim to generation upon generation,
Will remain: the Aramaic interprets it as “will be inhabited”.
21. “and I will clear the blood [guilt that] I had not left unpunished, because YHWH is settling down in Tzion.
I will clear: This may be a reference to the blood of Y’shua, the king of Yehudah whose blood some leaders of the tribe of Yehudah called down upon themselves, and which many Christians took advantage of throughout the centuries. This may be saying that when He considers it sufficiently dealt with, YHWH will acquit this tribe which is chiefly being addressed here.
WRITINGS OF THE PROPHET
Yo'el
INTRODUCTION: Yo'el means “YHWH is Elohim” or possibly "content" or "willing". His tribe and heritage prior to his father are unknown. He begins with the immediate punishment of successive waves of locusts coming to punish the sins of Yehudah, then moves into the larger, but analogous, Day of YHWH, when the final solution to the sins of the Land will be brought about. Repentance and restoration is the main purpose behind the prophecies of both time frames. The book is thought to have been written in the 8th century B.C.E., contemporary with Amos and Hoshea.
Painting by Thomas Seddon
