Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joel 2:10
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:
10, 11. The locusts of Joe 2:2-9, as was remarked on Joe 2:1, are to a certain extent idealized, and pictured as more alarming and formidable than ordinary locusts; and in these two verses, other extraordinary, awe-inspiring concomitants of their approach are signalized. Earth and heaven tremble before them; sun, moon, and stars withdraw their light; Jehovah at their head utters His voice in thunder. For the preternatural cosmical phenomena accompanying Jehovah’s Day, comp. Joe 2:31, Joe 3:15; Isa 13:10; Isa 13:13 (of the day on which Babylon is to be captured by the Medes); also Amo 8:9; Eze 32:7 f.
Before them the earth trembleth ] Amo 8:8; Psa 77:18; and figuratively 1Sa 14:15; Pro 30:21.
before them ] , not, as in Joe 2:6, (implying causality): the phenomena here described are not caused by the locusts, but simply herald their approach.
the heavens quake ] The heavens being conceived as a solid vault resting upon the earth (comp. on Amo 8:6). Cf. 2Sa 22:8 (“And the earth shook and quaked, the foundations of the heavens trembled ”); Isa 13:13 (“Therefore will I make the heavens to tremble, and the earth shall quake out of its place”).
are dark ] are black, clothed, as it were in mourning, of which the word ( ) is often used. Cp. 1Ki 18:45 (“and the heavens grew black with clouds and rain”); Isa 50:3 (“I clothe the heavens with blackness ”); Eze 32:7 (“I will make their stars black ”).
and the stars withdraw their shining ] Joe 3:15.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The earth shall quake before them – Not, says Jerome, as though locusts or enemies had power to move the heavens or to shake the earth; but because, to those under trouble, for their exceeding terror, the heaven seems to fall and the earth to reel. But indeed, for the multitude of the locusts which cover the heavens, sun and moon shall be turned into darkness, and the stars shall withdraw their shining, while the cloud of locusts interrupts the light, and allows it not to reach the earth. Yet the mention of moon and stars rather suggests that something more is meant than the locusts, who, not flying by night except when they cross the sea, do not obscure either. Rather, as the next verse speaks of Gods immediate, sensible, presence, this verse seems to pass from the image of the locusts to the full reality, and to say that heaven and earth should shake at the judgments of God, before He appeareth. Our Lord gives the same description of the forerunners of the Day of Judgment; there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring, peoples hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven shall be shaken Luk 21:25-26.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 10. The earth shall quake – the heavens shall tremble] Poetical expressions, to point out universal consternation and distress. The earth quaked to see itself deprived of its verdure; the heavens trembled to find themselves deprived of their light.
The sun and the moon shall be dark] Bochart relates that “their multitude is sometimes so immense as to obscure the heavens for the space of twelve miles!” – Ibid. p. 479.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Literally taken, this verse is an elegant description of most unparalleled armies of locusts, sent of God to waste this sinful people, in the description whereof the prophet shows his lofty style, and in a divine hyperbole warns the people: but there is another sense of the words we must look to; these locusts in this prophecy are hieroglyphics and emblems, and so are the earth, heaven, sun, moon, and stars. By
earth, thus considered, the vulgar, mean multitudes are many times set forth; here, the common people among the Jews.
Shall quake before them; locusts first, and armies of foreign enemies afterwards, and that ere long.
The heavens shall tremble; grandees, rulers, and counsellors, or the whole frame of the kingdom and government, shall shake and tremble, their hearts shall sink within them who should be a support to others.
The sun, their king,
and the moon, their queen, who may as particularly be here pointed at as the queen of Nineveh is Nah 2:7,
shall be dark; overwhelmed with amazement from the greatness of their troubles. The stars shall withdraw their shining; the courtiers and men of eminency, that were as stars for glory and brightness, shall be covered with clouds, and these thick and black; all this miserable confusion threatened against them for their sins, and in this emblem of vast multitudes of locusts presented to their thoughts.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10. earth . . . quake beforethemthat is, the inhabitants of the earth quake with fear ofthem.
heavens . . . tremblethatis, the powers of heaven (Mt24:29); its illumining powers are disturbed by the locusts whichintercept the sunlight with their dense flying swarms. These,however, are but the images of revolutions of states caused by suchfoes as were to invade Judea.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 t says they sometimes darken it; and though some thought they did not fly in the night, because of the cold; this he observes is owing to their ignorance, not considering that they pass over wide seas to distant countries; and this will account for it how the moon also may be darkened by them, and the stars, as follows:
and the stars shall withdraw their shining; though all this may be understood in a figurative sense of the great consternation that all sorts of persons should be in at such calamities coming upon the land, either by locusts, or by enemies; as the king, queen, nobles, and the common people of the land, signified by sun, moon, and stars, heaven and earth.
t Ibid. (Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 29.)
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The whole universe trembles at this judgment of God. Joe 2:10. “Before it the earth quakes, the heavens tremble: sun and moon have turned black, and the stars have withdrawn their shining. Joe 2:11. And Jehovah thunders before His army, for His camp is very great, for the executor of His word is strong; for the day of Jehovah is great and very terrible, and who can endure it?” The remark of Jerome on Joe 2:10, viz., that “it is not that the strength of the locusts is so great that they can move the heavens and shake the earth, but that to those who suffer from such calamities, from the amount of their own terror, the heavens appear to shake and the earth to reel,” is correct enough so far as the first part is concerned, but it by no means exhausts the force of the words. For, as Hitzig properly observes, the earth could only quake because of the locusts when they had settled, and the heavens could only tremble and be darkened when they were flying, so that the words would in any case be very much exaggerated. But it by no means follows from this, that is not to be taken as referring to the locusts, like in Joe 2:6, but to the coming of Jehovah in a storm, and that it is to be understood in this sense: “the earth quakes, the air roars at the voice of Jehovah, i.e., at the thunder, and storm-clouds darken the day.” For although nathan qolo (shall utter His voice) in Joe 2:11 is to be understood as referring to the thunder, Joel is not merely describing a storm, which came when the trouble had reached its height and put an end to the plague of locusts (Credner, Hitzig, and others). cannot be taken in any other sense than that in which it occurs in Joe 2:3; that is to say, it can only refer to “the great people and strong,” viz., the army of locusts, like . Heaven and earth tremble at the army of locusts, because Jehovah comes with them to judge the world (cf. Isa 13:13; Nah 1:5-6; Jer 10:10). The sun and moon become black, i.e., dark, and the stars withdraw their brightness ( ‘asaph , withdraw, as in 1Sa 14:19), i.e., they let their light shine no more. That these words affirm something infinitely greater than the darkening of the lights of heaven by storm-clouds, is evident partly from the predictions of the judgment of the wrath of the Lord that is coming upon the whole earth and upon the imperial power (Isa 13:10; Eze 32:7), at which the whole fabric of the universe trembles and nature clothes itself in mourning, and partly from the adoption of this particular feature by Christ in His description of the last judgment (Mat 24:29; Mar 13:24-25). Compare, on the other hand, the poetical description of a storm in Psa 18:8., where this feature is wanting. (For further remarks, see at Joe 3:4.) At the head of the army which is to execute His will, the Lord causes His voice of thunder to sound ( nathan qol , to thunder; cf. Psa 18:14, etc.). The reason for this is given in three sentences that are introduced by k . Jehovah does this because His army is very great; because this powerful army executes His word, i.e., His command; and because the day of judgment is so great and terrible, that no one can endure it, i.e., no one can stand before the fury of the wrath of the Judge (cf. Jer 10:10; Mal 3:1).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Then he adds, Before their face shall the earth tremble, and in anguish shall be the heavens; the sun and the moon shall become dark, and the stars shall withdraw their brightness. The Prophet speaks here more hyperbolically; but we must ever remember that he addressed men extremely stupid: it then behaved him to speak in an unusual manner, that he might touch their feelings; for it avails nothing to speak in all ordinary way to perverse men, especially to those who have divested themselves of all shame, and whom Satan has fascinated, so that they fear nothing and grieve at nothing. When therefore each stupidity lays hold on the minds of men, God must thunder that his word may be heard. As then the listlessness of the people was monstrous, so it was necessary, so to speak, for the Prophet to utter monstrous words. This is the reason why he now says, Before their face (namely, that of the enemies) shall the land tremble; and then he adds, The heavens also shall be in anguish; not that the heavens would fear the Assyrians; but the Prophet intimates that such would be the vengeance, that it would terrify the whole world; and this he intimates, that the Jews might cease to expect any subterfuges, for they flattered themselves, as though they could fly on the clouds, or could find for themselves some hiding-places or some corners at a distance. The Prophet gives them to understand that the whole world would be full of horror, when the Lord would come furnished with his army. He speaks also of the sun and the moon; as though he said, “There will be no more any hope of aid from created things; for the vital light itself shall fail, when the Lord shall pour forth the flood of his fury: The sun and the moon, he says, shall become dark; and the stars shall withhold their brightness. Though then ye lift up your eyes, not even a spark of light will there be to comfort you, for darkness on every side will cover you; and ye shall know by heaven as well as by earth that God is angry with you. Here, in short, he shuts up against the Jews every avenue to hope; for not only the Assyrian will rage on earth, but God will also give signs of vengeance from heaven, so that the sun will be constrained to show such a sign, as well as the moon and all the stars.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(10) The earth shall quake before them.Some commentators call this description a specimen of the highly-wrought hyperbolical features of Hebrew poetry, but it is the presence and judgment, the voice of the Lord in the thunder, which causes this trepidation. The signs in the heavens will be manifested at the judgment day.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Joe 2:10 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:
Ver. 10. The earth shall quake before them, &c. ] Tragicis figuris calamitatem amplificat, saith Luther here. By such tragic terms the prophets used to set forth a horrible desolation, such as first the Assyrians and afterwards the Romans brought upon the Jews; the Turks and Saracens upon the Christian Churches. Whether there were any such earthquake or stupendous concussions of the heavenly bodies as is here described, is uncertain. Strange forerunners there were both in heaven and earth of the last destruction of Jerusalem, as Christ also had foretold. In the days of Justinian the emperor, the sun for the greatest part of a year gave so little light that it was but equal to the light of the moon, the sky being clear without clouds or anything to shadow it; after which, there followed a great famine, and much war and bloodshed.
The sun and the moon shall be dark
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the sun and the moon shall be dark. Another proof of what is signified; and that this prophecy concerns what is future. Compare Joe 3:15. See Mat 24:29. Compare Isa 13:10. Eze 32:7, Eze 32:8. Act 2:20. Rev 6:12.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
earth: Psa 18:7, Psa 114:7, Nah 1:5, Mat 27:51, Rev 6:12, Rev 20:11
the sun: Joe 2:2, Joe 2:31, Joe 3:15, Isa 13:10, Isa 34:4, Jer 4:23, Eze 32:7, Amo 5:8, Mat 24:29, Mar 13:24, Mar 13:25, Luk 21:25, Luk 21:26, Act 2:20, Rev 8:12
Reciprocal: Gen 1:14 – and let Jos 10:13 – So the sun Job 9:6 – the pillars Isa 5:30 – if one look Jer 51:29 – the land Joe 3:16 – and the heavens Amo 5:18 – the day of the Lord is Rev 9:2 – and the sun
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Joe 2:10. This is a figurative description of the depression that will settle down upon Jerusalem and the inhabitants of Judah when the army of Nebuchadnezzar takes up the siege. The king of Israel and his leading men will be debased, which is likened to the dimming of the sun and other heavenly bodies.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
2:10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the {g} sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
(g) Read Joe 2:31 Isa 13:10 Eze 32:7 Joe 3:15 Mat 24:29
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
4. The invincibility of the army 2:10-11
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The earth trembles as this army advances. The heavens also tremble. The sun and the moon grow dark, and the stars fade from view. Cosmic disturbances like these are common in biblical descriptions of Yahweh waging war (cf. Joe 3:16; Jdg 5:4; Psa 18:7; Psa 77:18; Isa 13:10; Isa 13:13; Eze 32:7; Zec 14:6-7; Revelation 6-18).