2 11<\/strong>. The signs of the approaching Day.<\/p>\n A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness<\/em> ] So Zep 1:15<\/span>. Four synonyms are combined, for the purpose of emphasizing the darkness, which the prophet has in view. Darkness is, in Hebrew poetry, a common figure for calamity (comp. on Amo 5:18<\/span>); but here, no doubt, the image is suggested by the fact that a flight of locusts, as it approaches, presents the appearance of a black cloud, which, as it passes, obscures the sun, and even sometimes darkens the whole sky. Speaking of a ‘column of locusts,’ which appeared in India, a writer says, ‘it was so compact that, like an eclipse, it completely hid the sun; so that no shadow was cast by any object, and some lofty tombs, not more than 200 yards distant, were rendered quite invisible’ ( ap.<\/em> Kirby on Entomology<\/em>, Letter VI.). “Our attention has often been attracted by the sudden darkening of the sun in a summer sky, accompanied by the peculiar noise which a swarm of locusts always makes moving through the air” (Van Lennep, Bible Lands<\/em>, p. 315; comp. the illustration, p. 317). Many other observers speak similarly; cf. below, p. 87 ff.<\/p>\n As the<\/em> dawn<\/strong> spread upon the mountains, a people great and strong!<\/em> ] The words as the dawn<\/em> &c. are to be connected with what follows, not with what precedes (which belongs rather to Joe 2:1<\/em><\/span>); and the allusion is probably to the glimmering brightness produced by the reflexion of the sun’s rays from the wings of the locusts, which the prophet compares poetically to the early dawn as it first appears upon the mountains. “The day before the locusts arrived, we were certain that they were, approaching from a yellow reflexion produced by their yellow wings in the heavens. As soon as this was observed, no one doubted that a vast swarm of locusts was at hand” (from a description quoted by Credner, p. 274). Of a flight of locusts in the Sinai peninsula, the Rev. F. W. Holland writes, “They soon increased in number, and as their glazed wings glanced in the sun, they had the appearance of a snow-storm. Many settled on the ground, which was soon in many places quite yellow with them, and every blade of green soon disappeared” ( ap<\/em>. Tristram, N.H.B<\/em> [35] p. 316). “Their flight may be likened to an immense snow storm, extending from the ground to a height at which our visual organs perceive them only a minute, darting scintillations , a vast cloud of animated specks, glittering against the sun. On the horizon they often appear as a dust tornado, riding upon the wind like an ominous hail-storm, eddying and whirling about and finally sweeping up to and past you, with a power that is irresistible” (C. V. Riley, The Rocky Mountain Locust<\/em>, p. 85 f.).<\/p>\n [35] .H.B.<\/em> H. B. Tristram, Natural History of the Bible<\/em> (1868).<\/p>\n a great people and a strong<\/em> ] terms applied elsewhere to a human nation (Exo 1:9<\/span>; Deu 7:1<\/span>: comp. on ch. Joe 1:6<\/span>); and suitable to locusts, because they advance not only in vast numbers, but also (comp. on Joe 2:5<\/em><\/span> ; Joe 2:7-8<\/em><\/span><\/em>) with the order and directness of an organized host, against which all measures of defence are practically unavailing.<\/p>\n there hath not been<\/em>, &c.] cf. Exo 10:14<\/span> b<\/em>.<\/p>\n A day of darkness and of gloominess – <\/B>o<\/SUP>: A day full of miseries; wherefore he accumulates so many names of terrors. There was inner darkness in the heart, and the darkness of tribulation without. They hid themselves in dark places. There was the cloud between God and them; so that they were not protected nor heard by Him, of which Jeremiah saith, Thou hast covered Thyself with a cloud, that our prayers should not pass through Lam 3:44<\/span>. There was the whirlwind of tempest within and without, taking away all rest, tranquility and peace. Whence Jeremiah hath, A whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth injury, it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord shall not return, until He have executed it Jer 23:19<\/span>. The Day of the Lord too shall come as a thief in the night 1Th 5:2<\/span>. Clouds and darkness are round about Him Psa 97:2<\/span>.<\/P> A day of clouds and of thick darkness – <\/B>The locusts are but the faint shadow of the coming evils, yet as the first harbingers of Gods successive judgments, the imagery, even in tills picture is probably taken from them. At least there is nothing in which writers, of every character, are so agreed, as in speaking of locusts as clouds darkening the sun. : These creatures do not come in legions, but in whole clouds, 5 or 6 leagues in length and 2 or 3 in breadth. All the air is full and darkened when they fly. Though the sun shine ever so bright, it is no brighter than when most clouded. : In Senegal we have seen a vast multitude of locusts shadowing the air, for they come almost every three years, and darken the sky. : About 8 oclock there arose above us a thick cloud, which darkened the air, depriving us of the rays of the sun. Every one was astonished at so sudden a change in the air, which is so seldom clouded at this season; but we soon saw that it was owing to a cloud of locusts. It was about 20 or 30 toises from the ground (120-180 feet) and covered several leagues of the country, when it discharged a shower of locusts, who fed there while they rested, and then resumed their flight. This cloud was brought by a pretty strong wind, it was all the morning passing the neighborhood, and the same wind, it was thought, precipitated it in the sea. : They take off from the place the light of day, and a sort of eclipse is formed. : In the middle of April their numbers were so vastly increased, that in the heat of the day they formed themselves into large bodies, appeared like a succession of clouds and darkened the sun. : On looking up we perceived an immense cloud, here and there semi-transparent, in other parts quite black, that spread itself all over the sky, and at intervals shadowed the sun.<\/P> The most unimaginative writers have said the same ; When they first appear, a thick dark cloud is seen very high in the air, which, as it passes, obscures the sun. Their swarms were so astonishing in all the steppes over which we passed in this part of our journey (the Crimea,) that the whole face of nature might have been described as concealed by a living veil. : When these clouds of locusts take their flight to surmount some obstacle, or traverse more rapidly a desert soil, one may say, to the letter, that the heaven is darkened by them.<\/P> As the morning spread upon the mountains – <\/B>Some have thought this too to allude to the appearance which the inhabitants of Abyssinia too well knew, as preceding the coming of the locusts (see the note at Joe 2:6<\/span>). A sombre yellow light is cast on the ground, from the reflection, it was thought, of their yellow wings. But that appearance itself seems to be unique to that country, or perhaps to certain flights of locusts. The image naturally describes, the suddenness, universality of the darkness, when people looked for light. As the mountain-tops first catch the gladdening rays of the sun, ere yet it riseth on the plains, and the light spreads from height to height, until the whole earth is arrayed in light, so wide and universal shall the outspreading be, but it shall be of darkness, not of light; the light itself shall be turned into darkness.<\/P> A great people and a strong – <\/B>The imagery throughout these verses is taken from the flight and inroad of locusts. The allegory is so complete, that the prophet compares them to those things which are, in part, intended under them, warriors, horses and instruments of war; and this, the more, because neither locusts, nor armies are exclusively intended. The object of the allegory is to describe the order and course of the divine judgments; how they are terrific, irresistible, universal, overwhelming, penetrating everywhere, overspreading all things, excluded by nothing. The locusts are the more striking symbol of this, through their minuteness and their number. They are little miniatures of a wellordered army, unhindered by what would be physical obstacles to larger creatures, moving in order inimitable even by man, and, from their number, desolating to the uttermost. What more countless or mightier than the locusts, asks Jerome, who had seen their inroads, which human industry cannot resist? It is a thing invincible, says Cyril, their invasion is altogether irresistible, and suffices utterly to destroy all in the fields. Yet each of these creatures is small, so that they would be powerless and contemptible, except in the Hands of Him, who brings them in numbers which can be wielded only by the Creator. Wonderful image of the judgments of God, who marshals and combines in one, causes each unavailing in itself but working together the full completion of His inscrutable Will.<\/P> There hath not been ever the like – <\/B>The courses of sin and of punishment are ever recommencing anew in some part of the world and of the Church. The whole order of each, sin and punishment, will culminate once only, in the Day of Judgment. Then only will these words have their complete fulfillment. The Day of Judgment alone is that Day of terror and of woe, such as never has been before, and shall never be again. For there will be no new day or time of terror. Eternal punishment will only be the continuation of the sentence adjudged then. But, in time and in the course of Gods Providential government, the sins of each soul or people or Church draw down visitations, which are Gods final judgments there. Such to the Jewish people, before the captivity, was the destruction of the temple, the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and that captivity itself. The Jewish polity was never again restored as before.<\/P> Such, to the new polity after the captivity, was the destruction by the Romans. Eighteen hundred years have seen nothing like it. The Vandals and then the Muslims swept over the Churches of North Africa, each destructive in its own way. twelve centuries have witnessed one unbroken desolation of the Church in Africa. In Constantinople, and Asia Minor, Palestine, Persia, Churches of the Redeemer became the mosques of the false prophet. Centuries have flowed by, yet we see not our signs, neither is there any among us, that knoweth how long Psa 74:9<\/span>. Wealthy, busy, restless, intellectual, degraded, London, sender forth of missionaries, but, save in China, the largest pagan city in the world; converter of the isles of the sea, but thyself unconverted; fullest of riches and of misery, of civilization and of savage life, of refinements and debasement; heart, whose pulses are felt in every continent, but thyself diseased and feeble, wilt thou, in this thy day, anticipate by thy conversion the Day of the Lord, or will It come upon thee, as hath never been the like, nor shall be, for the years of many generations? Shalt thou win thy lost ones to Christ, or be thyself the birthplace or abode of antichrist? O Lord God, Thou knowest.<\/P> Yet the words have fulfillments short of the end. Even of successive chastisements upon the same people, each may have some aggravation unique to itself, so that of each, in turn, it may be said, in that respect, that no former visitation had been like it, none afterward should resemble it. Thus the Chaldaeans were chief in fierceness, Antiochus Epiphanes in his madness against God, the Romans in the completeness of the desolation. The fourth beast which Daniel saw was dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly, and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it Dan 7:7-19<\/span>. The persecutions of the Roman Emperors were in extent and cruelty far beyond any before them. They shall be as nothing, in comparison to the deceivableness and oppression of antichrist. The prophet, however, does not say that there should be absolutely none like it, but only not for the years of many genertions. The words unto generation and generation elsewhere mean forever; here the word years may limit them to length of time. God, after some signal visitation, leaves a soul or a people to the silent workings of His grace or of His Providence. The marked interpositions of His Providence, are like His extraordinary miracles, rare; else, like the ordinary miracles of His daily operations, they would cease to be interpositions.<\/P> <\/p>\n Verse 2<\/span>. A day of darkness, c.<\/B><\/I>] The depredations of the locusts are described from the second<\/I> to the eleventh<\/I> verse, and their destruction in the twentieth<\/I>. Dr. Shaw<\/I>, who saw locusts in Barbary in 1724 and 1725, thus describes them: – <\/P> <\/P> “I never observed the mantes<\/I>, bald locusts<\/I>, to be gregarious. But the locusts<\/I>, properly so called, which are so frequently mentioned by sacred<\/I> as well as profane<\/I> writers, are sometimes so beyond expression. Those which I saw in 1724 and 1725 were much bigger than our common grasshopper and had brown spotted wings, with legs and bodies of a bright yellow. Their first appearance was toward the latter end of March<\/I>, the wind having been for some time south. In the middle of April<\/I> their numbers were so vastly increased that, in the heat of the day, they formed themselves into large and numerous swarms; flew in the air like a succession of clouds; and, as the prophet Joel expresses it, (Joe 2:10<\/span>) they darkened the sun. When the wind blew briskly, so that these swarms were crowded by others, or thrown one upon another, we had a lively idea of that comparison of the psalmist, (Ps 109:23<\/span>,) of being ‘tossed up and down as the locust.’ In the month of May<\/I>, when the ovaries of those insects were ripe and turgid, each of these swarms began gradually to disappear; and retired into the Mettijiah<\/I>, and other adjacent plains, where they deposited their eggs. These were no sooner hatched in June<\/I>, than each of these broods collected itself into a compact body of a furlong or more in square; and, marching immediately forward in the direction of the sea, they let nothing escape them; eating up every thing that was green and juicy, not only the lesser kinds of vegetables, but the vine<\/I> likewise; the fig tree<\/I>, the pomegranate<\/I>, the palm<\/I>, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field<\/I>, Joe 1:12<\/span>; in doing which they kept their ranks like men of war<\/I>; climbing over, as they advanced, every tree or wall that was in their way. Nay, they entered into our very houses and bedchambers, like so many<\/I> thieves<\/I>. The inhabitants, to stop their progress, made a variety of pits and trenches all over their fields and gardens, which they fined with water; or else they heaped up in them heath, stubble, and such like combustible matter, which were severally set on fire upon the approach of the locusts<\/I>. But this was all to no purpose, for the trenches were quickly filled up, and the fires extinguished, by infinite swarms succeeding one another; while the front was regardless of danger, and the rear pressed on so close, that a retreat was altogether impossible. A day or two after one of these broods was in motion, others were already hatched to march and glean after them; gnawing off the very bark, and the young branches, of such trees as had before escaped with the loss only of their fruit and foliage. So justly have they been compared by the prophet Joel<\/I> (Joe 2:3<\/span>) to a great army<\/I>; who further observes, that ‘the land is as the garden of Eden before them and behind them a desolate wilderness.’<\/P> <\/P> “Having lived near a month in this manner (like a , or sword with ten thousand edges<\/I>, to which they have been compared,) upon the ruin and destruction of every vegetable substance which came in their way, they arrived at their full growth, and threw old their nympha<\/I> state by casting their outward skin. To prepare themselves for this change, they clung by their hinder feet to some bush, twig, or corner of a stone; and immediately, by using an undulating motion, their heads would first break out, and then the rest of their bodies. The whole transformation was performed in seven or eight minutes, after which they lay for a short time in a torpid and seemingly languishing condition; but as soon ad the sun and air had hardened their wings, by drying up the moisture which remained upon them, after casting their sloughs, they reassumed their former voracity, with an addition both of strength and agility. Yet they did not continue long in this state before they were entirely dispersed, as their parents were before, after they had laid their eggs; and as the direction of the marches and flights of them both was always to the northward, and not having strength, as they have sometimes had, to reach the opposite shores of Italy, France<\/I>, or Spain<\/I>, it is probable they perished in the sea, a grave which, according to these people, they have in common with other winged creatures.” – Travels<\/I>, 4to. edition pp. 187, 188.<\/P> <\/P> A day of darkness<\/B><\/I>] They sometimes obscure the sun. And Thuanus<\/I> observes of an immense crowd, that “they darkened the sun at mid-day.”<\/P> <\/P> As the morning spread upon the mountains<\/B><\/I>] They appeared suddenly: as the sun, in rising behind the mountains, shoots his<\/I> rays<\/I> over them. Adanson<\/I>, in his voyage to Senegal<\/I>, says: “Suddenly there came over our heads a thick cloud which darkened<\/I> the air, and deprived us or the rays of the sun<\/I>. We soon found that it was owing to a cloud of locusts<\/I>.” Some clouds of them are said to have darkened the sun for a mile, and others for the space of twelve miles<\/I>! See on Joe 2:10<\/span>.<\/P> <\/p>\n A day of darkness and of gloominess; <\/B>metaphorically taken for a time of exceeding great troubles and calamities, according to the style of the Scriptures, which express prosperity by the metaphor of light, and adversity by darkness. which certainly is intended here; and the synonymous terms are here multiplied, to intimate the extremity and length of these troubles. And this passage may well allude to the day of judgment, and the calamities which shall precede that day. <\/P> Thick darkness<\/B> does undoubtedly imply, as the gradual approach, so the dismal effect of Gods judgments and the Jews miseries. See this word used 2Sa 22:10<\/span>, with 12-16<\/span>; Psa 18:9<\/span>,11<\/span>. It was such terror with which God gave the law, and in such he will punish the transgressors of his law. <\/P> As the morning spread upon the mountains; <\/B>as the morning spreads itself suddenly over all the hemisphere, and as it first spreads itself upon the high mountains, so should the approaching calamities overtake this people. <\/P> A great people:<\/B> this seems more directly to intend the Babylonians rather than locusts, yet both are numerous, as the word imports, Heb.: see Joe 1:6<\/span>. <\/P> And a strong; <\/B>bold to attempt, and mighty in strength to execute; both true of Assyrians or Babylonians, or the locusts. <\/P> There hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more:<\/B> locusts, emblem of the warlike nations, and the spoil done by both, are here described the greatest that ever yet were known; and of the Assyrian or Babylonian spoil made in Judea, the history doth ascertain this. <\/P> Even to the years of many generations; <\/B>if ever the like be, it shall not be in many ages to come. <\/P> <\/p>\n 2. darkness . . . gloominess . . .clouds . . . thick darkness<\/B>accumulation of synonyms, tointensify the picture of calamity<\/I> (Isa8:22<\/span>). Appropriate here, as the swarms of locusts interceptingthe sunlight suggested darkness<\/I> as a fit image of the comingvisitation. <\/P> as the morning spread uponthe mountains: a great people<\/B>Substitute a comma for a colonafter mountains: As the morning light spreads itself over themountains, so a people numerous<\/I> [MAURER]and strong shall spread themselves. The suddenness<\/I> of therising of the morning light, which gilds the mountain tops first, isless probably thought by others to be the point of comparison to thesudden inroad of the foe. MAURERrefers it to the yellow splendor<\/I> which arises from thereflection of the sunlight on the wings of the immense hosts oflocusts as they approach. This is likely; understanding, however,that the locusts are only the symbols of human foes. The immenseAssyrian host of invaders under Sennacherib (compare Isa37:36<\/span>) destroyed by God (Joe 2:18<\/span>;Joe 2:20<\/span>; Joe 2:21<\/span>),may be the primary objects of the prophecy; but ultimately the lastantichristian confederacy, destroyed by special divine interposition,is meant (see on Joe 3:2<\/span>). <\/P> there hath not been ever thelike<\/B>(Compare Joe 1:2<\/span>;Exo 10:14<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness<\/strong>,…. Alluding to the gloomy and thick darkness caused by the locusts, which sometimes come in prodigious numbers, like thick clouds, and darken the air; so the land of Egypt was darkened by them,<\/p>\n Ex 10:15<\/span>; historians and travellers relate, as Bochart f has shown, that these creatures will fly like a cloud, and darken the heavens at noonday, cover the sun, and hinder the rays of it from touching the earth; though all these phrases may be expressive of great afflictions and calamities, which are often in Scripture signified by darkness, as prosperity is by light; see Isa 8:22<\/span>;<\/p>\n as the morning spread upon the mountains<\/strong>; as the morning light, when it first appears, diffuses itself in a moment throughout the earth, and is first seen on the tops of the mountains g; so these locusts, and this calamity threatened, should suddenly and at once come, and be spread over the whole land; and which could no more be resisted than the morning light. The Vulgate Latin version renders it, in connection with the next clause, “as the morning spread upon the mountains, a people much and mighty”; but the accents will not admit of it; though it may seem a little improper that the same thing should be as a dark day, and: the morning light; wherefore Cocceius understands the whole of the day of Christ, which was light to many nations, and darkness to the wicked Jews:<\/p>\n a great people and a strong<\/strong>; numerous and mighty, many in number, mighty in strength; so the locusts are represented as a nation and people for might and multitude, Joe 1:6<\/span>; an emblem of the Chaldeans and Babylonians, who were a large and powerful people:<\/p>\n there hath not been ever the like, neither shall any more after it<\/strong>,<\/p>\n [even] to the years of many generations<\/strong>; that is, in the land of Judea; otherwise there might have been the like before in other places, as in Egypt, and since in other countries. Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi, account for it thus; that it was never known, before or since, that four kinds of locusts came together; as for the plague of Egypt, there was but one sort of them, they say; but it is best to understand it of the like not having been in the same country: and such a numerous and powerful army as that of the Chaldeans had not been in Judea, and made such havoc and desolation as that did; nor would any hereafter, for many generations, even until the Romans came and took away their place and nation.<\/p>\n f Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 4. c. 5. p. 479. g “Postera vix summos spargebat lumine montes Orta dies—-“, Virgil. Aeneid. 12.<\/p>\n “A day of darkness and obscurity, a day of clouds and cloudy night: like morning dawn spread over the mountains, a people great and strong: there has not been the like from all eternity, nor will there be after it even to the years of generation and generation.<\/em> Joe 2:3<\/span>. Before it burneth fire, and behind it flameth flame: the land before it as the garden of Eden, and behind it like a desolate wilderness; and even that which escaped did not remain to it.” <\/em> With four words, expressing the idea of darkness and obscurity, the day of Jehovah is described as a day of the manifestation of judgment. The words are applied in Deu 4:11<\/span> to the cloudy darkness in which Mount Sinai was enveloped, when Jehovah came down upon it in the fire; and in Exo 10:22<\/span>, the darkness which fell upon Egypt as the ninth plague is called . does not belong to what precedes, nor does it mean blackness or twilight (as Ewald and some Rabbins suppose), but “the morning dawn.” The subject to parus <\/em> (spread) is neither yom <\/em> (day), which precedes it, nor am <\/em> (people), which follows; for neither of these yields a suitable thought at all. The subject is left indefinite: “like morning dawn is it spread over the mountains.” The prophet’s meaning is evident enough from what follows. He clearly refers to the bright glimmer or splendour which is seen in the sky as a swarm of locusts approaches, from the reflection of the sun’s rays from their wings.<\/p>\n (Note: The following is the account given by the Portuguese monk Francis Alvarez, in his Journey through Abyssinia<\/em> (Oedmann, Vermischte Sammlungen<\/em>, vi. p. 75): “The day before the arrival of the locusts we could infer that they were coming, from a yellow reflection in the sky, proceeding from their yellow wings. As soon as this light appeared, no one had the slightest doubt that an enormous swarm of locusts was approaching.” He also says, that during his stay in the town of Barua he himself saw this phenomenon, and that so vividly, that even the earth had a yellow colour from the reflection. The next day a swarm of locusts came.)<\/p>\n With (a people great and strong) we must consider the verb (cometh) in Exo 10:1<\/span> as still retaining its force. Yom <\/em> (day) and am <\/em> (people) have the same predicate, because the army of locusts carries away the day, and makes it into a day of cloudy darkness. The darkening of the earth is mentioned in connection with the Egyptian plague of locusts in Exo 10:15<\/span>, and is confirmed by many witnesses (see the comm. on Ex. l.c.<\/em>). The fire and the flame which go both before and behind the great and strong people, viz., the locusts, cannot be understood as referring to the brilliant light kindled as it were by the morning dawn, which proceeds from the fiery armies of the vengeance of God, i.e., the locusts (Umbreit), nor merely to the burning heat of the drought by which everything is consumed (Joe 1:19<\/span>); but this burning heat is heightened here into devouring flames of fire, which accompany the appearing of God as He comes to judgment at the head of His army, after the analogy of the fiery phenomena connected with the previous manifestations of God, both in Egypt, where a terrible hail fell upon the land before the plague of locusts, accompanied by thunder and balls of fire (Exo 9:23-24<\/span>), and also at Sinai, upon which the Lord came down amidst thunder and lightning, and spoke to the people out of the fire (Exo 19:16-18<\/span>; Deu 4:11-12<\/span>). The land, which had previously resembled the garden of paradise (Gen 2:8<\/span>), was changed in consequence into a desolate wilderness. does not mean escape or deliverance, either here or in Oba 1:17<\/span>, but simply that which has run away or escaped. Here it signifies that part of the land which has escaped the devastation; for it is quite contrary to the usage of the language to refer , as most commentators do, to the swarm of locusts, from which there is no escape, no deliverance (cf. 2Sa 15:14<\/span>; Jdg 21:17<\/span>; Ezr 9:13<\/span>, in all of which refers to the subject, to which the thing that escaped was assigned). Consequently can only refer to . The perfect stands related to , according to which the swarm of locusts had already completed the devastation.<\/p>\n And then he says, A day of darkness and of thick darkness, a day of clouds and of obscurity, as the dawn which expands over the mountains. By calling it a dark and gloomy day, he wished to show that there would be no hope of deliverance; for, according to the common usage of Scripture, we know that by light is designated a cheerful and happy state, or the hope of deliverance from any affliction: but the Prophet now extinguishes, as it were, every hope in this world, when he declares that the day of Jehovah would be dark, that is, without hope of restoration. This is his meaning. When he says afterwards, As the dawn which expands, etc. , he mentions this to signify the celerity with which it would come; for we know how sudden is the rising of the dawn on the mountains: the dawn spreads in a moment on the mountains, where darkness was before. For the light penetrates not immediately either into valleys or even into plains; but if any one looks at the summits of mountains, he will see that the dawn rises quickly. It is then the settle as though the Prophet said, “The day of the Lord is nigh, for the Lord can suddenly stretch forth his hand, as the dawn spreads over the mountains.” <\/p>\n He then mentions its character, A people great and strong to whom there has not been the like from the beginning, or from ages and after whom there will be no more the like, to the years of a generation and a generation. Here the Prophet specifies the kind of judgment that would be, of which he had generally spoken before; and he shows that what he had hitherto recorded of God’s vengeance ought not to be so understood as that God would descend openly and visibly from heaven, but that the Assyrians would be the ministers and executioners of his vengeance. In short, the Prophet shows here that the coming of that people ought to have been as much dreaded as if God had put forth his hand and executed on his people the vengeance deserved by their sins. And by these words he teaches us, that men gain nothing by being blind to the judgments of God; for God will notwithstanding execute his works and use the instrumentality of men; for men are the scourges by which he chastises his own people. The Chaldeans and the Assyrians were unbelievers; yet God used them for the purpose of correcting the Jews. This the Prophet now shows, that is, that God was the avenger in these very Assyrians, for he employed them as the ministers and executioners of his judgment. We see at the same time that the Prophet describes here the terrible wrath of God to shake off from the Jews their tardiness; for he saw that they were not moved by all his threatening, and ever laid hold on some new flattering pretenses. This is the reason why he gives such a long description. <\/p>\n (2) The morning spread upon the mountains.<\/strong>The Hebrew word here used for morning is derived from a verb, Shachar,<\/em> which has for one meaning to be or become black, for the second to break forth as light. From this latter signification is derived the word for morningdawn; from the former comes the word blackness, which gives the name Sihor<\/em> to the Nile (Isa. 23:3<\/span>). It seems accordingly more in harmony with the present context to take the sense of the word in its reference to blackness, and to understand it as indicating a thick, dark, rolling cloud settled upon the mountain top. The description following comprehends equally the natural and political locusts.<\/p>\n Joe 2:2<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>A day of darkness, <\/em><\/strong>&c.<\/strong> We have in this and the following verses a description of the locusts: their fierceness and speed, Joe 2:4<\/span>.; the noise and din of their approach, Joe 2:5<\/span>.; the order and regularity of their march, Joe 2:7-8<\/span>.; their darkening the very lights of heaven by their number and flight, Joe 2:10<\/span>.; the havoc that they should occasion, Joe 2:3<\/span>.; the places that they should invade, Joe 2:7<\/span>; Joe 2:9<\/span>.; and the consternation and distress which they should bring upon all the inhabitants of the land, Joe 2:6<\/span>; Joe 2:10<\/span>. For an account of these terrible destroyers, we refer the reader to the note on Exo 10:4<\/span>. Houbigant begins the second verse, after the Chaldee and LXX, thus; Lo! a mighty people and a strong spread themselves like the morning upon the<\/em> mountains, there hath not been, <\/em>&c. <\/p>\n If we read these verses with an eye to the gospel of Christ, (and surely in the present hour it were a folly to read them otherwise,) how graciously do they describe the first dawnings of a day of grace upon every poor sinner’s soul. Reader! hath the day-spring from, on high visited you? Surely then I need not describe the darkness and gloominess your soul found itself in, when to your view darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness the People. Jesus himself is described, as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds. 2Sa 23:4<\/span> . And so he is indeed to every precious blood-bought son and daughter of his; when by his Almighty arm, that soul is brought out of the darkness and shadow of death, and delivered from the terrors of an alarmed conscience, in beholding the fulness and suitability Of Jesus for salvation. Never was there a season like this, in the experience of the believers life; neither any after it, even-to the years of many generations!<\/p>\n Joe 2:2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, [even] to the years of many generations.<\/p>\n Ver. 2. A day of darkness and of gloominess<\/strong> ] Lest they should imagine it to be some light matter that hath been, and is still threatened, he sets forth to the life, the bitterness of that day, so lowering and lightless, that it can hardly be called a day; a dark and doleful doomsday it will be to the impenitent, infaustus et infelix,<\/em> dismal and dreadful. What better can be expected by those Tenebriones, that delight in the deeds of darkness, and are acted by those rulers of the darkness of this world, Eph 6:12<\/span> , the devils, whom they follow as they are led, 1Co 12:2<\/span> , till they fall into outer darkness, , even that darkness beyond a darkness (as the dungeon is beyond or below the prison), where they shall never see the light again till they see all the world on a light fire. Let those Lucifugae<\/em> look to it, that love darkness better than light; for, besides what they meet with here, they shall one day have their bellies full of it in that dungeon of darkness. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A day of clouds and of thick darkness<\/strong> ]. Caused by that huge army of locusts, coming in great swarms and darkening the air. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n As the morning spread upon the mountains<\/strong> ] i.e.<\/em> longe, lateque,<\/em> far and near, all the country over, and that in an instant; even as the morning spreadeth abroad suddenly over the tops of hills, though they be a great way off. Postera vix summos spargebat lumine montes Orta dies<\/em> (Virg.) Lux subit, et primo feriente cacumina sole.<\/em> (Ovid.) Hereby is imported that the calamity here threatened is such as they can neither avert nor avoid. Irretensibilis est,<\/em> saith Luther. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A great people and a strong<\/strong> ] So the locusts are called, see Joe 1:4-6<\/span> , not without some respect to the Chaldeans, that should afterwards carry them captive, as Jerome here glosseth. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n There hath not been ever the like<\/strong> ] sc.<\/em> in the land of Judea, nor of the like continuance. See Joe 1:2-3<\/span> . <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Even to the years of many generations<\/strong> ] Heb. Of an age and an age, so Deu 32:7 Joe 3:20<\/span> . This assureth us of the greatness of this people’s sin, since they were so signally punished, for God doth not use to kill flies with beetles, as they say.<\/p>\n A. day, &c. Compare Amo 5:18, Amo 5:20. <\/p>\n morning = blackness, or darkness. Hebrew. shahar, A Homonym. with two meanings: (1) to be black or dark (Job 30:30). Hence put for seeking in the early morning while yet dark (Psa 78:34; Psa 78:63, Psa 78:1. Pro 1:28. Isa 26:9. Hos 5:15, &c.); (2) dawn or morning (Gen 19:15; Gen 32:24, Gen 32:26. Jos 6:15. Hos 6:3; Hos 10:15, &c.) <\/p>\n a great people. Symbolized by the locusts in Joe 1:4. <\/p>\n A day of darkness: “The quantity of these insects,” says a French author,”is incredible to all who have not themselves witnessed their astonishing numbers; the whole earth is covered with them for the space of several leagues. The noise they make in browsing on the trees and herbage may be heard at a great distance, and resembles that of an army in secret. Wherever their myriads spread, the verdure of the country disappears; trees and plants, stripped of their leaves and reduced to their naked boughs and stems, cause the dreary image of winter to succeed in an instant to the rich scenery of spring. When these clouds of locusts take their flight, to surmount any obstacles or to traverse more rapidly a desert soil, the heavens may literally be said to be obscured by them.” Joe 2:10, Joe 2:31, Joe 3:14, Joe 3:15, Exo 20:21, Psa 97:2, Isa 5:30, Isa 8:22, Jer 13:16, Amo 5:18-20, Zep 1:14, Zep 1:15, Heb 12:18, Jud 1:13 <\/p>\n as: Amo 4:13 <\/p>\n a great: Joe 2:5, Joe 2:11, Joe 2:25, Joe 1:6 <\/p>\n there: Joe 1:2, Joe 1:3, Exo 10:6, Exo 10:14, Dan 12:1, Mar 13:19 <\/p>\n many generations: Heb. generation and generation, Deu 32:7, Psa 10:6,*marg. <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Exo 10:4 – locusts Exo 10:22 – thick darkness Deu 28:39 – for the worms Job 3:4 – darkness Job 3:5 – let a cloud Job 15:23 – the day Job 22:11 – darkness Psa 18:11 – thick Psa 105:28 – sent Ecc 11:8 – yet Isa 9:19 – is the land Isa 45:7 – create darkness Jer 51:27 – cause Lam 2:1 – covered Eze 30:3 – a cloudy Eze 32:7 – I will cover the heaven Eze 38:9 – like Dan 9:12 – for under Joe 1:15 – Alas Joe 2:20 – remove Zep 1:7 – for the day Mat 24:21 – General Rev 9:2 – and the sun<\/p>\n Joe 2:2. The gloomy picture that is painted is to be the result of the invasion of the foreign nation. A great people and a strong refers to the Baby-lonians who were to be brought against Jerusalem and the people of Israel.<\/p>\n Joe 2:2. A day of darkness and of gloominess A day of great calamity and trouble, which is often expressed in the Scripture by darkness. Or, perhaps, the prophets words are to be taken here in the literal sense; for it is certain that, in the eastern countries, locusts will sometimes, on a sudden, cover the sky like a cloud, intercept the light of the sun, and diffuse a darkness on the tract of country over which they are flying. Solem obumbrant, They darken the sun, says Pliny, Nat. Hist. lib. 11:28. Thuanus, (lib. 34:7, p. 364, vol. 5.,) describing a calamity of this kind, says, Laborabat eo tempore, &c. Syria was afflicted at that time with the want of every kind of forage and provisions, on account of such a multitude of locusts as was never seen before in the memory of man, which, like a thick cloud, darkening the light in mid-day, flying to and fro, devoured the fruits of the ground everywhere. And Adanson, in his Voyage to Senegal, p. 127, says, Suddenly there came over our heads a thick cloud, which darkened the air and deprived us of the rays of the sun. We soon found that it was owing to a cloud of locusts. And in Chandler, on Joe 2:10, Hermanus is quoted, as saying that locusts obscure the sun for the space of a mile; and Aloysius, for the space of twelve miles. For a further account of them, see note on Exo 10:5; Exo 10:13. As the morning spread upon the mountains This signifies, that the darkness occasioned by the locusts should be very diffusive or general; that they should spread themselves everywhere, as the rays of the morning do upon the mountains. A great people and strong The locusts, being represented as a great army coming to destroy, are here termed a great and strong people: see note on chap. Joe 1:6. There hath not been ever the like, &c. The locusts which plagued Egypt are described after the same manner, Exo 10:14. The expression in both places seems to be proverbial, and intended to set forth the extraordinary greatness of the judgment; but is not to be understood too strictly, according to the grammatical sense of the words. Thus we read of Hezekiah, that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, 2Ki 18:5; and yet the same character is given of Josiah, 2Ki 23:25.<\/p>\n 2:2 A {b} day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a {c} great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, [even] to the years of many generations.<\/p>\n (b) Of affliction and trouble.<\/p>\n (c) Meaning, the Assyrians.<\/p>\n A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, [even] to the years of many generations. 2 11. The signs of the … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joel 2:2”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22324\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"