Joel 2:31

Joel 2:31 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.
• New International Version (NIV)The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
• English Standard Version (ESV)The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
• New King James Version (NKJV)The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

Context of Joel 2:31

29Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. 30I will show signs and wonders [displaying My power] in the heavens and on the earth, Blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood Before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. 32And it shall come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord Will be saved [from the coming judgment] For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As the Lord has said, Even among the remnant [of survivors] whom the Lord calls.

Joel 2:31 word by word

הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ יֵהָפֵ֣ךְ לְחֹ֔שֶׁךְ וְהַיָּרֵ֖חַ לְדָ֑ם לִפְנֵ֗י בּ֚וֹא י֣וֹם יְהוָ֔ה הַגָּד֖וֹל וְהַנּוֹרָֽא׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The sunשֶׁ֫מֶשׁshemesh · sunH8121
• shall be turnedהָפַךְhâphak · to overturnH2015
• into darknessחֹ֫שֶׁךְchôshek · darknessH2822
• and the moonיָרֵחַyârêach · moonH3394
• into bloodדָּםdâm · bloodH1818
• beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• the greatגָּדוֹלgâdôl gâdôl · great: largeH1419
• and the terribleיָרֵאyârê' · to fearH3372
• dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• of the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• comeבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935

Cross-references for Joel 2:31

• Joel 2:10The earth quakes before them, The heavens tremble, The sun and the moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness.
• Joel 3:1“For behold, in those [climactic] days and at that time, When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
• Isaiah 13:9Listen carefully, the day of the Lord is coming, Cruel, with wrath and raging anger, To make the land a horror [of devastation]; And He shall exterminate its sinners from it.
• Isaiah 34:4All the host of heaven will be dissolved, And the skies will be rolled up like a scroll; All their hosts [the stars and the planets] will also wither away As a leaf withers from the vine, And as a fig withers from the fig tree.
• Matthew 24:29“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not provide its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
• Matthew 27:45Now from the sixth hour (noon) there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.).
• Mark 13:24“But in those days, after [the suffering and distress of] that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,
• Luke 21:25“There will be signs (attesting miracles) in the sun and moon and stars; and on the earth [there will be] distress and anguish among nations, in perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea and the waves,
• Revelation 6:12I looked when He (the Lamb) broke open the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth [made] of hair, and the whole moon became like blood;
• Zephaniah 1:14The great [judgment] day of the Lord is near, Near and coming very quickly. Listen! The [voice of the] day of the Lord! The warrior cries out bitterly [unable to fight or to flee].
• Malachi 4:1“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant (proud, self-righteous, haughty), and every evildoer shall be stubble; and the day that is coming shall set them on fire,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.

Commentaries on Joel 2:31

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 31The sun shall be turned into darkness - The Jewish polity, civil and ecclesiastical, shall be entirely destroyed. Before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come - In the taking and sacking of Jerusalem, and burning of the temple, by the Romans, under Titus, the son of Vespasian. This was, perhaps, the greatest and most terrible day of God's vengeance ever shown to the world, or that ever will be shown, till the great day of the general judgment…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 31Before the great and terrible Day of the Lord come - o“The days of our life are our days wherein we do what we please; that will be the “Day of the Lord,” when He, our Judge, shall require the account of all our doings. It will be “great,” because it is the horizon of time and eternity; the last day of time, the beginning of eternity. It will put an end to the world, guilt, deserts, good or evil. It will be “great,” because in it great things will be…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 28-32Verses 28-32 The promise began to be fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out, and it was continued in the converting grace and miraculous gifts conferred on both Jews and Gentiles. The judgments of God upon a sinful world, only go before the judgment of the world in the last day. Calling on God supposes knowledge of him, faith in him, desire toward him, dependence on him, and, as evidence of the sincerity of all this…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 30-31When God pours out his Spirit in the future, there will be signs and wonders. Blood, fire, and smoke, along with the darkening of the sun and moon, will show God's coming judgment (see Joel 2:10; Mark 13:24; Revelation 6:12).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 30-3130-31. As Messiah's manifestation is full of joy to believers, so it has an aspect of wrath to unbelievers, which is represented here. Thus when the Jews received Him not in His coming of grace, He came in judgment on Jerusalem. Physical prodigies, massacres, and conflagrations preceded its destruction [Josephus, Wars of the Jews]. To these the language here may allude; but the figures chiefly symbolize political revolutions and changes in the ruling…Read the comment

Topics related to Joel 2:31

• Church
• Eclipse
• Gentiles
• Gospel
• Meteorology and Celestial Phenomena
• Moon
• Prophecy
• Quotations and Allusions
• Sun

In the dictionaries

• Darkness
• Fat
• Pour
• Rend
• Reproach
• Thrust
• Eschatology of the Old Testament
• Joel (2)
• Moon
• Notable

Commentaries on Joel 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings