English Standard Version
Joel 2:6
6Before them peoples are in anguish; all faces grow pale.
Joel 2:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.
- New International Version (NIV)At the sight of them, nations are in anguish; every face turns pale.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Before them the people writhe in pain; All faces are drained of color.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Fear grips all the people; every face grows pale with terror.
Context of Joel 2:6
4Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run. 5As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle. Before them peoples are in anguish; all faces grow pale. 7Like warriors they charge; like soldiers they scale the wall. They march each on his way; they do not swerve from their paths. 8They do not jostle one another; each marches in his path; they burst through the weapons and are not halted.
Read all of Joel 2Joel 2:6 word by word
מִפָּנָ֖יו יָחִ֣ילוּ עַמִּ֑ים כָּל־פָּנִ֖ים קִבְּצ֥וּ פָארֽוּר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Joel 2:6
- Psalms 119:83For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, yet I have not forgotten your statutes.
- Isaiah 13:8They will be dismayed: pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame.
- Jeremiah 8:21For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded; I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me.
- Jeremiah 30:6Ask now, and see, can a man bear a child? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor? Why has every face turned pale?
- Lamentations 4:8Now their face is blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets; their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as wood.
- Nahum 2:10Desolate! Desolation and ruin! Hearts melt and knees tremble; anguish is in all loins; all faces grow pale!
Commentaries on Joel 2:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6All faces shall gather blackness - Universal mourning shall take place, because they know that such a plague is irresistible.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6Before their face the people shall be much pained - The locust being such a scourge of God, good reason have men to be terrified at their approach; and those are most terrified who have most felt the affliction. In Abyssinia, some province of which was desolated every year, one relates, “When the locusts travel, the people know of it a day before, not because they see them, but they see the sun yellow and the ground yellow, through the shadow which they…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6Nations writhe in horror before them: Anticipating the invasion prepared the people for the call to repentance in Joel 2:12–14.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. much pained--namely, with terror. The Arab proverb is, "More terrible than the locusts." faces shall gather blackness--(Is 13:8; Jr 30:6; Na 2:10). Maurer translates, "withdraw their brightness," that is, wax pale, lose color (compare Joe 2:10; Joe 3:15).Read the comment
Topics related to Joel 2:6
In the dictionaries
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries