New American Standard Bible 2020
Joel 2:3
3A 1fire consumes before them, And behind them a flame devours. The land is 2like the Garden of Eden before them, But a 3desolate wilderness behind them, And nothing at all escapes them.
Joel 2:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
- New International Version (NIV)Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, behind them, a desert waste— nothing escapes them.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them.
- New King James Version (NKJV)A fire devours before them, And behind them a flame burns; The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness; Surely nothing shall escape them.
Context of Joel 2:3
1Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the Lord is coming; Indeed, it is near, 2A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness. As dawn is spread over the mountains, So there is a great and mighty people; There has never been anything like it, Nor will there be again after it To the years of many generations. A fire consumes before them, And behind them a flame devours. The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, But a desolate wilderness behind them, And nothing at all escapes them. 4Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like war horses, so they run. 5With a noise as of chariots They leap about on the tops of the mountains, Like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble, Like a mighty people drawn up for battle.
Read all of Joel 2Joel 2:3 word by word
לְפָנָיו֙ אָ֣כְלָה אֵ֔שׁ וְאַחֲרָ֖יו תְּלַהֵ֣ט לֶֽהָבָ֑ה כְּגַן־עֵ֨דֶן הָאָ֜רֶץ לְפָנָ֗יו וְאַֽחֲרָיו֙ מִדְבַּ֣ר שְׁמָמָ֔ה וְגַם־פְּלֵיטָ֖ה לֹא־הָ֥יְתָה לּֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear
- fireאֵשׁ'êsh · fireH784
- consumesאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
- beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
- And behindאַחַר'achar · afterH310
- them a flameלֶהָבָהlehâbâh lahebeth · flameH3852
- devoursלָהַטlâhaţ · to kindleH3857
- The landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- like the Gardenגַּןgan · gardenH1588
- of Edenעֵ֫דֶן‛êden · EdenH5731
- desolateשְׁמָמָהshemâmâh shimâmâh · devastationH8077
- wildernessמִדְבָּרmidbâr · wildernessH4057
- And nothingלֹאlô' lô' lôh · notH3808
- atגַּםgam · alsoH1571
- escapesפְּלֵיטָהpelêyţâh pelêţâh · survivorH6413
Cross-references for Joel 2:3
- Joel 1:19To You, Lord, I cry out; For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.
- Psalms 50:3May our God come and not keep silent; Fire devours before Him, And a storm is violently raging around Him.
- Amos 7:4So the Lord God showed me, and behold, the Lord God was calling to contend with them by fire, and it consumed the great deep and began to consume the farmland.
- Genesis 2:8The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.
- Genesis 13:10Lot raised his eyes and saw all the vicinity of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere--this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah--like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt going toward Zoar.
- Isaiah 51:3Indeed, the Lord will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her ruins. And He will make her wilderness like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, Thanksgiving and the sound of a melody.
- Ezekiel 31:8The cedars in God’s garden could not match it; The junipers could not compare with its branches, And the plane trees could not match its branches. No tree in God’s garden could compare with it in its beauty.
- Joel 1:4What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten; And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten.
- Exodus 10:5And they will cover the surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land. They will also eat the rest of what has survived--what is left to you from the hail--and they will eat every tree of yours which grows in the field.
- Jeremiah 5:17They will devour your harvest and your food; They will devour your sons and your daughters; They will devour your flocks and your herds; They will devour your vines and your fig trees; They will demolish your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.
- Zechariah 7:14“but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they did not know. So the land was desolated behind them so that no one went back and forth, since they made the pleasant land desolate.”
Commentaries on Joel 2:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3A fire devoureth before them - They consume like a general conflagration. "They destroy the ground, not only for the time, but burn trees for two years after." Sir Hans Sloane, Nat. Hist. of Jamaica, vol. i., p. 29. Behind them a flame burneth - "Wherever they feed," says Ludolf, in his History of Ethiopia, "their leavings seem as if parched with fire." Nothing shall escape them - "After devouring the herbage," says Adanson, "with the fruits and leaves of…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3A fire devoureth before them - Travelers, of different nations and characters, and in different lands, some unacquainted with the Bible words, have agreed to describe under this image the ravages of locusts.: “They scorch many things with their touch.”: “Whatever of herb or leaf they gnaw, is, as it were, scorched by fire.”: “Wherever they come, the ground seems burned, as it were with fire.”: “Wherever they pass, they burn and spoil everything, and…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3The destruction caused by the invading army would be like a fire that spreads quickly and destroys everything in its path. Before the attack, the land looked like the garden of Eden. After the attack, the land would be empty and ruined. This image reverses the hope described in Isaiah 51:3 and Ezekiel 36:35.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. before ... behind--that is, on every side (1Ch 19:10). fire ... flame--destruction ... desolation (Is 10:17). as ... Eden ... wilderness--conversely (Is 51:3; Eze 36:35).Read the comment
Topics related to Joel 2:3
In the dictionaries
Notes
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
New American Standard Bible 2020 — © 1960–2020 The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
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