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 male and female servants I will pour out my Spirit in those days. 30I will produce portents both in the sky and on the earth – blood, fire, and columns of smoke. The sunlight will be turned to darkness and the moon to the color of blood, before the day of the Lord comes – that great and terrible day! 32It will so happen that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered. For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who survive, just as the Lord has promised; the remnant will be those whom the Lord will call.

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 sky reverberates. The sun and the moon grow dark; the stars refuse to shine.
• Joel 3:1(4:1) For look! In those days and at that time I will return the exiles to Judah and Jerusalem.
• Isaiah 13:9Look, the Lord’s day of judgment is coming; it is a day of cruelty and savage, raging anger, destroying the earth and annihilating its sinners.
• Isaiah 34:4All the stars in the sky will fade away, the sky will roll up like a scroll; all its stars will wither, like a leaf withers and falls from a vine or a fig withers and falls from a tree.
• Matthew 24:29“Immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken.
• Matthew 27:45Now from noon until three, darkness came over all the land.
• Mark 13:24“But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light;
• Luke 21:25“And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth nations will be in distress, anxious over the roaring of the sea and the surging waves.
• Revelation 6:12Then I looked when the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and a huge earthquake took place; the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, and the full moon became blood red;
• Zephaniah 1:14The Lord’s great day of judgment is almost here; it is approaching very rapidly! There will be a bitter sound on the Lord’s day of judgment; at that time warriors will cry out in battle.
• Malachi 4:1(3:19) “For indeed the day is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant evildoers will be chaff. The coming day will burn them up,” says the Lord who rules over all. “It will not leave even a root or 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