New King James Version
Joel 2:3
3A 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.
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 Living Translation (NLT)Fire burns in front of them, and flames follow after them. Ahead of them the land lies as beautiful as the Garden of Eden. Behind them is nothing but desolation; not one thing escapes.
Context of Joel 2:3
1Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the Lord is coming, For it is at hand: 2A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, The like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be any such after them, Even for many successive generations. 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. 4Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like swift steeds, so they run. 5With a noise like chariots Over mountaintops they leap, Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble, Like a strong people set in battle array.
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
Words taken from the KJV.
- A fireאֵשׁ'êsh · fireH784
- devourethאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
- beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
- them; and behindאַחַר'achar · afterH310
- them a flameלֶהָבָהlehâbâh lahebeth · flameH3852
- burnethלָהַטlâhaţ · to kindleH3857
- the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- as the gardenגַּןgan · gardenH1588
- of Edenעֵ֫דֶן‛êden · EdenH5731
- them a desolateשְׁמָמָהshemâmâh shimâmâh · devastationH8077
- wildernessמִדְבָּרmidbâr · wildernessH4057
- yea, and nothing shall escapeפְּלֵיטָהpelêyţâh pelêţâh · survivorH6413
Cross-references for Joel 2:3
- Joel 1:19O Lord, to You I cry out; For fire has devoured the open pastures, And a flame has burned all the trees of the field.
- Psalms 50:3Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent; A fire shall devour before Him, And it shall be very tempestuous all around Him.
- Amos 7:4Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, the Lord God called for conflict by fire, and it consumed the great deep and devoured the territory.
- Genesis 2:8The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.
- Genesis 13:10And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar.
- Isaiah 51:3For the Lord will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the Lord; Joy and gladness will be found in it, Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.
- Ezekiel 31:8The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it; The fir trees were not like its boughs, And the chestnut trees were not like its branches; No tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty.
- Joel 1:4What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten; And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten.
- Exodus 10:5And they shall cover the face of the earth, so that no one will be able to see the earth; and they shall eat the residue of what is left, which remains to you from the hail, and they shall eat every tree which grows up for you out of the field.
- Jeremiah 5:17And they shall eat up your harvest and your bread, Which your sons and daughters should eat. They shall eat up your flocks and your herds; They shall eat up your vines and your fig trees; They shall destroy your fortified cities, In which you trust, with the sword.
- Zechariah 7:14“But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known. Thus the land became desolate after them, so that no one passed through or returned; for 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
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 King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries