Joel 2:6

6 Before * them the people are in ¹anguish; All ²faces turn pale.

Joel 2:6 Meaning and Commentary

Joel 2:6

Before their face the people shall be much pained
Or, "at their presence"; at the sight of them they shall be in pain, as a woman in travail; into such distress an army of locusts would throw them, since they might justly fear all the fruits of the earth would be devoured by them, and they should have nothing left to live upon; and a like consternation and pain the army of the Assyrians or Chaldeans upon sight filled them with, as they expected nothing but ruin and destruction from them: all faces shall gather blackness;
like that of a pot, as the word ^F13 signifies; or such as appears in persons dying, or in fits and swoons; and this here, through fear and hunger; see ( Nahum 2:10 ) ( Lamentations 4:8 ) ( 5:10 ) .

---

FOOTNOTES:

F13 (rwrap) "fuliginem", Montanus; "luridum ollae colorem", Tigurine version, Tarnovius; "ollam pro nigore ollae", Drusius.

Joel 2:6 In-Context

4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like war horses, so they run.

5 With a noise as of chariots They leap on the tops of the mountains, Like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble, Like a mighty people arranged for battle.

6 Before them the people are in anguish; All faces turn pale.

7 They run like mighty men, They climb the wall like soldiers ; And they each march in line, Nor do they deviate from their paths.

8 They do not crowd each other, They march everyone in his path; When they burst through the defenses, They do not break ranks.

Cross References

• 1. Isaiah 13:8; Nahum 2:10
• 2. Jeremiah 30:6

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "become flushed"