JOEL 2:2 Parallel Verse View

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Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX ἡμέρα σκότους καὶ γνόφου, ἡμέρα νεφέλης καὶ ὁμίχλης· ὡς ὄρθρος χυθήσεται ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη λαὸς πολὺς καὶ ἰσχυρὸς, ὅμοιος αὐτῷ οὐ γέγονεν ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος, καὶ μετʼ αὐτὸν οὐ προστεθήσεται ἕως ἐτῶν εἰς γενεὰς γενεῶν.
(haʸmera skotous kai gnofou, haʸmera nefelaʸs kai homiⱪlaʸs; hōs orthros ⱪuthaʸsetai epi ta oraʸ laos polus kai isⱪuros, homoios autōi ou gegonen apo tou aiōnos, kai metʼ auton ou prostethaʸsetai heōs etōn eis geneas geneōn. )

BrTr for a day of darkness and gloominess is near, a day of cloud and mist: a numerous and strong people shall be spread upon the mountains as the morning; there has not been from the [fn]beginning one like it, and after it there shall not be again even to the years of many generations.

ULT It is a day of darkness and gloom,
⇔ a day of clouds and thick darkness.
⇔ Like the dawn that spreads on the mountains,
⇔ a large and mighty army is approaching.
⇔ There has never been an army like it before,
⇔ and there never will be again,
⇔ even after many generations.

UST That will be a very dark and gloomy day;
⇔ there will be black clouds and it will be very dark.
⇔ A huge swarm of locusts has covered the mountains like a black cloud.
⇔ Nothing like this has ever happened before,
⇔ and nothing like this will ever happen again.

BSB a day of darkness and gloom,
⇔ a day of clouds and blackness.
⇔ Like the dawn overspreading the mountains
⇔ a great and strong army appears,
⇔ such as never was of old,
⇔ nor will ever be in ages to come.

OEB the day of darkness and gloom,
⇔ the day of cloud and thick darkness!
⇔ Like the light of dawn scattered over the mountains,
⇔ a people great and powerful;
⇔ its like has not been from of old,
⇔ neither will be any more after it,
⇔ even to the years of coming ages.

WEBBE A day of darkness and gloominess,
⇔ a day of clouds and thick darkness.
⇔ As the dawn spreading on the mountains,
⇔ a great and strong people;
⇔ there has never been the like,
⇔ neither will there be any more after them,
⇔ even to the years of many generations.

WMBB (Same as above)

MSG ^(1-3)Blow the ram’s horn trumpet in Zion!
  Trumpet the alarm on my holy mountain!
Shake the country up!
  God’s Judgment’s on its way—the Day’s almost here!
A black day! A Doomsday!
  Clouds with no silver lining!
Like dawn light moving over the mountains,
  a huge army is coming.
There’s never been anything like it
  and never will be again.
Wildfire burns everything before this army
  and fire licks up everything in its wake.
Before it arrives, the country is like the Garden of Eden.
  When it leaves, it is Death Valley.
  Nothing escapes unscathed.

NET It will be a day of dreadful darkness,
⇔ a day of foreboding storm clouds,
⇔ like blackness spread over the mountains.
⇔ It is a huge and powerful army –
⇔ there has never been anything like it ever before,
⇔ and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come!

LSV A day of darkness and thick darkness,
A day of cloud and thick darkness,
As darkness spread on the mountains,
A people numerous and mighty,
Like there has not been from of old,
And after it there is not again—Until the years of generation and generation.

FBV It's a gloomy day of darkness, a day of thick clouds and heavy shadows. Like the dawn spreading over the mountains, an army appears,[fn] so large and powerful that there has never ever been anything like it before, nor will there ever be anything like it again.

2:2 While the initial focus in Joel is on a devastating plague of locusts, what follows in chapter 2 morphs into a picture of an invading human army.

T4T That will be a very dark and gloomy day;
⇔ there will be black clouds and it will be very dark.
⇔ A huge swarm of locusts has covered the mountains like [SIM] a black cloud.
⇔ Nothing like this has ever happened before,
⇔ and nothing like this will ever happen again.

LEB • a day of cloud and thick darkness, • like the dawn spreads on the mountains, • a great and strong army! • There has been nothing like it from old, • and after it nothing will be again[fn]

2:1 Literally “until years of generations”

BBE For a day of dark and deep shade is near, a day of cloud and black night: like a black cloud a great and strong people is covering the mountains; there has never been any like them and will not be after them again, from generation to generation.

Moff No Moff JOEL book available

JPS A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as blackness spread upon the mountains; a great people and a mighty, there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after them, even to the years of many generations.

ASV a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the dawn spread upon the mountains; a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after them, even to the years of many generations.

DRA A day of darkness, and of gloominess, a day of clouds and whirlwinds: a numerous and strong people as the morning spread upon the mountains: the like to it hath not been from the beginning, nor shall be after it even to the years of generation and generation.

YLT A day of darkness and thick darkness, A day of cloud and thick darkness, As darkness spread on the mountains, A people numerous and mighty, Like it there hath not been from of old, And after it there is not again — till the years of generation and generation.

Drby a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and gross darkness, as the dawn spread upon the mountains; — a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after them, to the years of generations and generations.

RV a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the dawn spread upon the mountains; a great people and a strong, there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after them, even to the years of many generations.

Wbstr A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

KJB-1769 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.[fn]
(A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath/has not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. )

2.2 of many…: Heb. of generation and generation

KJB-1611 A day of darkenesse and of gloominesse, a day of clouds and of thicke darkenesse, as the morning spread vpon the mountaines: a great people and a strong, there hath not beene euer the like, neither shall be any more after it, euen to the yeres [fn]of many generations.
(A day of darkness and of gloominesse, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong, there hath/has not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.)

2:2 Heb. of generation and generation.

Bshps A darke and glomie day, a cloudie and blacke day: as the mornyng is spread ouer the mountaynes so is this populus & strong people, like it there was none from the beginning, nor shalbe herafter for euermore.
(A dark and glomie day, a cloudie and black day: as the morning is spread over the mountains so is this populus and strong people, like it there was none from the beginning, nor shall be herafter forevermore.)

Gnva A day of darkenesse, and of blacknesse, a day of cloudes, and obscuritie, as the morning spred vpon the mountaines, so is there a great people, and a mighty: there was none like it from the beginning, neither shalbe any more after it, vnto the yeeres of many generations.
(A day of darkness, and of blackness, a day of clouds, and obscuritie, as the morning spread upon the mountains, so is there a great people, and a mighty: there was none like it from the beginning, neither shall be any more after it, unto the years of many generations. )

Cvdl a darcke daye, a gloomynge daye, a cloudy daye, yee & a stormy daye, like as the mornynge spredeth out vpo the hilles: Namely, a great & mightie people: soch as haue not bene sens ye begynnynge, nether shal be after them for euermore.
(a dark day, a gloomynge day, a cloudy day, ye/you_all and a stormy day, like as the morning spredeth out upo the hills: Namely, a great and mighty people: such as have not been sens ye/you_all beginning, neither shall be after them forevermore.)

Wycl for the dai of derknessis and of myist is niy, the dai of cloude and of whirlewynde. As the morewtid spred abrood on hillis, a myche puple and strong. Noon was lijk it fro the bigynnyng, and after it schal not be, til in to yeeris of generacioun and of generacioun.
(for the day of darkness and of myist is niy, the day of cloud and of whirlwinde. As the morning spread abroad on hills, a much people and strong. Noon was like it from the beginning, and after it shall not be, till in to yearis of generation and of generation.)

Luth Ein finstrer Tag, ein dunkler Tag, ein wolkiger Tag, ein nebliger Tag, gleichwie sich die Morgenröte ausbreitet über die Berge, nämlich ein groß und mächtig Volk desgleichen vorhin nicht gewesen ist und hinfort nicht sein wird zu ewigen Zeiten für und für.
(A finstrer Tag, a dunkler Tag, a wolkiger Tag, a nebliger Tag, gleichwie itself/yourself/themselves the Morgenröte ausbreitet above the Berge, namely a large and mächtig people desgleichen vorhin not been is and hinfort not his becomes to ewigen Zeiten for and für.)

ClVg Dies tenebrarum et caliginis, dies nubis et turbinis; quasi mane expansum super montes populus multus et fortis: similis ei non fuit a principio, et post eum non erit usque in annos generationis et generationis.
(The_day tenebrarum and caliginis, days nubis and turbinis; as_if mane expansum over mountains populus multus and fortis: similis to_him not/no fuit from principio, and after him not/no will_be until in years generationis and generationis. )

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

י֧וֹם חֹ֣שֶׁךְ וַ⁠אֲפֵלָ֗ה י֤וֹם עָנָן֙ וַ⁠עֲרָפֶ֔ל

day darkness and,gloom day clouds and,thick_darkness

Joel is using the term day to mean a period of time, by association with the way days make up specific periods of time. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “a time of darkness and gloom, a time of clouds and thick darkness”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet

חֹ֣שֶׁךְ וַ⁠אֲפֵלָ֗ה

darkness and,gloom

The terms darkness and gloom mean similar things. Joel is using the two terms together for emphasis. If it would be clearer for your readers, you could express the emphasis with a single phrase. Alternate translation: “deep darkness”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet

עָנָן֙ וַ⁠עֲרָפֶ֔ל

clouds and,thick_darkness

The terms clouds and thick darkness mean similar things. Joel is using the two terms together for emphasis. If it would be clearer for your readers, you could express the emphasis with a single phrase. Alternate translation: “very dark clouds”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / simile

כְּ⁠שַׁ֖חַר פָּרֻ֣שׂ עַל הֶֽ⁠הָרִ֑ים

like,dawn spread on/upon/above/on_account_of//he/it_went_in the,mountains

The point of this comparison is that just as the dawn spreads in a steady and unstoppable way across the mountains, so the army of locusts spreads in the same way across the land. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make this point explicitly. Alternate translation: “Like the dawn spreading in a steady and unstoppable way upon the mountains”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

כְּ⁠שַׁ֖חַר פָּרֻ֣שׂ עַל הֶֽ⁠הָרִ֑ים

like,dawn spread on/upon/above/on_account_of//he/it_went_in the,mountains

If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: “Like the dawn spreading upon the mountains”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

כְּ⁠שַׁ֖חַר

like,dawn

Joel is using the term dawn by association to mean the light that appears at dawn. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “like the light of dawn” or “like the early morning sunlight”

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

עַ֚ם רַ֣ב וְ⁠עָצ֔וּם

people great//chief/captain and,strong

Joel is leaving out some of the words that in many languages a sentence would need in order to be complete. You can supply these words from the context if that would be clearer in your language. Alternate translation: “a great and mighty people is coming”

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet

עַ֚ם רַ֣ב וְ⁠עָצ֔וּם

people great//chief/captain and,strong

The terms great and mighty mean similar things. Joel is using the two terms together for emphasis. If it would be clearer for your readers, you could express the emphasis with a single phrase. Alternate translation: “a very strong people”

Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / hyperbole

כָּמֹ֗⁠הוּ לֹ֤א נִֽהְיָה֙ מִן הָ֣⁠עוֹלָ֔ם וְ⁠אַֽחֲרָי⁠ו֙ לֹ֣א יוֹסֵ֔ף עַד שְׁנֵ֖י דּ֥וֹר וָ⁠דֽוֹר

like,it not there_~_been from/more_than the,of_old and,after,it not again until two_of ages and,generation

Joel is making an overstatement for emphasis. If it would be clearer in your language, you could express the emphasis in a different way. Alternate translation: “It is worse than anything that has happened in living memory, and nothing like it will happen again for many generations”

Note 10 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

עַד שְׁנֵ֖י דּ֥וֹר וָ⁠דֽוֹר

until two_of ages and,generation

This is an expression that means “for a very long time.” Your language may have a comparable expression that you can use in your translation. Alternate translation: “for many generations to come”

Parallel JOEL 2:2