Joel 2:18 Joel 3:21. Yahweh's Gracious Response to the Prayer of Intercession.
Joel 2:18-27. The Locusts shall be Destroyed and the Inhabitants of the Land Rejoice in Renewed Prosperity.
Joel 2:21-24, which seems to interrupt the speech of Yahweh, may be misplaced. Certainly Joel 2:25 would follow well on Joel 2:20, and the change to the third person for Yahweh is striking. But in prophecy the interchange between the words of Yahweh and the words of the prophet regarded as one and the same takes place so constantly that the existing order may be correct. The appeal of the people brings about a revulsion of feeling in Yahweh; His own land must not be brought to ruin, and He relents. Its fertility shall return in such abundance as to satisfy His people and shut the mouths of those who mock at their distress. The horde of locusts shall be dispersed into the deserts; a wind shall drive its advanced ranks into the Dead Sea, and, veering round, its rear into the Mediterranean. Taking the standpoint of the new prosperity the prophet bids the land rejoice in Yahweh's wondrous working. The beasts, who had mourned in the time of desolation, are to take heart, and the inhabitants to rejoice in the food which Yahweh has granted in token of the restoring of right relations between Him and them. He gives also the spring and autumn rains as aforetime (so reading with VSS at the end of Joel 2:23 for in the first month). Field, vineyard, olive garden, shall yield beyond the capacities of storehouse and press, and all the damage done by the horde of locusts Yahweh had sent shall be repaired. These blessings shall be a sacramental symbol to the people, assuring them of Yahweh's continued care; never more shall they be humiliated before the nations.
Joel 2:20. northern army: Heb, simply northerner. Usually locusts did not enter the country from the north; so it would seem that the word, having become an apocalyptic term (cf. Jeremiah 1:14; Ezekiel 38:6; Ezekiel 38:15; Ezekiel 39:2) is used without strict etymological significance, and means no more than precursor of the Day of Yahweh. and his stink shall come up: a gloss on the following clause, which contains a rare word. because he hath done great things: out of place here, and probably an accidental repetition from Joel 2:21.
Joel 2:22. strength: i.e. fruit.
Joel 2:23. the former rain in just measure: accepting the LXX text, render food as a sign of righteousness, where righteousness has a sense that it sometimes bears, the existence of correct relations between the people and Yahweh.
Joel 2:25. years: we should hardly gather from the rest of the book that the locust plague had lasted more than one year; but the damage done, since seed would be destroyed, might extend into following years. A slight emendation would give rich fruits. For the locust names, cf. Joel 1:4 *.