Joel 2:3 - Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Bible Comments

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.

A fire devoureth before them, and behind them - i:e., on every side (1 Chronicles 19:10).

Fire ... flame - destruction ... desolation (Isaiah 10:17).

The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness - conversely, Isaiah 51:3, "The Lord shall comfort Zion: He will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord" (Ezekiel 36:35).

Joel 2:3

3 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.