Yoel 2:25-26

2:25 I will make up for the years ¹ 

that the ‘arbeh-locust ²  consumed your crops ³  –

the yeleq-locust, the hasil-locust, and the gazam-locust –

my great army ⁴  that I sent against you.

2:26 You will have plenty to eat,

and your hunger will be fully satisfied; ⁵ 

you will praise the name of the Lord your God,

who has acted wondrously in your behalf.

My people will never again be put to shame.

Yoel 3:8

3:8 I will sell your sons and daughters to ⁶  the people of Judah. ⁷ 

They will sell them to the Sabeans, ⁸  a nation far away.

Indeed, the Lord has spoken!

[2:25]  ¹ tn Heb “I will restore to you the years.”

[2:25]  sn The plural years suggests that the plague to which Joel refers was not limited to a single season. Apparently the locusts were a major problem over several successive years. One season of drought and locust invasion would have been bad enough. Several such years would have been devastating.

[2:25]  ² sn The same four terms for locust are used here as in 1:4, but in a different order. This fact creates some difficulty for the notion that the four words refer to four distinct stages of locust development.

[2:25]  ³ tn The term “your crops” does not appear in the Hebrew, but has been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[2:25]  ⁴ sn Here Joel employs military language to describe the locusts. In the prophet’s thinking this invasion was far from being a freak accident. Rather, the Lord is pictured here as a divine warrior who leads his army into the land as a punishment for past sin and as a means of bringing about spiritual renewal on the part of the people.

[2:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “you will surely eat and be satisfied.”

[3:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “into the hand of.”

[3:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “the sons of Judah.”

[3:8]  ⁸ sn The Sabeans were Arabian merchants who were influential along the ancient caravan routes that traveled through Arabia. See also Job 1:15; Isa 43:3; 45:14; Ps 72:10.