Lectionary Calendar
Monday, November 25th, 2024
the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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Read the Bible

Green's Literal Translation

Joel 2:9

They shall rush on the city; they shall run on the wall; they shall climb up on the houses; they shall enter in by the windows, like a thief.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Israel, Prophecies Concerning;   Joel;   War;   Scofield Reference Index - Armageddon;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Locust, the;   Walls;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Locust;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Nahum, Theology of;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Locust;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Joel;   Locust;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Day of the Lord;   Joel;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - House;   Joel, Book of;   Locust;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Wing ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Locusts;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Egypt;   Locust;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Fasts;   Locust,;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Kingdom of Judah;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Eden;   Joel (2);   Locust;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Windows;  

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
They run to the city. They quickly climb over the wall. They climb into the houses. They climb through the windows like thieves.
New American Standard Bible
They storm the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the houses, They enter through the windows like a thief.
New Century Version
They run into the city. They run at the wall and climb into the houses, entering through windows like thieves.
New English Translation
They rush into the city; they scale its walls. They climb up into the houses; they go in through the windows like a thief.
Update Bible Version
They leap on the city; they run on the wall; they climb up into the houses; they enter in at the windows like a thief.
Webster's Bible Translation
They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.
Amplified Bible
They rush over the city, They run on the wall; They climb up into the houses, They enter at the windows like a thief.
English Standard Version
They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls, they climb up into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief.
World English Bible
They rush on the city. They run on the wall. They climb up into the houses. They enter in at the windows like thieves.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Thei schulen entre in to the citee, thei schulen renne on the wal; thei schulen stie on housis, thei schulen entre as a niyt theef bi wyndows.
English Revised Version
They leap upon the city; they run upon the wall; they climb up into the houses; they enter in at the windows like a thief.
Berean Standard Bible
They storm the city; they run along the wall; they climb into houses, entering through windows like thieves.
Contemporary English Version
They swarm over city walls and enter our homes; they crawl in through windows, just like thieves.
American Standard Version
They leap upon the city; they run upon the wall; they climb up into the houses; they enter in at the windows like a thief.
Bible in Basic English
They make a rush on the town, running on the wall; they go up into the houses and in through the windows like a thief.
Complete Jewish Bible
They rush into the city, they run along the wall, they climb up into the houses, entering like a thief through the windows.
Darby Translation
They spread themselves over the city; they run upon the wall; they climb up into the houses; they enter in by the windows like a thief.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
They leap upon the city, they run upon the wall, they climb up into the houses; they enter in at the windows like a thief.
King James Version (1611)
They shall runne to and fro in the citie: they shall runne vpon the wall: they shall clime vp vpon the houses: they shall enter in at the windowes, like a theefe.
New Living Translation
They swarm over the city and run along its walls. They enter all the houses, climbing like thieves through the windows.
New Life Bible
They rush upon the city. They run on the wall. They go into the houses through the windows like a robber.
New Revised Standard
They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls; they climb up into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief.
Geneva Bible (1587)
They shal runne to & fro in the citie: they shal runne vpon the wall: they shal clime vp vpon the houses, & enter in at ye windowes like ye thiefe.
George Lamsa Translation
They shall go up against the cities; they shall run upon the walls, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter through the windows like thieves.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Upon the city, shall they leap, on the wall, shall they run, up the houses, shall they climb, - through the windows, shall they enter, like a thief,
Douay-Rheims Bible
They shall enter into the city: they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up the houses, they shall come in at the windows, as a thief.
Revised Standard Version
They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls; they climb up into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
They shall runne to and fro in the citie, they shall runne vp & downe vpon the wall, they shall climbe into the houses, they shall enter in at the windowes like a theefe.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
They shall seize upon the city, and run upon the walls, and go up upon the houses, and enter in through the windows as thieves.
Good News Translation
They rush against the city; they run over the walls; they climb up the houses and go in through the windows like thieves.
Christian Standard Bible®
They storm the city;they run on the wall;they climb into the houses;they enter through the windows like thieves.
Hebrew Names Version
They rush on the city. They run on the wall. They climb up into the houses. They enter in at the windows like thieves.
King James Version
They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.
Lexham English Bible
In the city they rush forth; on the walls they run. Into the houses they climb up; through the windows they enter like a thief.
Young's Literal Translation
In the city they run to and fro, On the wall they run, Into houses they go up by the windows, They go in as a thief.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
They shal come into the cite, & runne vpon the walles: They shal clymme vp vpon the houses, & slyppe in at the wyndowes like a thefe.
New King James Version
They run to and fro in the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the houses, They enter at the windows like a thief.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
They rush on the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the houses, They enter through the windows like a thief.
Legacy Standard Bible
They rush on the city;They run on the wall;They climb up into the houses;They enter through the windows like a thief.

Contextual Overview

1 Blow a ram's horn in Zion, and shout an alarm in My holy mountain. Let all those living in the land tremble. For the day of Jehovah approaches; it is near, 2 a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the dawn spread out on the mountains, a great and a strong people. There has never been the like, nor shall there ever be again to the years of many generations; 3 a fire devours before it, and a flame burns behind it. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them is a desolate wilderness; yea, also there is no escape to them. 4 Their appearance is like horses; and as horsemen, so they run. 5 They shall leap like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains, like the noise of flames of fire that devour the chaff, as a strong people set in order for battle. 6 Before their face, the people shall be pained; all faces collect heat. 7 They shall run as mighty ones; they shall go up the wall as men of war. And they each go on his way, and they do not change their paths. 8 And each does not press his brother; they each go in his paths. And if they fall behind their weapon, they shall not be cut off. 9 They shall rush on the city; they shall run on the wall; they shall climb up on the houses; they shall enter in by the windows, like a thief. 10 The earth shall quake before them, the heavens shall shake. The sun and moon shall grow dark, and the stars shall gather in their light.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

enter: Exodus 10:6, Jeremiah 9:21, John 10:1

Reciprocal: Exodus 22:2 - breaking Isaiah 33:4 - the running Jeremiah 5:1 - Run ye Joel 2:7 - climb

Cross-References

Genesis 2:8
And Jehovah God planted a garden in Eden to the east; and He put the man whom He had formed there.
Genesis 2:9
And out of the ground Jehovah God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food. The Tree of Life was also in the middle of the garden; also the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Genesis 2:17
but of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you may not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, dying you shall die.
Genesis 3:3
but of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.
Deuteronomy 6:25
And it shall be righteousness for us when we take heed to do all this commandment before Jehovah our God, as He has commanded us.
Proverbs 3:18
She is a tree of life to the ones who lay hold on her, and happy are the ones holding her fast.
Proverbs 11:30
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he who takes hold of souls is wise.
Isaiah 44:25
frustrating the signs of liars; yea, He makes divining ones mad, turning wise ones backward, and making their knowledge foolish.
Isaiah 47:10
For you trusted in your evil; you said, No one sees me. Your wisdom and your knowledge; it is turning you back, and you said in your heart, I am and none else is .
Ezekiel 31:16
I made the nations shake at the sound of his fall when I made him go out to Sheol with those going down into the Pit. And all the trees of Eden shall be cheered in the earth's lowest parts, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drinkwaters.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

They shall run to and fro in the city,.... Leap about from place to place, as locusts do; see Isaiah 33:4; and as the Chaldeans did when they became masters of the city of Jerusalem; they ran about from place to place to seize upon their spoil and plunder:

they shall run upon the wall; which before they climbed, now they shall run upon, and go from tower to tower, as the Chaldeans did, and broke clown the walls and fortifications:

they shall climb up upon the houses, and enter in at the windows, like a thief; so the locusts entered into the houses of the Egyptians,

Exodus 10:6; and Pliny says s, they will eat through everything, and even the doors of houses. Theodoret on the place observes, that not only this may be done by enemies, what is here said,

"but even [we have often seen] it done by locusts; for not only flying, but even creeping up the walls, they enter into houses at the windows.''

s Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 29.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

They shall run to and fro in the city - “The city” is questionless Jerusalem. So to the Romans, “the city” meant Rome; to the Athenians, Athens; among ourselves, “town” or “the city” are idiomatic names for the whole of London or “the city of London.” In Wales “town” is, with the country people, the neighboring town with which alone they are familiar. There is no ambiguity in the living language. In Guernsey, one who should call Port Pierre by any other name than “the town,” would betray himself to be a stranger. In Hosea, and Amos, prophets for Israel, “the city” is Samaria Hosea 11:9; Amos 3:6. In Solomon Psalms 72:16; Proverbs 1:21; Proverbs 8:3 and the prophets of Judah (Micah 6:9; Lamentations 1:1, etc.; Ezekiel 7:23; Ezekiel 33:21), “the city” is Jerusalem; and that the more, because it was not only the capital, but the center of the worship of the One True God. Hence, it is called “the city of God Psalms 46:4; Psalms 48:1, Psalms 48:8; Psalms 87:3, the city of the Lord” Psalms 101:8; Isaiah 60:14, then “the city of the Great King Psalms 48:2; Matthew 5:35, the holy city” Isaiah 48:2; Isaiah 52:1; Nehemiah 11:1, Nehemiah 11:18; Daniel 9:24; and God calls it “the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel 1 Kings 11:32, the city of righteousness” Isaiah 1:26. So our Lord spake, “go ye into the city” Matthew 26:18; Mark 14:13; Luke 22:10, and perhaps, , “tarry ye in the city.” So do His Evangelists Matthew 21:17-18; Matthew 28:11; Mark 11:1, Mark 11:19; Luke 19:41; Acts 7:58; John 19:20), and so does Josephus .

All around corresponds with this. Joel had described their approach; they had come over “the tops of the mountains,” those which protected Jerusalem; and now he describes them scaling “the wall,” “mounting the houses,” “entering the windows,” “running to and fro in the city.” Here the description has reached its height. The city is given over to those who assault it. There remaineth nothing more, save the shaking of the heaven and the earth.

They shall enter in at the windows - So in that first great judgment, in which God employed the locust, He said, “They shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth; and they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians” Exodus 10:5-6. : “For nothing denies a way to the locusts, inasmuch as they penetrate fields, cornlands, trees, cities, houses, yea, the retirement of the bed-chambers.” “Not that they who are victors, have the fear which thieves have, but as thieves are accustomed to enter through windows, and plunder secretly, so shall these, if the doors be closed, to cut short delay, burst with all boldness through the windows.” : “We have seen this done, not by enemies only, but often by locusts also. For not only flying, but creeping up the walls also, they enter the houses through the openings for light.” : “a.d. 784, there came the flying locust, and wasted the corn and left its offspring; and this came forth and crawled, and scaled walls and entered houses by windows and doors; and if it entered the house on the south side, it went out on the north; together with herbs and trees it devoured also woolen clothing, and men’s dresses.”

Modern travelers relate the same. : “They entered the inmost recesses of the houses, were found in every corner, stuck to our clothes and infested our food.” : “They overwhelm the province of Nedjd sometimes to such a degree, that having destroyed the harvest, they penetrate by thousands into the private dwellings, and devour whatsoever they can find, even the leather of the water-vessels.” : “In June 1646, at Novogorod it was prodigious to behold them, because they were hatched there that spring, and being as yet scarce able to fly, the ground was all covered, and the air so full of them, that I could not eat in my chamber without a candle, all the houses being full of them, even the stables, barns, chambers, garrets, and cellars. I caused cannon-powder and sulphur to be burnt, to expel them, but all to no purpose. For when the door was opened, an infinite number came in, and the others went fluttering about; and it was a troublesome thing when a man went abroad, to be hit on the face by those creatures, on the nose, eyes, or cheeks, so that there was no opening one’s mouth, but some would get in. Yet all this was nothing, for when we were to eat, they gave us no respite; and when we went to cut a piece of meat, we cut a locust with it, and when a man opened his mouth to put in a morsel, he was sure to chew one of them.” The eastern windows, not being glazed but having at most a lattice-work , presented no obstacle to this continuous inroad. All was one stream of infesting, harassing foes.

As the windows are to the house, so are the senses and especially the sight to the soul. As the strongest walls and battlements and towers avail not to keep out an enemy, if there be an opening or chink through which he can make his way, so, in vain is the protection of God’s Providence or His Grace , if the soul leaves the senses unguarded to admit unchallenged sights, sounds, touches, which may take the soul prisoner. : “Death,” says Jeremiah, “entereth through the window” Jeremiah 9:21. Thy window is thy eye. If thou seest, to lust, death hath entered in; if thou hearest enticing words, death hath entered in: if softness gain possession of thy senses, death has made his way in.” The arrow of sin is shot through them. : “When the tongue of one introduces the virus of perdition, and the ears of others gladly drink it in, “death enters in;” while with itching ears and mouth men minister eagerly to one another the deadly draught of detraction, “death enters in at the windows.” : “Eve had not touched the forbidden tree, except she had first looked on it heedlessly. With what control must we in this dying life restrain our sight, when the mother of the living came to death through the eyes! The mind of the prophet, which had been often lifted up to see hidden mysteries, seeing heedlessly another’s wife, was darkened,” and fell. “To keep purity of heart, thou must guard the outward senses.” An enemy is easily kept out by the barred door or window, who, having entered in unawares, can only by strong effort and grace be forced out. “It is easier,” said the pagan philosopher , “to forbid the beginnings of feelings than to control their might.”

Like a thief - that is, they should come unawares, so as to take people by surprise, that there should be no guarding against them. As this is the close at this wonderful description, it may be that he would, in the end, describe the suddenness and inevitableness of God’s judgments when they do come, and of the final judgment. It is remarkable that our Lord, and His Apostles from Him adopt this image of the prophet, in speaking of the coming of the Day of Judgment and His own. “Behold I come as a thief. This know that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched. Be ye therefore ready also, for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not. Yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. Ye are not in darkness, that that Day should overtake you as a thief” (Revelation 16:15 (add Revelation 3:3.); Matthew 24:43-44; Luke 12:39; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10).


 
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