The Lord Had Pity
Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things. Joel 2:21
Fear
not, O... O land of Israel, as the Targum, and the inhabitants of it;
neither of the locusts, who had so terrified them, and had done so
much mischief, and threatened more. Or of their enemies; the
Assyrians or Chaldeans and their powerful armies, or any other.
יָרֵא
yârê'
yaw-ray'
A primitive root; to fear; morally to revere; causatively to frighten: - affright, be (make) afraid, dread (-ful), (put in) fear (-ful, -fully, -ing). (be had in) reverence (-end), X see, terrible (act, -ness, thing).
אַל
'al
al
A negative particle (akin to H3808); not (the qualified negation, used as a deprecative); once (Job 24:25) as a noun, nothing: - nay, neither + never, no, nor, not, nothing [worth], rather than.
אֲדָמָה
'ădâmâh
ad-aw-maw'
From H119; soil (from its general redness): - country, earth, ground, husband [-man] (-ry), land.
be glad, and... At the removal of the locusts, and at the destruction of their enemies.
גּוּל גִּיל
gı̂yl gûl
gheel, gool
A primitive root; properly to spin around (under the influence of any violent emotion), that is, usually rejoice, or (as cringing) fear: - be glad, joy, be joyful, rejoice.
שָׂמַח
śâmach
saw-makh'
A primitive root; probably to brighten up, that is, (figuratively) be (causatively make) blithe or gleesome: - cheer up, be (make) glad, (have make) joy (-ful), be (make) merry, (cause to, make to) rejoice, X very.
for the Lord... Good things, in opposition to the evil things done by the locusts, as Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech observe.
for...
כִּי
kı̂y
kee
A primitive particle (the full form of the prepositional prefix) indicating causal relations of all kinds, antecedent or consequent; (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjugation or adverb; often largely modified by other particles annexed: - and, + (forasmuch, inasmuch, where-) as, assured [-ly], + but, certainly, doubtless, + else, even, + except, for, how, (because, in, so, than) that, + nevertheless, now, rightly, seeing, since, surely, then, therefore, + (al-) though, + till, truly, + until, when, whether, while, who, yea, yet,
the Lord...
יְהֹוָה
yehôvâh
yeh-ho-vaw'
From H1961; (the) self-Existent or eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God: - Jehovah, the Lord. Compare H3050, H3069.
will do...
עָשָׂה
‛âśâh
aw-saw'
A primitive root; to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application: - accomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become, bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, X certainly, have the charge of, commit, deal (with), deck, + displease, do, (ready) dress (-ed), (put in) execute (-ion), exercise, fashion, + feast, [fight-] ing man, + finish, fit, fly, follow, fulfil, furnish, gather, get, go about, govern, grant, great, + hinder, hold ([a feast]), X indeed, + be industrious, + journey, keep, labour, maintain, make, be meet, observe, be occupied, offer, + officer, pare, bring (come) to pass, perform, practise, prepare, procure, provide, put, requite, X sacrifice, serve, set, shew, X sin, spend, X surely, take, X thoroughly, trim, X very, + vex, be [warr-] ior, work (-man), yield, use.
great things...
גָּדַל
gâdal
gaw-dal'
A primitive root; properly to twist (compare H1434), that is, to be (causatively make) large (in various senses, as in body, mind, estate or honor, also in pride): - advance, boast, bring up, exceed, excellent, be (-come, do, give, make, wax), great (-er, come to... estate, + things), grow (up), increase, lift up, magnify (-ifical), be many sets by, nourish (up), pass, promote, proudly [spoken], tower.
And in the times of the Maccabees, and especially in the times of Christ, which are quickly prophesied of in this chapter; and which prophecies some interpreters begin here, it not being unusual for the prophets to pass directly from things temporal to things spiritual.
And especially to the great deliverance and salvation by Christ, and also by temporal blessings to design spiritual ones.
With the blessings of God upon the land, it will bloom again. The crops will be abundant. It will rain at the needed time, and they will prosper.
The NIV understands the last line of Joel 2:20 as a statement about the Lord (cf. Joel 2:21; in this case kı̂ in Joel 2:20 is taken as an emphatic assertion: Surely). Other translations (KJV, NASB, RSV) join the words to the preceding context, making the army the subject (cf. NASB, “For it has done great things”). The insolent pride of the invader would then be in view (cf. Isa. 10:5-19 for a similar view). However, the NIV reading has much to commend it, especially the structural correspondence it produces (cf. See Joel 2:18-27).
In the first two lines of Joel 2:21 the personified land, which had been stripped of its produce (cf. Joel 1:10), is encouraged to fear no longer but to be glad and rejoice.
