Joel 2 · Verse 20

Joel 2:20

But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.

Joel 2:20, King James Version

Joel 2:20 in other translations

BSB	The northern army I will drive away from you, banishing it to a barren and desolate land, its front ranks into the Eastern Sea, and its rear guard into the Western Sea. And its stench will rise; its foul odor will ascend. For He has done great things.
WEB	But I will remove the northern army far away from you, and will drive it into a barren and desolate land, its front into the eastern sea, and its back into the western sea; and its stench will come up, and its bad smell will rise.” Surely he has done great things.
ASV	but I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive it into a land barren and desolate, its forepart into the eastern sea, and its hinder part into the western sea; and its stench shall come up, and its ill savor shall come up, because it hath done great things.
YLT	And the northern I put far off from you, And have driven him unto a land dry and desolate, With his face unto the eastern sea, And his rear unto the western sea, And come up hath his stink, And come up doth his stench, For he hath exerted himself to work.
DARBY	And I will remove far off from you him that cometh from the north, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, his face toward the eastern sea, and his rear toward the hinder sea; and his stench shall come up, and his ill odour shall come up, for he hath exalted himself to do great things.
BBE	I will send the one from the north far away from you, driving him into a dry and waste land, with his front to the sea of the east and his back to the sea of the west, and the smell of him will go up, even his evil smell will go up.
Webster	But I will remove far from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face towards the east sea, and his hinder part towards the utmost sea, and his odious scent shall come up, and his ill savor shall come up, because he hath done great things.

What does Joel 2:20 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

20. the northern army--The Hebrew expresses that the north in relation to Palestine is not merely the quarter whence the invader comes, but is his native land, "the Northlander"; namely, the Assyrian or Babylonian (compare Jr 1:14, 15; Zep 2:13). The locust's native country is not the north, but the south, the deserts of Arabia, Egypt, and Libya. Assyria and Babylon are the type and forerunner of all Israel's foes (Rome, and the final Antichrist), from whom God will at last deliver His people, as He did from Sennacherib (2Ki 19:35). face ... hinder part--more applicable to a human army's van and rear, than to locusts. The northern invaders are to be dispersed in every other direction but that from which they had come: "a land barren and desolate," that is, Arabia-Deserta: "the eastern (or front) sea," that is, the Dead Sea: "the utmost (or hinder) sea," that is, the Mediterranean. In front and behind mean east and west; as, in marking the quarters of the world, they faced the east, which was therefore "in front"; the west was behind them; the south was on their right, and the north on their left. stink--metaphor from locusts, which perish when blown by a storm into the sea or the desert, and emit from their putrefying bodies such a stench as often breeds a pestilence. because he hath done great things--that is, because the invader hath haughtily magnified himself in his doings. Compare as to Sennacherib, 2Ki 19:11-13, 22, 28. This is quite inapplicable to the locusts, who merely seek food, not self-glorification, in invading a country.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 20 I will remove far off from you the northern army - "That is, the locusts; which might enter Judea by the north, as Circassia and Mingrelia abound with them. Or the locusts may be thus called, because they spread terror like the Assyrian armies, which entered Judea by the north. See Zep 2:13." - Newcome. Syria, which was northward of Judea, was infested with them; and it must have been a northern wind that brought them into Judea, in the time of Joel; as God promises to change this wind, and carry them into a barren and desolate land, Arabia Deserta. "And his face toward the east sea," i.e., the Dead Sea, which lay eastward of Jerusalem. "His hinder part toward the utmost sea," the western sea, i.e., the Mediterranean. And his stink shalt come up - After having been drowned by millions in the Mediterranean, the reflux of the tide has often brought them back, and thrown there in heaps upon the shore, where they putrefied in such a manner as to infect the air and produce pestilence, by which both men and cattle have died in great multitudes. See Bochart, Hieroz., vol. ii., p. 481. Livy, and St. Augustine after him, relate that there was such an immense crowd of locusts in Africa that, having eaten up every green thing, a wind arose that carried them into the sea, where they perished; but being cast upon the shore, they putrefied, and bred such a pestilence, that eighty thousand men died of it in the kingdom of Massinissa, and thirty thousand in the garrison of Utica, in which only ten remained alive. See Calmet and Livy, lib. xc., and August. De Civitate Dei, lib. iv., c. 31. We have many testimonies of a similar kind. Because he hath done great things - Or, כי ki, although he have done great things, or, after he has done them, i.e., in almost destroying the whole country.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Joel 2:15-27

The priests and rulers are to appoint a solemn fast. The sinner's supplication is, Spare us, good Lord. God is ready to succour his people; and he waits to be gracious. They prayed that God would spare them, and he answered them. His promises are real answers to the prayers of faith; with him saying and doing are not two things. Some understand these promises figuratively, as pointing to gospel grace, and as…

Read the full comment on Joel 2:15-27 →

Joel 2:20 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְֽאֶת\־ve.'Etand <obj.>H853

הַצְּפוֹנִ֞יha.tze.fo.Nithe northerner[s]H6830

אַרְחִ֣יק'ar.ChikI will remove far awayH7368

מֵעֲלֵיכֶ֗םme.'a.lei.Khemfrom with <the> youH5921

וְהִדַּחְתִּיו֮ve.hi.dach.Tivand I will drive away itH5080

אֶל\־'el-intoH413

אֶ֣רֶץ'E.retza landH776

צִיָּ֣הtzi.YahdryH6723

וּשְׁמָמָה֒u.she.ma.Mahand desolationH8077

אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853

פָּנָ֗יוpa.Navface itsH6440

אֶל\־'el-intoH413

הַיָּם֙hai.Yamthe seaH3220

הַקַּדְמֹנִ֔יha.kad.mo.Ni<the> easternH6931

וְסֹפ֖וֹve.so.Foand end itsH5490

אֶל\־'el-intoH413

הַיָּ֣םhai.Yamthe seaH3220

הָאַֽחֲר֑וֹןha.'a.cha.Ron<the> westernH314

וְעָלָ֣הve.'a.Lahand it will go upH5927

בָאְשׁ֗וֹva.'e.Shostench itsH889

וְתַ֙עַל֙ve.Ta.'aland it will go upH5927

צַחֲנָת֔וֹtza.cha.na.Tofoul smell itsH6709

כִּ֥יkiforH3588

הִגְדִּ֖ילhig.Dilhe has made greatH1431

לַעֲשֽׂוֹת\׃la.'a.Sotto doH6213

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Joel 2:20

Zechariah 14:8
And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
Amos 4:10
I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.
Isaiah 34:3
Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
Deuteronomy 11:24
Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.
Ezekiel 47:18
And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And this is the east side.
Ezekiel 39:12-16
And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord God. And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search. And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon–gog. …
Exodus 10:19
And the Lord turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt.
Joel 2:2-11
A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. 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. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. …
Joel 1:4-6
That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten. Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.
Jeremiah 1:14-15
Then the Lord said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the Lord; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.
Ezekiel 47:7-8
Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed.
2 Kings 8:13
And Hazael said, But what, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, The Lord hath shewed me that thou shalt be king over Syria.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

remove.
2-11; 1:4-6; Ex 10:19
the northern.
Jer 1:14
the east.
Eze 47:7,8,18; Zec 14:8
utmost.
De 11:24
his stink.
Eze 39:12-16
because.
2Ki 8:13
done. Heb. magnified to do.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Joel 2:19
Yea, the Lord will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:
Joel 2:20
But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.
Joel 2:21
Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.

Read all of Joel 2

Joel 2:20 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y haré alejar de vosotros al del aquilón, y echarélo en la tierra seca y desierta: su faz será hacia el mar oriental, y su fin al mar occidental, y exhalará su hedor; y subirá su pudrición, porque hizo grandes cosas.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	et j’éloignerai de vous celui qui vient du nord, et je le chasserai dans un pays aride et désolé, sa face vers la mer orientale, et son arrière-garde vers la mer d’occident; et sa puanteur montera, et son infection montera, parce qu’il s’est élevé pour faire de grandes choses.
German Elberfelder 1871	Und ich werde den von Norden Kommenden von euch entfernen und ihn in ein dürres und wüstes Land vertreiben, seinen Vortrab in das vordere Meer und seinen Nachtrab in das hintere Meer und sein Gestank wird aufsteigen, und aufsteigen sein übler Geruch weil er Großes getan hat
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Et eum qui ab aquilone est procul faciam a vobis, et expellam eum in terram inviam et desertam: faciem ejus contra mare orientale, et extremum ejus ad mare novissimum: et ascendet fœtor ejus, et ascendet putredo ejus, quia superbe egit.