Joel 2:3
New International Version
Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, behind them, a desert waste— nothing escapes them.

New Living Translation
Fire burns in front of them, and flames follow after them. Ahead of them the land lies as beautiful as the Garden of Eden. Behind them is nothing but desolation; not one thing escapes.

English Standard Version
Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them.

Berean Standard Bible
Before them a fire devours, and behind them a flame scorches. The land before them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland—surely nothing will escape them.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
A fire devours before them, And behind them a flame burns; The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness; Surely nothing shall escape them.

New American Standard Bible
A fire consumes before them, And behind them a flame devours. The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, But a desolate wilderness behind them, And nothing at all escapes them.

NASB 1995
A fire consumes before them And behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them But a desolate wilderness behind them, And nothing at all escapes them.

NASB 1977
A fire consumes before them, And behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, But a desolate wilderness behind them, And nothing at all escapes them.

Legacy Standard Bible
A fire consumes before them, And behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them But a desolate wilderness behind them, And nothing at all escapes them.

Amplified Bible
Before them a fire devours, And behind them a flame burns; Before them the land is like the Garden of Eden, But behind them a desolate wilderness; And nothing at all escapes them.

Christian Standard Bible
A fire devours in front of them, and behind them a flame blazes. The land in front of them is like the garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland; there is no escape from them.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
A fire destroys in front of them, and behind them a flame devours. The land in front of them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland; there is no escape from them.

American Standard Version
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 none hath escaped them.

Contemporary English Version
Fiery flames surround them; no one escapes. Before they invaded, the land was like Eden; now only a desert remains.

English Revised Version
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 none hath escaped them.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
In front of this army a fire burns. Behind it flames are blazing. In front of it the land is like the garden of Eden. Behind it the land is like a barren desert. Nothing escapes it!

Good News Translation
Like fire they eat up the plants. In front of them the land is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them it is a barren desert. Nothing escapes them.

International Standard Version
"A fire blazes in their presence, and behind them a conflagration rages. Before they come, the land is like the garden in Eden; after they leave, there is only a barren wasteland. Indeed, nothing escapes them.

Majority Standard Bible
Before them a fire devours, and behind them a flame scorches. The land before them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland—surely nothing will escape them.

NET Bible
Like fire they devour everything in their path; a flame blazes behind them. The land looks like the Garden of Eden before them, but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness--for nothing escapes them!

New Heart English Bible
A fire devours before them, and behind them, a flame burns. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them, a desolate wilderness. Yes, and no one has escaped them.

Webster's Bible Translation
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; and nothing shall escape them.

World English Bible
A fire devours before them, and behind them, a flame burns. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them, a desolate wilderness. Yes, and no one has escaped them.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Before it fire has consumed, "" And after it a flame burns, "" As the Garden of Eden [is] the land before it, "" And after it a wilderness—a desolation! And also there has not been to it an escape,

Young's Literal Translation
Before it consumed hath fire, And after it burn doth a flame, As the garden of Eden is the land before it, And after it a wilderness -- a desolation! And also an escape there hath not been to it,

Smith's Literal Translation
Before him a fire devoured, and after him a flame shall burn; the land as the garden of Eden before him, and after him a desert of desolation; and also there was no escaping to him.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Before the face thereof a devouring fire, and behind it a burning flame: the land is like a garden of pleasure before it, and behind it a desolate wilderness, neither is there any one that can escape it.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Before their face is a devouring fire, and behind them is a burning flame. The land before them is like a lush garden, and behind them is a desolate desert, and there is no one who can escape them.

New American Bible
Before it, fire devours, behind it flame scorches. The land before it is like the garden of Eden, and behind it, a desolate wilderness; from it nothing escapes.

New Revised Standard Version
Fire devours in front of them, and behind them a flame burns. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, but after them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
A fire devours before them; and behind them a flame burns; the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; and nothing shall escape them.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Before it the fire consumes and after it the flame burns the land before it like Paradise of Eden, and behind it is a desolate wilderness, and nothing shall escape from it
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
A fire devoureth before them, And behind them a flame blazeth; The land is as the garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness; Yea, and nothing escapeth them.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Before them is a consuming fire, and behind them is a flame kindled: the land before them is as a paradise of delight, and behind them a desolate plain: and there shall none of them escape.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Army of Locusts
2a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like the dawn overspreading the mountains a great and strong army appears, such as never was of old, nor will ever be in ages to come. 3Before them a fire devours, and behind them a flame scorches. The land before them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland— surely nothing will escape them. 4Their appearance is like that of horses, and they gallop like swift steeds.…

Cross References
Revelation 9:7-10
And the locusts looked like horses prepared for battle, with something like crowns of gold on their heads; and their faces were like the faces of men. / They had hair like that of women, and teeth like those of lions. / They also had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the roar of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. ...

Isaiah 51:3
For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song.

Ezekiel 36:35
Then they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. The cities that were once ruined, desolate, and destroyed are now fortified and inhabited.’

Genesis 2:8-9
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed. / Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Isaiah 13:8-9
Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another, their faces flushed with fear. / Behold, the Day of the LORD is coming—cruel, with fury and burning anger—to make the earth a desolation and to destroy the sinners within it.

Jeremiah 4:23-26
I looked at the earth, and it was formless and void; I looked to the heavens, and they had no light. / I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were quaking; all the hills were swaying. / I looked, and no man was left; all the birds of the air had fled. ...

Revelation 9:2-3
The star opened the pit of the Abyss, and smoke rose out of it like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the pit. / And out of the smoke, locusts descended on the earth, and they were given power like that of the scorpions of the earth.

Isaiah 34:8-10
For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. / Edom’s streams will be turned to tar, and her soil to sulfur; her land will become a blazing pitch. / It will not be quenched—day or night. Its smoke will ascend forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will ever again pass through it.

Amos 7:4
This is what the Lord GOD showed me: The Lord GOD was calling for judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the land.

Isaiah 64:10-11
Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wasteland and Jerusalem a desolation. / Our holy and beautiful temple, where our fathers praised You, has been burned with fire, and all that was dear to us lies in ruins.

Matthew 24:21
For at that time there will be great tribulation, unseen from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be seen again.

Revelation 8:7
Then the first angel sounded his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, along with a third of the trees and all the green grass.

Isaiah 32:15
until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest.

Ezekiel 31:8-9
The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it; the cypresses could not compare with its branches, nor the plane trees match its boughs. No tree in the garden of God could compare with its beauty. / I made it beautiful with its many branches, the envy of all the trees of Eden, which were in the garden of God.’

Revelation 18:8-9
Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and grief and famine—and she will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.” / Then the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her will weep and wail at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her.


Treasury of Scripture

A fire devours before them; and behind them a flame burns: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yes, and nothing shall escape them.

fire.

Joel 1:19,20
O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field…

Psalm 50:3
Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.

Amos 7:4
Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.

the land.

Genesis 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Genesis 13:10
And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.

Isaiah 51:3
For 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; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

and behind.

Joel 1:4-7
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…

Exodus 10:5,15
And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field: …

Jeremiah 5:17
And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.

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Blazes Burn Burneth Burning Burns Consumed Consumes Desert Desolate Desolation Destruction Devoureth Devours Eden Escape Escaped Escapes Escapeth Fire Flame Garden Kept Land Safe Sends Unpeopled Waste Wilderness
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Blazes Burn Burneth Burning Burns Consumed Consumes Desert Desolate Desolation Destruction Devoureth Devours Eden Escape Escaped Escapes Escapeth Fire Flame Garden Kept Land Safe Sends Unpeopled Waste Wilderness
Joel 2
1. He shows unto Zion the terribleness of God's judgment.
12. He exhorts to repentance;
15. prescribes a fast;
18. promises a blessing thereon.
21. He comforts Zion with present,
28. and future blessings.














Before them a fire devours
The imagery of fire is a powerful symbol throughout the Bible, often representing God's judgment and purification. In Hebrew, the word for "devours" is "אָכַל" (akal), which conveys the idea of consuming or destroying completely. This phrase suggests an unstoppable force, much like the locusts described earlier in Joel, which consume everything in their path. Historically, fire was a common method of warfare and destruction, leaving nothing but desolation. Spiritually, this can be seen as a call to repentance, as God's judgment is thorough and purifying.

and behind them a flame blazes
The continuation of the fire imagery with "a flame blazes" emphasizes the totality of the destruction. The Hebrew word for "blazes" is "לָהַט" (lahat), which can mean to burn or to set ablaze. This suggests not only the immediate destruction but also the lingering effects of God's judgment. The dual imagery of fire before and behind the invaders underscores the inescapable nature of divine judgment. It serves as a warning to the people of Israel—and to us—of the consequences of turning away from God.

The land is like the Garden of Eden before them
This phrase contrasts the beauty and abundance of the land before the invasion with the devastation that follows. The "Garden of Eden" is a reference to the paradise described in Genesis, symbolizing perfection and divine blessing. The Hebrew word for "Eden" means delight or pleasure, highlighting the stark difference between the land's potential and its impending ruin. This serves as a poignant reminder of what is lost when God's people stray from His commandments.

but behind them, it is a desert wasteland
The transformation from a "Garden of Eden" to a "desert wasteland" illustrates the complete reversal of fortune due to sin and disobedience. The Hebrew word for "wasteland" is "שְׁמָמָה" (shemamah), which denotes desolation and emptiness. This stark imagery is a call to repentance, urging the people to return to God to avoid such devastation. It also serves as a metaphor for spiritual barrenness that results from turning away from God.

surely nothing will escape them
This final phrase underscores the totality and inevitability of the destruction. The Hebrew word "פָּלִיט" (palit) means escape or survivor, indicating that nothing and no one can avoid the coming judgment. This serves as a sobering reminder of the seriousness of God's warnings and the need for genuine repentance. It also highlights God's sovereignty and the certainty of His plans, encouraging believers to trust in His ultimate justice and mercy.

(3) Before them . . . behind them.--As with the locusts, so with the invading hosts of enemies: the country is found a paradise, and left a desert.

Verse 3. - A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth.

(1) The fire was the extreme drought preceding them; and the flame refers to the devastation of the locusts, for the places laid waste by them presented the appearance of being burnt with fire, the locusts consuming not only the grain and grass, but the very roots.

(2) Or it may refer to the locusts themselves; their destructive power being as though fire spread along before them. and flame swept the ground behind them.

(3) Or the fire may have been literally such, the people, in self-de fence, kindling it to stop, or turn aside, or drive away the advance of the locust-army. . . .

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Before them
לְפָנָיו֙ (lə·p̄ā·nāw)
Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 6440: The face

a fire
אֵ֔שׁ (’êš)
Noun - common singular
Strong's 784: A fire

devours,
אָ֣כְלָה (’ā·ḵə·lāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 398: To eat

and behind
וְאַחֲרָ֖יו (wə·’a·ḥă·rāw)
Conjunctive waw | Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's 310: The hind or following part

them a flame
לֶֽהָבָ֑ה (le·hā·ḇāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 3852: A flash, a sharply polished blade, point of a, weapon

scorches.
תְּלַהֵ֣ט (tə·la·hêṭ)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 3857: To blaze up, flame

The land
הָאָ֜רֶץ (hā·’ā·reṣ)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

before them
לְפָנָ֗יו (lə·p̄ā·nāw)
Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 6440: The face

is like the Garden
כְּגַן־ (kə·ḡan-)
Preposition-k | Noun - common singular construct
Strong's 1588: An enclosure, garden

of Eden,
עֵ֨דֶן (‘ê·ḏen)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 5731: Eden -- the garden home of Adam and Eve

but behind them,
וְאַֽחֲרָיו֙ (wə·’a·ḥă·rāw)
Conjunctive waw | Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's 310: The hind or following part

it is like a desert
מִדְבַּ֣ר (miḏ·bar)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4057: A pasture, a desert, speech

wasteland—
שְׁמָמָ֔ה (šə·mā·māh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 8077: Devastation, astonishment

surely
וְגַם־ (wə·ḡam-)
Conjunctive waw | Conjunction
Strong's 1571: Assemblage, also, even, yea, though, both, and

nothing
לֹא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

will
הָ֥יְתָה (hā·yə·ṯāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

escape
פְּלֵיטָ֖ה (pə·lê·ṭāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 6413: Deliverance, an escaped portion

them.
לּֽוֹ׃ (lōw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew


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OT Prophets: Joel 2:3 A fire devours before them and behind (Jl Joe.)
Joel 2:2
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