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.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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,

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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,

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
Exodus 10:5
They will cover the face of the land so that no one can see it. They will devour whatever is left after the hail and eat every tree that grows in your fields.

Exodus 10:15
They covered the face of all the land until it was black, and they consumed all the plants on the ground and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left behind. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.

Psalm 97:3
Fire goes before Him and consumes His foes on every side.

Psalm 105:34
He spoke, and the locusts came--young locusts without number.

Psalm 105:35
They devoured every plant in their land and consumed the produce of their soil.

Isaiah 9:18
For wickedness burns like a fire that consumes the thorns and briers and kindles the forest thickets which roll upward in billows of smoke.

Isaiah 9:19
By the wrath of the LORD of Hosts the land is scorched, and the people are fuel for the fire. No man even spares his brother.


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.

Jump to Previous
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
Jump to Next
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.














(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


Links
Joel 2:3 NIV
Joel 2:3 NLT
Joel 2:3 ESV
Joel 2:3 NASB
Joel 2:3 KJV

Joel 2:3 BibleApps.com
Joel 2:3 Biblia Paralela
Joel 2:3 Chinese Bible
Joel 2:3 French Bible
Joel 2:3 Catholic Bible

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