to give · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
wonders
מֽוֹפְתִ֔יםmof.Tim
H4159
a miracle · noun, common masculine plural absolute
heavens
בַּשָּׁמַ֖יִםba.sha.Ma.yim
H8064
the sky (as aloft · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
earth
וּבָאָ֑רֶץu.va.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · conjunction + preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
blood
דָּ֣םdam
H1818
blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or… · noun, common masculine singular absolute
fire
וָאֵ֔שׁva.'Esh
H784
fire (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular absolute
pillars
וְתִֽימֲר֖וֹתve.ti.ma.Rot
H8490
a column · conjunction + noun, common feminine plural construct
smoke
עָשָֽׁן'a.Shan
H6227
smoke · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Acts 2:19-20 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
Luke 21:11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven…
Matthew 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall f…
Luke 21:25-26 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and…
Judges 20:40 But when the flame began to arise up out of the city with a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and, behold, the flame of th…
Mark 13:24-25 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
Revelation 6:12-17 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and th…
Genesis 19:28 And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Joel 2:28–end
The promises of corn, and wine, and oil, in the foregoing verses, would be very acceptable to a wasted country; but here we are taught that we must not rest in those things. God has reserved some better things for us, and these verses have reference to those better things, both the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory, with the happiness of true believers in both. We are here told,
I. How the kingdom of grace shall be introduced by a plentiful effusion of the Spirit, (Joe 2:28, Joe 2:29). We are not at a loss about the meaning of this promise, nor in doubt what it refers to and wherein it had its accomplishment, for the apostle Peter has given us an infallible explication and applicatio…
As Messiah's manifestation is full of joy to believers, so it has an aspect of wrath to unbelievers, which is represented here. Thus when the Jews received Him not in His coming of grace, He came in judgment on Jerusalem. Physical prodigies, massacres, and conflagrations preceded its destruction [JOSEPHUS, Wars of the Jews]. To these the language here may allude; but the figures chiefly symbolize political revolutions and changes in the ruling powers of the world, prognosticated by previous disasters (Amo 8:9; Mat 24:29; Luk 21:25-27), and convulsions such as preceded the overthrow of the Jewish polity. Such shall probably occur in a more appalling degree before the final destruction of the…
And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth,.... This, and what follow, refer to the prodigies seen in the air, and done in the earth, a little before the destruction of Jerusalem (r); when in the air were seen comets and blazing stars, particularly one in the form of a sword, hanging over Jerusalem, and appearances of armies engaged in battle; and, on the earth, a flame was seen in the temple, and a voice heard in it, saying, let us go hence; the doors of it opened of themselves; an idiot went about, crying woe to the people, woe to the city, &c.
blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke; "blood" may design the great slaughter of then by the Roman army in the land of Judea, and by…
The Church Fathers
Further, the Lord has announced to us that at the dissolution of the universe, signs will appear in the sun, in the moon and in the stars. The sun shall be turned into blood and the moon shall not give her light, signs of the consummation of all things.
For just as man is said to perish, according to the text, "The just perishes, and no one takes it to heart," and this is said, though the resurrection is expected, so we look for a resurrection of the heavens. "The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood." Let the converts from the Manichaeans be instructed and no longer make the luminaries their gods or impiously think that this sun that is darkened is Christ. Listen to the Lord's words: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away," for the master's creatures are less precious than his words.
True is the word of Scripture that says, "I will turn the sun into darkness and the moon into blood." It demonstrates that he is the Lord of the luminaries and of their lightening and darkening. This stands as a reproach to the sun worshipers and the moon worshipers. And there is no way for the moon to descend into the earth, as it has been claimed by magicians. It is God who commands the moon's light to appear bloody and its features demonic. The magicians prattle that they will cause the moon to descend—an impossibility! They imagine that something greater than many worlds can be contained in one little threshing floor and that one without breasts can be milked. And how many numberless thousands upon thousands of magicians are there on earth! If each one of them independently were capable of making the moon descend, it would never be allowed to ascend to the heavens. But that it never descends is clear because no one sees it descending or ascending. And if you are patient, you will become aware that right there, having become darkened, the moon becomes luminous little by little until entirely it is restored.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Fire · Things connected with: Smoke — Things connected with: Smoke
Gentiles · PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF — PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF
Meteorology And Celestial Phenomena · 9:7;26:7,8,11;27:20,21;28:24-27;29:19;36:27-33;37:6-22;38:8-11,22,24-29,31-35,37; — 9:7;26:7,8,11;27:20,21;28:24-27;29:19;36:27-33;37:6-22;38:8-11,22,24-29,31-35,37;
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Joel 2:30-31
30. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
30. Et ponam (statuam) prodigia in coelis et terra, sanguinem et ignem et columnas nubis.
31. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.
31. Sol vertetur in tenebras et luna in sanguinem, antequam veniat dies Jehovae magnus et terribilis.
The Prophet seems here to contradict himself; for he had hitherto promised that God would deal kindly and bountifully with his people; and every thing he has said tended to elevate the spirits of the people and fill them with joy: but now he seems again to threaten…
(Heb. ch. 3). Outpouring of the Spirit of God, and Announcement of Judgment.
(Note: Among other special expositions of these verses, see Hengstenberg's Christology, vol. i. p. 326ff. translation.)
Joe 2:28. "And it will come to pass afterwards, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, and your young men see visions. Joe 2:29. And also upon the men-servants and maid-servants I will put out my Spirit in those days." As 'achărē-khēn points back to bâri'shōn in Joe 2:23, the formula vehâyâh achărē-khēn describes the outpouring of the Spirit as a second and later consequence of the gift of the teacher for r…
The future outpouring of God’s Spirit would be accompanied by signs and wonders. Blood and fire and . . . smoke, together with the darkening of the sun and the moon, are indications of God’s coming in judgment (see 2:10; Mark 13:24; Rev 6:12).
