Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, August 21st, 2025
the Week of Proper 15 / Ordinary 20
Attention!
Take your personal ministry to the Next Level by helping StudyLight build churches and supporting pastors in Uganda.
Click here to join the effort!

Read the Bible

The NET Bible®

Joel 2:8

They do not jostle one another; each of them marches straight ahead. They burst through the city defenses and do not break ranks.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Israel, Prophecies Concerning;   Joel;   War;   Scofield Reference Index - Armageddon;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Armies;   Locust, the;   Walls;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Locust;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Nahum, Theology of;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Locust;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Joel;   Locust;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Day of the Lord;   Joel;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Joel, Book of;   Locust;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Dream (2);   Wing ;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Arms;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Locusts;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Armor;   Arms;   Egypt;   Locust;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Arms, Armor;   Fasts;   Locust,;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Kingdom of Judah;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Eden;   Joel (2);   Locust;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
They do not push each other;each proceeds on his own path.They dodge the arrows, never stopping.
Hebrew Names Version
Neither does one jostle another; They march everyone in his path, And they burst through the defenses, And don't break ranks.
King James Version
Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.
English Standard Version
They do not jostle one another; each marches in his path; they burst through the weapons and are not halted.
New American Standard Bible
They do not crowd each other, Every warrior of them marches in his path; When they burst through the defenses, They do not break ranks.
New Century Version
They do not run into each other, because each walks in line. They break through all efforts to stop them and keep coming.
Amplified Bible
They do not crowd each other; Each one marches in his path. When they burst through the defenses (weapons), They do not break ranks.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Neither shal one thrust another, but euery one shall walke in his path: and when they fall vpon the sword, they shal not be wounded.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
They do not crowd each other, They march everyone in his path; When they burst through the defenses, They do not break ranks.
Legacy Standard Bible
They do not crowd each other;They march everyone in his path;When they fall against the defending weapons,They do not break ranks.
Berean Standard Bible
They do not jostle one another; each man proceeds in his column, as they burst through the defenses, never breaking ranks.
Contemporary English Version
They charge straight ahead, without pushing each other; even arrows and spears cannot make them retreat.
Complete Jewish Bible
They don't jostle each other, but stay on their own paths; they burst through defenses unharmed, without even breaking rank.
Darby Translation
Neither doth one press upon another; they march every one in his path; and fall amid weapons, but are not wounded.
Easy-to-Read Version
They don't trip each other. Each soldier walks in his own path. If one of the soldiers is hit and falls down, the others keep right on marching.
George Lamsa Translation
Neither shall one push another; but they shall walk in order every one in his path; some of them shall fall down because of the weight of their armor, they shall not trample them.
Good News Translation
or get in each other's way. They swarm through defenses, and nothing can stop them.
Lexham English Bible
They do not jostle one another; each goes on its own trail; and through the falling weapons, they are not halted.
Literal Translation
And each does not press his brother; they each go in his paths. And if they fall behind their weapon, they shall not be cut off.
American Standard Version
Neither doth one thrust another; they march every one in his path; and they burst through the weapons, and break not off their course.
Bible in Basic English
No one is pushing against another; everyone goes straight on his way: bursting through the sword points, their order is not broken.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Neither doth one thrust another, they march every one in his highway; and they break through the weapons, and suffer no harm.
King James Version (1611)
Neither shall one thrust another, they shall walke euery one in his path: and when they fall vpon the sword, they shall not be wounded.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
No man shall thrust another, but euery one shall walke in his path: and if they shall fall on the sworde, they shall not be wounded.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
and not one shall stand aloof from his brother: they shall go on weighed down with their arms, and they fall upon their weapons, yet shall they in no wise be destroyed.
English Revised Version
Neither doth one thrust another; they march every one in his path: and they burst through the weapons, and break not off their course.
World English Bible
Neither does one jostle another; They march everyone in his path, And they burst through the defenses, And don't break ranks.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Ech man schal not make streyt his brother, ech man schal go in his path; but also thei schulen falle doun bi wyndows, and schulen not be hirt.
Update Bible Version
Neither does one thrust another; they march every [able-bodied] man in his path; and they burst through the weapons, and don't break off [their course].
Webster's Bible Translation
Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and [when] they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.
New King James Version
They do not push one another;Every one marches in his own column. [fn] Though they lunge between the weapons,They are not cut down. [fn]
New Living Translation
They never jostle each other; each moves in exactly the right position. They break through defenses without missing a step.
New Life Bible
They do not push each other. Each one walks in his path. When they break through those who fight against them, their path is not changed.
New Revised Standard
They do not jostle one another, each keeps to its own track; they burst through the weapons and are not halted.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Nor, against each other, shall they strike, Each - on his own highway, shall they march, - though, in among the weapons, they fall, they shall not stop.
Douay-Rheims Bible
No one shall press upon his brother: they shall walk every one in his path: yea, and they shall fall through the windows, and shall take no harm.
Revised Standard Version
They do not jostle one another, each marches in his path; they burst through the weapons and are not halted.
Young's Literal Translation
And each his brother they press not, Each in his way they go on, If by the missile they fall, they are not cut off.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
There shal not one dryue another, but ech shal kepe his owne waye. They shal breake in at the wyndowes, & not be hurte:

Contextual Overview

1 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear, for the day of the Lord is about to come. Indeed, it is near! 2 It will be a day of dreadful darkness, a day of foreboding storm clouds, like blackness spread over the mountains. It is a huge and powerful army— there has never been anything like it ever before, and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come! 3 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! 4 They look like horses; they charge ahead like war horses. 5 They sound like chariots rumbling over mountain tops, like the crackling of blazing fire consuming stubble, like the noise of a mighty army being drawn up for battle. 6 People writhe in fear when they see them. All of their faces turn pale with fright. 7 They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. Each one proceeds on his course; they do not alter their path. 8 They do not jostle one another; each of them marches straight ahead. They burst through the city defenses and do not break ranks. 9 They rush into the city; they scale its walls. They climb up into the houses; they go in through the windows like a thief. 10 The earth quakes before them; the sky reverberates. The sun and the moon grow dark; the stars refuse to shine.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

sword: or, dart, 2 Chronicles 23:10, 2 Chronicles 32:5, *marg. Nehemiah 4:17, Nehemiah 4:23, Job 33:18, Job 36:12, Song of Solomon 4:13

Reciprocal: Isaiah 5:27 - shall be Revelation 9:9 - they had

Cross-References

Genesis 2:8
The Lord God planted an orchard in the east, in Eden; and there he placed the man he had formed.
Genesis 2:9
The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow from the soil, every tree that was pleasing to look at and good for food. (Now the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were in the middle of the orchard.)
Genesis 3:24
When he drove the man out, he placed on the eastern side of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries who used the flame of a whirling sword to guard the way to the tree of life.
Genesis 4:16
So Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
Genesis 13:10
Lot looked up and saw the whole region of the Jordan. He noticed that all of it was well-watered (before the Lord obliterated Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord , like the land of Egypt, all the way to Zoar.
2 Kings 19:12
Were the nations whom my ancestors destroyed—the nations of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden in Telassar—rescued by their gods?
Isaiah 51:3
Certainly the Lord will console Zion; he will console all her ruins. He will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the Garden of the Lord . Happiness and joy will be restored to her, thanksgiving and the sound of music.
Ezekiel 27:23
Haran, Kanneh, Eden, merchants from Sheba, Asshur, and Kilmad were your clients.
Ezekiel 28:13
You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering, the ruby, topaz, and emerald, the chrysolite, onyx, and jasper, the sapphire, turquoise, and beryl; your settings and mounts were made of gold. On the day you were created they were prepared.
Ezekiel 31:16
I made the nations shake at the sound of its fall, when I threw it down to Sheol, along with those who descend to the Pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and the best of Lebanon, all that were well-watered, were comforted in the earth below.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Neither shall one thrust another,.... Press upon another, thrust him out of his place, or push him forward, or any ways straiten and distress him, or in the least hinder him in his progress:

they shall walk everyone in his path; or "highway" o; everyone should have his path, and keep in it, and it should be as roomy to him as if he had a highway to walk in by himself, and in which he could not err:

and when they shall fall upon the sword; on which they would pitch without any fear or dread of it:

they shall not be wounded: or "cut to pieces" p by it; it not being easy for the sword to pierce and cut them, through the smoothness and smallness of their bodies; see Revelation 9:9; and besides, their numbers being so great, the loss of a few by the use of a sword, or a dart, or any such flying projectile, as the word q signifies, would be of little consequence, and avail very little to the utter rout, or cutting of them in pieces. Kimchi observes that the word signifies haters of gain; and to this sense Jarchi explains it; and so the Targum,

"they go to the place whither they are sent, they slay, and receive not mammon;''

they are not, as other enemies, to be appeased by money, as Kimchi interprets it. The Targum is, they are not to be bribed, as soldiers sometimes may be, and so depart; see Isaiah 13:17; and to this sense are other versions r.

o במסלתו "per aggerem suum", Junius Tremellius, Piscator "via elevata", Drusius; "via strata sua", Cocceius. p יבצעו "verbum significat discidit", Amos ix. 1. Tarnovius, so Ben Melech. q בעד שלח "per missile", Cocceius; so Bochartus, Castalio, Drusius, Burkius; "super missile", Montanus. r "Non avari erunt", Montanus; "nec lucro inhiant", Tigurine version; "non studebunt avaritiae", so some in Vatablus.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

When they fall upon the sword - (literally, “among the darts”) they shall not be wounded It may be that the prophet would describe how the locust seems armed as in a suit of armor. As one says , “Their form was wondrous; they had a sort of gorget round their neck like a lancer, and a helm on their head, such as soldiers wear.” But, more, he exhibits their indomitableness and impenetrableness, how nothing checks, nothing retards, nothing makes any impression upon them. : “They do not suffer themselves to be impeded by any obstacles, but fly boldly on, and are drowned in the sea when they come to it.” : “When on a march during the day, it is utterly impossible to turn the direction of a troop, which is generally with the wind.” : “The guard of the Red Town attempted to stop their irruption into Transylvania by firing at them; and indeed when the balls and shot swept through the swarm, they gave way and divided; but having filled up their ranks in a moment, they proceeded on their journey.”

And in like way of the young swarms ; “The inhabitants, to stop their progress, made trenches all over their fields and gardens and filled them with water; or else, placing in a row great quantities of heath, stubble, and such like combustible matter, they set them on fire on the approach of the locusts. But all this was to no purpose, for the trenches were quickly filled up, and the fires put out by infinite swarms, succeeding one another; while the front seemed regardless of danger, and the van pressed on so close, that a retreat was impossible.” : “Like waves, they roll over one another on and on, and let themselves be stopped by nothing. Russians and Germans try many means with more or less success against them, when they come from the waste against the grainlands. Bundles of straw are laid in rows and set on fire before them; they march in thick heaps into the fire, but this is often put out thro’ the great mass of the animals and those advancing from behind march away over the corpses of their companions, and continue the march.” : “Their number was astounding; the whole face of the mountain was black with them. On they came like a living deluge. We dug trenches, and kindled fires, and beat and burned to death heaps upon heaps, but the effort was utterly useless. wave after wave rolled up the mountain side, and poured over rocks, walls, ditches and hedges, those behind covering up and bridging over the masses already killed. After a long and fatiguing contest, I descended the mountain to examine the depth of the column, but I could not see to the end of it.” “It was perfectly appalling to watch this animated river, as it flowed up the road and ascended the hill.”

Both in ancient and modern times, armies have been marched against them ; but in vain, unless they destroyed them, before they were full-grown.

Since the very smallest of God’s judgments are thus irreversible, since creatures so small cannot be turned aside, since we cannot turn away the time of one of the least of our Master’s servants, since they are each as a “man of might”, (so he calls them, it is the force of the word rendered “each”) what of the greater? what of the whole?

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 8. They shall not be wounded. — They have hard scales like a coat of mail; but the expression refers to the utter uselessness of all means to prevent their depredations. See Shaw's account above.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile