KING JAMES VERSION (KJV)
TRANSLATION, MEANING, CONTEXT
To get what Joel 2:3 means based on its source text, scroll down or follow these links for the original scriptural meaning , biblical context and relative popularity.
“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.”
What does this verse really mean? Use this table to get a word-for-word translation of the original Hebrew Scripture. This shows the English words related to the source biblical texts along with brief definitions. Follow the buttons in the right-hand column for detailed definitions and verses that use the same root words. Use this reference information to gain deeper insight into the Bible and enrich your understanding. Information based on Strong's Exhaustive Concordance[1].
| KJV Verse | Original Hebrew | Meaning/ Definition This is a simplified translation of the original Hebrew word. Follow the buttons on the right to get more detail. | More Use the buttons below to get details on the Hebrew word and view related Bible verses that use the same root word. |
|---|---|---|---|
| “A fire” | אֵ֔שׁ | Fire (literally or figuratively) | fire |
| “devoureth” | אָ֣כְלָה | To eat (literally or figuratively) | devoureth |
| “before” | לְפָנָיו֙ | The face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.) | before |
| “them; and behind” | וְאַחֲרָ֖יו | Properly, the hind part; generally used as an adverb or conjunction, after (in various senses) | behind |
| “them a flame” | לֶֽהָבָ֑ה | Flame | flame |
| “burneth:” | תְּלַהֵ֣ט | Properly, to lick, i.e., (by implication) to blaze | burneth |
| “the land” | הָאָ֜רֶץ | The earth (at large, or partitively a land) | land |
| “is” | (No Hebrew definition. English implied.) | ||
| “as the garden” | כְּגַן | A garden (as fenced) | garden |
| “of Eden” | עֵ֨דֶן | Eden, the region of Adam's home | Eden |
| “before” | לְפָנָ֗יו | The face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.) | before |
| “them, and behind” | וְאַֽחֲרָיו֙ | Properly, the hind part; generally used as an adverb or conjunction, after (in various senses) | behind |
| “them a desolate” | שְׁמָמָ֔ה | Devastation; figuratively, astonishment | desolate |
| “wilderness;” | מִדְבַּ֣ר | A pasture (i.e., open field, whither cattle are driven); also speech (including its organs) | wilderness |
| “yea,” | וְגַם | Properly, assemblage; used only adverbially also, even, yea, though; often repeated as correl. both...and | yea |
| “and nothing” | לֹא | Not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles | nothing |
| “shall escape” | פְּלֵיטָ֖ה | Deliverance; concretely, an escaped portion | escape |
| “them.” | הָ֥יְתָה | To exist, i.e., be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary) | them |
See Joel 2:3 with its adjacent verses in bold below. Follow either of the two large buttons below to see these verses in their broader context of the King James Bible or a Bible concordance.
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1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
2 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.
3 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.
4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
5 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.
The King James Bible (1611) and Strong's Concordance (1890) with Hebrew and Greek dictionaries are sourced from the BibleForgeDB database (https://github.com/bibleforge) within the BibleForge project (http://bibleforge.com). Popularity rankings are based on search volume data from the Google AdWords Keyword Planner tool.