Joel 2:6
New International Version
At the sight of them, nations are in anguish; every face turns pale.

New Living Translation
Fear grips all the people; every face grows pale with terror.

English Standard Version
Before them peoples are in anguish; all faces grow pale.

Berean Standard Bible
Nations writhe in horror before them; every face turns pale.

King James Bible
Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.

New King James Version
Before them the people writhe in pain; All faces are drained of color.

New American Standard Bible
Before them the people are in anguish; All faces turn pale.

NASB 1995
Before them the people are in anguish; All faces turn pale.

NASB 1977
Before them the people are in anguish; All faces turn pale.

Legacy Standard Bible
Before them the peoples are writhing; All faces turn pale.

Amplified Bible
Before them the people are in anguish; All faces become pale [with terror].

Christian Standard Bible
Nations writhe in horror before them; all faces turn pale.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Nations writhe in horror before them; all faces turn pale.

American Standard Version
At their presence the peoples are in anguish; all faces are waxed pale.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Before him the people shall tremble and all faces shall be black like the soot of a pot

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Before them shall the people be crushed: every face shall be as the blackness of a caldron.

Contemporary English Version
The very sight of them is frightening.

Douay-Rheims Bible
At their presence the people shall be in grievous pains: all faces shall be made like a kettle.

English Revised Version
At their presence the peoples are in anguish: all faces are waxed pale.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
People are terrified in their presence. Every face turns pale.

Good News Translation
As they approach, everyone is terrified; every face turns pale.

International Standard Version
The people are terrified in their presence; every face grows pale.

JPS Tanakh 1917
At their presence the peoples are in anguish; All faces have gathered blackness.

Literal Standard Version
Pained are peoples from its face, | All faces have gathered paleness.

Majority Standard Bible
Nations writhe in horror before them; every face turns pale.

New American Bible
Before them peoples tremble, every face turns pale.

NET Bible
People writhe in fear when they see them. All of their faces turn pale with fright.

New Revised Standard Version
Before them peoples are in anguish, all faces grow pale.

New Heart English Bible
At their presence the peoples are in anguish. All faces have grown pale.

Webster's Bible Translation
Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.

World English Bible
At their presence the peoples are in anguish. All faces have grown pale.

Young's Literal Translation
From its face pained are peoples, All faces have gathered paleness.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Army of Locusts
5With a sound like that of chariots they bound over the mountaintops, like the crackling of fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army deployed for battle. 6Nations writhe in horror before them; every face turns pale. 7They charge like mighty men; they scale the walls like men of war. Each one marches in formation, not swerving from the course.…

Cross References
Isaiah 13:8
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.

Jeremiah 8:21
For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am crushed. I mourn; horror has gripped me.

Jeremiah 30:6
Ask now, and see: Can a male give birth? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale?

Nahum 2:10
She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!


Treasury of Scripture

Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.

all.

Psalm 119:83
For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes.

Isaiah 13:8
And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.

Jeremiah 8:21
For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.

blackness.

Jump to Previous
Anguish Bent Blackness Face Faces Gather Gathered Grow Grown Nations Pain Pained Pale Paleness Peoples Presence Red Sight Turn Turns Waxed
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Anguish Bent Blackness Face Faces Gather Gathered Grow Grown Nations Pain Pained Pale Paleness Peoples Presence Red Sight Turn Turns Waxed
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.














(6) All faces shall gather blackness.--There are different explanations of this Hebrew phrase, which expresses the result of terror. Some translate it "withdraw their ruddiness," i.e., grow pale; others, "draw into themselves their colour;" others, "contract a livid character." The alternative rendering in the margin, "pot," which is that of the LXX., the Vulg., and of Luther's translation, is obtained from the similarity of the Hebrew words for "ruddiness" and "pot." The comparison is in this case between the faces growing black under the influence of fear, and of pots under the action of fire. The prophet Nahum uses the same expression (Joel 2:10).

Verse 6. - Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. Peoples or nations writhe in pain or tremble at the sight of them, lest they should settle on their fields and gardens, destroying the "golden glories" of the one, and the "leafy honours" of the other. In the second member the word פָארוּר is

(1) generally connected with פָרוּר, a pot, rad. פדר, to break in pieces, and translated accordingly. Thus the Septuagint: "Every face is as the blackness of a pot;" the Syriac also: "Every face shall be black as the blackness of a pot;" in like manner the Chaldee: "All faces are covered with soot, so that they are black as a pot."

(2) But Aben Ezra connects the word with פֵאֵר, to beautify, glorify, adorn, and translates, "They withdraw (gather to themselves)their redness (ruddiness);" that is, they become pale. The 'Speaker's Commentary ' adopts this view of the expression, and illustrates it by Shakespeare's fancy of the blood being summoned from the face to help the heart in its death-struggle -

"Being all descended to the labouring heart;
Who, in the conflict that it holds with death,
Attracts the same for aidance 'gainst the enemy:
Which with the heart there cools and ne'er returneth
To blush and beautify the cheek again."
The parallel usually cited in favour of asaph being employed in the sense of withdrawing is, "And the stars shall withdraw their shining" (Joel 2:10; Joel 3:15). This proceeds on the supposition that asaph and qabhats have the same meaning of "gathering " - gathering up, gathering in, withdrawing. But D. Kimchi quotes his father (Joseph Kimchi) as objecting to this rendering, on the ground of the distinction which he asserts to prevail between them. Asaph, he says, "is used of gathering together, or in, that which is dispersed, or net present; but qabhats is not so used."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Nations
עַמִּ֑ים (‘am·mîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 5971: A people, a tribe, troops, attendants, a flock

writhe in horror
יָחִ֣ילוּ (yā·ḥî·lū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 2342: To twist, whirl, to dance, to writhe in pain, fear, to wait, to pervert

before them;
מִפָּנָ֖יו (mip·pā·nāw)
Preposition-m | Noun - common plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 6440: The face

every
כָּל־ (kāl-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

face
פָּנִ֖ים (pā·nîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 6440: The face

turns pale.
קִבְּצ֥וּ (qib·bə·ṣū)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 6908: To gather, collect


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OT Prophets: Joel 2:6 At their presence the peoples are (Jl Joe.)
Joel 2:5
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