Texts in Conversation
The Hebrew version of Joel calls the Day of the Lord great and terrible and asks who can survive it. The Greek Septuagint translates and interprets this day as 'great and glorious', changing fear into a display of splendor and beauty.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Joel 2:11
Hebrew Bible
10 The earth quakes before them; the sky reverberates. The sun and the moon grow dark; the stars refuse to shine. 11 The voice of the Lord thunders as he leads his army. Indeed, his warriors are innumerable; Surely his command is carried out! Yes, the day of the Lord is great and terrible42—who can survive it? 12 “Yet even now,” the Lord says, “return to me with all your heart—with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
LXX Joel 2:11
Septuagint
10 Before them the earth shall be confounded, and the sky shall be shaken: the sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their light. 11 And the Lord shall utter his voice before his host: for his camp is very great: for the execution of his words is mighty: for the day of the Lord is great, very glorious, and who shall be able to resist it? 12 Now therefore, saith the Lord your God, turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with lamentation:
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Notes and References
“... The similarities are partially verbal and partially thematic: hoti ... hē hēmera hē megalē/dioti megalē hēmera and kai tis dynatai stathēnai/kai tis estai hikanos autē. The verbal descriptions of the great Day differ. There is, first of all, no mention of epiphanēs sphodra in Revelation 6:17, and no explicit mention of wrath in Joel 2:11b. Joel’s epiphanēs sphodra, however, suggests the divine wrath and consequent doom attending the Day. Revelation 6:17 has dynatai stathēnai whereas Joel 2:11b has estai hikanos autē. Instead of kyrios in Revelation 6:17 there is the wrath of the Lamb and the Enthroned One. While there is a distinct vocabulary in Joel and Revelation, there is an allusion to Joel 2:11 in Revelation 6:17. ...”
Mathews, Susan F.
"The Power to Endure and Be Transformed" in Boadt, Lawrence; Smith, Mark S. (ed.) Imagery and Imagination in Biblical Literature: Essays in Honor of Aloysius Fitzgerald, S.F.
(pp. 40-46) Catholic Biblical Association of America, 2001
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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