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LXX Joel

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 3

1 And afterward I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh;⁠ and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.⁠ 2 And on the servants and on the female servants in those days I will pour out of my Spirit. 3 And I will show wonders in heaven, and upon the earth,⁠ blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke. 4 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. 5 And whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved:⁠ for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem the saved one will be as the Lord has said, and those who have good news preached to them, whom the Lord has called.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Joel 2:28 and LXX Joel 3:1

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

The Hebrew version of Joel has God promise to pour out his Spirit on all people. The Greek Septuagint changes this to pouring out some of the Spirit, echoing Numbers, where God takes some of the spirit resting on Moses for the seventy elders.

Passages

Joel 2:28

Hebrew Bible
27 You will be convinced that I am in the midst of Israel. I am the Lord your God; there is no other. My people will never again be put to shame. 28 (3:1) “After all of this I will pour out my Spirit on all kinds of people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your elderly will have prophetic dreams; your young men will see visions. 29 Even on male and female servants I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Joel

LXX Joel 3:1

Septuagint
1 And afterward I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 2 And on the servants and on the female servants in those days I will pour out of my Spirit.
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Joel

References

“... YHWH declares, “I am your God” (2:27) and then continues by twice promising to pour out his Spirit (3:1, 2). The possessive “my” makes it clear that it is God’s Spirit that will be imparted. The Septuagint translates ʾet-rûḥî using a partitive genitive as if it were min-ʾet-rûḥî. However, the partitive min- is not found here in Joel. Nor is apo to be found in either Aquila or Symmachus. It is likely that the Septuagint translation could have been suggested by Numbers 11:17, 25 where YHWH takes min-hārûaḥ “of the Spirit” (Septuagint, apo tou pneumatos) that was on Moses and anoints the seventy elders. It is not likely that the translators of the Septuagint were making a considered theological statement that humanity only has some of the Spirit while the totality remains within the Godhead. ...”
Alan Keith Hodson, “The Outpouring of the Spirit, the Day of the LORD and the Accompanying ‘Signs’: An Exegetical Study of the Words of YHWH Recorded in Joel 3:1–4 (Eng. 2:28–31)” (MA diss., Regents Theological College, 2007), 13.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Joel 2:28 and LXX Joel 3:1

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