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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. 6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. 7 They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: 8 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. 9 They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. 10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: 11 And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? 12 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God? 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: 16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. 17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? 18 Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. 19 Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen: 20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things. 21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things. 22 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. 23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. 24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. 25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. 26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. 27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed. 28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. 30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. 32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
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[AD 420] Jerome on Joel 2:1-11
(Chapter 2 — Verses 1 onwards) Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like the dawn spreading over the mountains, a large and strong people appears, such as has never been before and will never be again in generations to come. Before them, a devouring fire; behind them, a blazing flame. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them, it is a desolate wilderness. There is no escape from them. They have the appearance of horses; they gallop along like cavalry. With a sound like that of chariots they leap over the mountaintops, like the crackling of fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army drawn up for battle. Before them, peoples are in anguish; all faces turn pale. They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. They march each on his way; they do not swerve from their paths. They do not jostle one another; each marches in his own column. They burst through the weapons and are not halted. They run to and fro in the city; they run along the wall; they climb into the houses; they enter through the windows like a thief. But they will also fall through the windows and not be destroyed, they will enter the city, run on the wall, climb the houses, they will enter through the windows like a thief. The earth shook before his face, the heavens were moved, the sun and moon were darkened, and the stars withdrew their brightness, and the Lord gave his voice before his army, for his camps are very numerous, because they are strong and do his word. For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible, and who can endure it? LXX: Blow 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 comes, for it is near at hand; a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there has not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. Before him a devouring fire, and behind him a flame kindled. As a paradise of pleasure is the land before his face; but his latter end shall be as a barren wilderness, and he shall not be saved. As the appearance of horses, so are they; and as horsemen, so shall they run. As the sound of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, and as the sound of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. Before his face the people shall be in anguish; all faces shall be as flames. They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks. 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. They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall; they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble; the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord shall utter his voice before his army; for his camp is very great; for he is strong that executeth his word. For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? Again, by the metaphor of locusts, the onslaught of the Chaldeans is described, and the prophet is commanded, or rather through the prophet all who can hear the word of God, to exalt their voice like a trumpet, and to proclaim in Zion, and to sound the alarm on his holy mountain, so that the people of Jerusalem may tremble at the noise of the cry and trumpet. And when, he says, you have sung, say this: Surely the day of the Lord will no longer be delayed, that is, the day of vengeance and retribution; the captivity is near, the army has already come forth from its place in Babylon, the day of darkness and distress is close, a day of gloom and cloud and whirlwind, in which all the light of joy (or rather of righteousness) will be taken away, and all things will be overwhelmed by darkness. Just as, he says, the morning and dawn suddenly dispel darkness, and the sunrise illuminates all the mountains, so the Babylonian army will be poured out over your entire land. And do not think that this is a weak crowd, it is a numerous and strong people, unlike any other nation that has existed in the past or will exist in the future: whatever it touches, it will consume like a voracious flame, and it will leave nothing behind; it is like a garden and paradise, all the land that it does not touch: it is like a desert and wasteland, whatever it has plundered, and there will be no one who can escape its grasp. Their appearance is like that of fierce horses, and they run here and there like horsemen. Not that they are to be compared to Babylonian horsemen; but they are called horsemen because they appear to run here and there like locusts in the movement of the enemy: Just as the sound of chariots and horses, so will be the sound of locusts. They will leap over the tops of the mountains, as if to climb every lofty place; and just as quickly as fire consumes straw, so the sound and terror of their voices will lay waste to everything. And what he brings in: just as a strong people prepared for battle, they bring back to the locusts, so that it seems that they are bringing back not as from enemies, but as from locusts; and yet while we read about the locusts, let us think of the Babylonians. Such will be the terror, that all nations around will tremble, both in spirit and in body, indeed they will be tormented: and by the magnitude of fear, the faces of all will be turned into the likeness of pots, which, when burned by fire, show the blackness and soot of a hideous appearance. He says, 'They move about, as it were, like strong men, no doubt locusts; and, as it were, like warriors, they ascend the wall, so that the height of the walls is unable to withstand the attack of the strong, and they do not enter through the gates but rather through the walls. They will go in their own paths and will not deviate from their tracks. We recently saw this in this province. For when the swarms of locusts came and occupied the space between the sky and the earth, they flew in such great order by the arrangement of God's command, as if they were small tiles laid by the hand of a craftsman on the floor, each in its own place, not deviating even by a point, and, so to speak, not even by a single crosswise slit.' And to make the metaphor clear, he said they will fall through the windows and not be destroyed. For locusts have no obstacle, since they can penetrate fields, crops, trees, cities, houses, and the secrets of bedrooms. However, this is said about locusts in order to be understood about enemies. And what we have interpreted as 'they will fall through the windows and not be destroyed,' the LXX translated as 'they will go heavily burdened in their weapons and they will fall through their spears and not be consumed.' But it seems to me that this does not fit with the order of the explanation, but rather that there has been an error in it, because we understood the Hebrew word Sala as 'spears' and not as 'windows.' And he continues the narrative, saying that they enter the city, run through the walls, climb on the houses, and enter through the windows like thieves, not because they have the fear of thieves who are victors; but just as thieves usually enter through windows and secretly steal, so they, with the doors closed, will burst in fully with audacity through the windows without any delay. The earth trembled at the sight of these locusts, and the heavens were moved, let us understand this hyperbolically stated, not because the force of locusts or enemies is so great that it can move the heavens and shake the earth; but because to those enduring adversity, it seems as if the sky is falling and the earth is trembling due to the magnitude of terror. Finally, due to the multitude of locusts covering the sky, the sun and moon will turn into darkness, and the stars will withdraw their splendor. While the light is placed in the midst of the cloud of locusts, it does not allow it to reach the earth. The Lord will also give his voice before the face of such a powerful army, for his camps are many, and the greatness of his power is demonstrated even in small creatures. But these many camps, and countless strong ones, are too numerous and perform his word. By saying this, it is shown that the Babylonians will come by the will of God, and they will obtain their rule. 'It is a great day of the Lord,' he says, 'when Jerusalem must be taken, and it is exceedingly terrible, and no one will be able to endure it, and will necessarily escape captivity or death.' I did not want to divide the connected and coherent passage, lest what was one in meaning be picked apart in different chapters. Let us move on to spiritual understanding, repeating each and every thing. We read of the sound of trumpets and horns not only in the book of Leviticus and Numbers (Num. X), in which it is commanded that Moses make two silver trumpets, to be played on the first day of each month, on the seventh month, on the day of jubilee, and on other festivals, as well as when going to battle, by those who are assigned to this duty; but it is also written that the walls of Jericho fell at the sound of the trumpets (Joshua VI). And the Lord says that he will send an angel with the blast of a trumpet (Matt. XXIV), and the Apostle preaches that the resurrection of the dead will occur at the sound of the trumpet (I Cor. XV). And in the Apocalypse of John, we read that seven angels received seven trumpets, and as they sounded them in order, the events described in Scripture occurred (Apoc. VIII). Therefore, priests and teachers are now commanded to exalt their voices like a trumpet, and fulfill what is written: 'Go up to a high mountain, O herald of good tidings to Zion; lift up your voice with strength, O herald of good tidings to Jerusalem' (Isaiah XLVIII, 9), so that the trumpet may sound in Zion, that is, in the Church, which is interpreted as a watchtower and exalted place. And on the holy mountain of God, which is Christ, let all the inhabitants of the earth be troubled or confounded, and may confusion lead them to salvation. Understand the day of the Lord, the day of judgment, or the day of the departure of each body. For what will happen to everyone on the day of judgment, is fulfilled in each person on the day of death. It is a day of darkness and distress, a day of clouds and whirlwinds; for it is full of punishments and torments. A multitude of strong angelic people will come to render to each according to their deeds; and just as the morning and rising dawn first occupy the mountains, so judgment will begin from on high and the powerful, so that the powerful may endure powerful torments. There was no one like him before, and there will be none after him, for generations and generations (Wisdom 6). For all the evils that are contained in the ancient histories, whether it be the flood of the sea, the overflow of rivers, the plague, diseases, famine, wild beasts, or the devastation of enemies, cannot be compared to the punishments that will be rendered on the day of judgment. Before the face of this people, who is strong and numerous, there will be a devouring and consuming fire, so that it may consume everything in us like hay, wood, and straw. Therefore, it is said about God: God is a consuming fire, and after Him, a burning flame (Deut. IV, 24); so that He may leave nothing without punishment. Whoever this people does not touch, nor comes into contact with the material of combustion, will be likened to the garden of God and the paradise of pleasure, which in Hebrew is called Eden. But whoever shall have burned him, will reduce him to ashes and embers, and there is no one who can escape his fury, whose cruel appearance will resemble the snorting of raging horses, and thus they will rush to torment those whom they have taken into their power, like horsemen flying here and there: their sound will be terrible, like chariots rushing down steep slopes; and they will leap over the tops of mountains, desiring to torment even those placed in high positions on the pinnacle of the Church. And because before their face there is a voracious fire, and consuming, dry things shall be laid waste, even as tow burnt by the flame: so shall they be in the sight of the punishments, that are to come. They shall be swift in running to and fro like sparks among the reeds. They shall devour diverse things as stubble fully dry. They shall devour the earth and her increase as the standing corn, with the stalks thereof, as the grasshoppers. They shall gather together in the cold time, as the creeping things that live in the desert. The spirit of the Lord is their mouth: and his anger shall burn in their wrath, and his words devour: for his spirit is as fire overflowing, that kindleth the wrath of his enemies, and inflameth his advarsaries in a flame. By this shall they be visited from the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire. But they will also enter through the windows, whether they fall or climb; or they will walk burdened with their weapons, and those whom they receive will fall, to be consumed. These are the windows of which Jeremiah also says: Death will enter through our windows (Jer. VI, 21): for the enemy desires to enter all our senses and take possession of the city of good conscience, to run through our defenses, and to destroy the homes that we have built with good works. But they do all things through the windows, like a thief: for they do not enter freely, so as to shoot straight in the darkness with a straight heart (Psalms 10). From the face of this people, who is many and strong, the earth trembled, and the heavens were moved. For the heavens and the earth will pass away, but the word of the Lord remains forever (Matthew 24). But even the sun and the moon will not be able to see such great punishments of the wicked, and they will mourn, not having the righteousness of their duty, and for the bright light, they will be covered with terrible darkness; even the stars will withhold their brightness, while those who are holy will not see the presence of the Lord without fear. In all these things, the Lord will give his voice, before the face of his army. For just as the Babylonians punishing Jerusalem are called the army of God, so too the wicked angels (of whom it is written: They provoked him with their high places, and moved him to zeal with their graven images - Psalms 78:58), are called the army of God, and are referred to as his camps, while they carry out the will of the Lord. Great is the day of the Lord and terrible, of which it is written elsewhere: Why do you desire the day of the Lord? - Amos 5. And here is darkness, and not light; and very terrible; and rare or none will be able to endure him, without offering himself the material of raging.

Source: Commentary on Joel
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Joel 2:1
The terror of the strict inquest, which Zephaniah calls “the trumpet,” blessed Job designates “thundering.” Joel, also viewing it, says, “Let all the inhabitants of the land be troubled, for the Day of the Lord comes; for it is nigh at hand, a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of cloud and whirlwind.” For the Day of the Lord is great and very terrible, and who shall sustain it? But how incomprehensible and unimaginable that greatness with which he shall come in his second coming! In some degree we estimate correctly if we consider with heedful reflection the momentous circumstances of his first advent. Surely the Lord came to die, and the impoverishment and punishments of our flesh he underwent in his own body that he might redeem us from death. Before he came to the stock of the cross he suffered to be bound, to be spit on, to be mocked and to be beaten with blows on his cheek. Observe to what disgraceful treatment he consented to come for our sakes, and yet, before he permitted himself to be laid hold of, he questioned his persecutors, saying, “Whom do you seek?” To that they answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” And when he said to them directly, “I am he,” he only uttered a voice of the mildest answer, and at once prostrated his armed persecutors to the earth. What then shall he do when he comes to judge the world, if by one utterance of his voice he struck down his enemies even when he came to be judged? What is that judgment which he exercises as immortal, that a single utterance of it could not be endured when he was about to die? Who may sustain his wrath when his very mildness even could not be sustained? So then, let the holy man consider it and say, “And while we scarcely hear a little drop of his words, who shall be able to look on the thundering of his majesty?”

Source: MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 3:17.54
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Joel 2:1
The day of the Lord: That is, the time when he will execute justice upon sinners.
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Joel 2:2
A numerous and strong people: The Assyrians, or Chaldeans. Others understand all this of an army of locusts laying waste the land.
[AD 390] Gregory of Nazianzus on Joel 2:3
Terrible is an unfruitful season, and the loss of the crops. It could not be otherwise, when people are already rejoicing in their hopes and counting on their all but harvested stores. Terrible again is an unseasonable harvest, when the farmers labor with heavy hearts, sitting as it were beside the grave of their crops, which the gentle rain nourished but the wild storm has rooted up, “with which the reaper does not fill his hand or the binder of sheaves his bosom.” Nor have they obtained the blessing which passers-by bestow upon the farmers. Wretched indeed is the sight of the ground devastated, cleared and shorn of its ornaments, over which the blessed Joel wails in his most tragic picture of the desolation of the land and the scourge of the famine. Another prophet wails as he contrasts with its former beauty its final disorder and thus discourses on the anger of the Lord when he smites the land: before him is the Garden of Eden, behind him a desolate wilderness.

Source: ON HIS FATHER’S SILENCE, ORATION 16:6
[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on Joel 2:6
And so he will deserve to fulfill, likewise, those other words that have a bearing in this connection: “buried together with him by baptism unto death.” For what purpose? “That as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life.” He who is dead must be buried, and he who is buried in the likeness of death must rise again by the grace of God in Christ. No longer, because of sin, should he bear about in the inner man a countenance like a blackened kettle, but, after his sins have been made manifest by fire and pardon has been granted through the blood of Christ, he should shine forth in newness of life, by the justifications of Christ, more precious than any jewel.

Source: CONCERNING BAPTISM 1:2
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Joel 2:10
The holy apostle of the Lord, reprehending the Greeks, will show you, “Because that, when they know God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but [they] became vain in their imaginations, and changed the glory of God into the likeness of corruptible man, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator.” And verily this is the God who “in the beginning made the heaven and the earth.” But you do not know God and worship the heaven, and how shall you escape the guilt of impiety? Hear again the prophet speaking: “The sun shall suffer eclipse, and the heaven be darkened. But the Almighty shall shine forever: while the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, and the heavens stretched out and drawn together shall be rolled as a parchment skin [for these are the prophetic expressions], and the earth shall flee away from before the face of the Lord.”

Source: EXHORTATION TO THE GREEKS 9
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Joel 2:11
But since these are light perceived by the senses, which are said in Moses to have come into existence on the fourth day, they are not the true light because they enlighten the things on the earth. The Savior, on the other hand, is the light of the spiritual world because he shines on those who are rational and intellectual, that their mind may see its proper visions. Now I mean he is the light of those rational souls which are in the sensible world, of which the Savior teaches us that he is the Maker, being, perhaps, its directing and principal artificer, and, so to speak, the sun of the great Day of the Lord.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 1:161
[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on Joel 2:11
Therefore he called the beginning of time not a “first day” but “one day,” in order that from the name it might have kinship with eternity. For the day that shows a character of uniqueness and nonparticipation with the rest is properly and naturally called “one.” If, however, the Scripture presents to us many ages, saying in various places “age of age” and “age of ages,” still in those places neither the first nor the second nor the third age is enumerated for us. By this, differences of conditions and of various circumstances are shown to us but not limits and boundaries and successions of ages. “The Day of the Lord is great and very terrible,” it is said.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE HEXAEMERON 2:8
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Joel 2:11
In notable fashion has Scripture spoken of a “day,” not the “first day.” Because a second, then a third day, and finally the remaining days were to follow, a “first day” could have been mentioned, following in this way the natural order. But Scripture established a law that twenty-four hours, including day and night, should be given the name of day only, as if one were to say the length of one day is twenty-four hours in extent. In such fashion, also, is the generation of men reckoned, which is understood to include that of women also. Because what is secondary is bound up with what is primary, the nights in this reckoning are considered to be component parts of the days that are counted. Therefore, just as there is a single revolution of time, so there is but one day. There are many who call even a week one day, because it returns to itself, just as one day does, and one might say seven times revolves back on itself. This is the form of a circle, to begin with itself and to return to itself. Hence Scripture speaks at times of an age of the world. Although in other passages there is a mention of an age, there Scripture seems to mean the diversities in public and private affairs: “For the Day of the Lord is great and glorious.” And elsewhere: “What avail is it to you to seek the Day of the Lord?” And here is meant darkness and not light, for it is clear that that day when innocence will gleam forth and guilt be tormented is dark to those who are conscious of evil deeds and unworthy acts. Moreover, Scripture teaches us that the everlasting day of eternal reward is to be one in which there is no interchange or intermission of day and night.

Source: SIX DAYS OF CREATION 1:10.37
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Joel 2:11
When a maidservant is rebelling but then sees her master coming, she grows humble and returns to her good behavior. So too the paralytic’s body had revolted like the maidservant, and this caused the paralysis. But when the body saw its master coming near, it returned to its good behavior and resumed its proper discipline. And the word of Christ accomplished all this. Yet the words were not mere words but the words of God, of which the prophet said, “The works of his words are mighty.” For if God’s words made humankind when they did not exist, much more will they make humanity whole again and restore it to health even though it has grown feeble and weak with disease?

Source: AGAINST THE ANOMOEANS, HOMILY 12:29
[AD 160] Shepherd of Hermas on Joel 2:12
“I, the angel of repentance, am telling you, Do not fear the devil. For I have been sent,” he said, “to be on the side of you who repent with your whole heart and to steady you in the faith. Put your faith in God, you who despair of your life because of your sins, you who add to your sins and make your life burdensome. Trust that if you turn to the Lord with your whole heart and do righteousness for the rest of your life, serving him uprightly in accordance with his will, he will provide a remedy for your previous failings, and you will obtain the power of mastering the devil’s snares. Do not be in the least afraid of the devil’s threats, for they are as powerless as a dead man’s sinews. Listen to me: Fear him who has power to save and to destroy. Keep all the mandates, and you will live to God.” I said to him, “Sir, I have now gained strength in all the justifications of the Lord, because you are on my side. I know that you will break down all the devil’s power and we shall have the mastery over him and overcome all his snares. Sir, I now hope, with the Lord’s help, to be able to keep these mandates you have given.” “You will keep them,” he said, “if your heart is made pure to the Lord. All those, also, who cleanse their hearts of the vain desires of this world will keep them and will live to God.”

Source: MANDATE 11:6
[AD 420] Jerome on Joel 2:12-14
(Verse 12 and following) Now therefore says the Lord: Turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning; and tear your hearts, not your clothing, and turn to the Lord your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and relents from punishing. Who knows if he will turn and forgive, and leave a blessing behind him, a sacrifice and offering to the Lord your God? LXX: And now says the Lord our God: Turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, with sackcloth, with weeping, and with mourning; and tear your hearts, not your clothing, and turn to the Lord your God; for he is merciful and compassionate, patient and full of mercy, and repents of evil. Who knows if he will turn and have mercy on him, and leave behind him a blessing, sacrifice, and offering to the Lord our God? The beginning chapter from the place where it is written: Blow the trumpet in Zion, shout in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the earth be troubled, until that place where we read: Great is the day of the Lord and very terrible, who shall be able to endure it? By the translation of locusts, it announces the coming of the Chaldeans, and what evil things are to come to the people. Now it provokes them to repentance, and exhorts them to turn to the Lord, so that, being corrected in their whole mind, they do not suffer what the Lord threatens, and the sense is: All the things that are contained in the previous discourse, therefore I have spoken, so that I might terrify you with my threat. But convert to me with your whole heart, and show repentance of the mind with fasting and weeping and lamentation; so that now, fasting, you may afterwards be satisfied; now, weeping, you may afterwards laugh; now, lamenting, you may afterwards be comforted. And because it is customary, in times of sadness and adversity, to tear one's garments, as the high priest is mentioned to have done to increase the guilt of the Savior in the Gospel (Matthew 26), and as we read that Paul and Barnabas, upon hearing words of blasphemy, did (Acts 14); therefore, I command you, never tear your garments, but rather the hearts that are full of sins, which, like wineskins, will burst open if they are not torn willingly. And when you have done this, return to your Lord God, whom your previous sins have made a stranger to you: and do not despair of the forgiveness of sins because of their magnitude; for great mercy will wipe away great sins. For He is kind and merciful, preferring the repentance of sinners to their death, patient and abundant in mercy, not imitating human impatience; but waiting for our repentance for a long time: and He is steadfast, whether the sinner repents of his wickedness, so that if we repent of our sins and He repents of His threats, He will not inflict the evils He has threatened, and by the change of our decision, He Himself will change. However, in this place, we should not consider malice contrary to virtue, but rather affliction, according to what we read elsewhere: Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof (Matt. VI, 34). And: If there is malice in the city, which the Lord does not bring (Amos III, 6). Similarly, because he had said above, kind and merciful, patient and abundant in mercy, and excellent, or repentant over malice, lest the greatness of mercy make us negligent, he joins in the person of the Prophet and says: Who knows whether he will turn and forgive, and leave behind a blessing? I exhort, he says, that which is mine, to repentance, and I know that God is ineffably merciful, saying with David: Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy, and according to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my iniquity (Psalm 50, 1, 2). But because we cannot comprehend the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, I hesitate and wish rather than presume, saying: who knows if he will turn and forgive? What someone says, either it is impossible or difficult must be felt: Sacrifice and offering to the Lord our God, so that after he has given the blessing and forgiven our sins, we may be able to offer sacrifices to God.

Source: Commentary on Joel
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Joel 2:12
Our Lord and Savior exhorts us through the prophet and advises us how we ought to come to him after much negligence, saying, “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord who made us”; and again, “Return to me with your whole heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” If we notice carefully, dearest brethren, the holy days of Lent signify the life of the present world, just as Easter prefigures eternal bliss. Now just as we have a kind of sadness in Lent in order that we may rightly rejoice at Easter, so as long as we live in this world we ought to do penance in order that we may be able to receive pardon for our sins in the future and arrive at eternal joy. Each one ought to sigh over his or her own sins, shed tears and give alms in such a way that with God’s help he may always try to avoid the same faults as long as he lives. Just as there never has been, is not now and never will be a soul without slight sins, so with the help and assistance of God we ought to be altogether without serious sins.

Source: SERMON 198:1
[AD 258] Cyprian on Joel 2:13
Let each one confess his sin, I beseech you, brethren, while he who has sinned is still in this world, while his confession can be admitted, while the satisfaction and remission effected through the priest is pleasing with the Lord. Let us turn to the Lord with our whole mind, and, expressing repentance for our sin with true grief, let us implore God’s mercy. Let the soul prostrate itself before him; let sorrow give satisfaction to him; let our every hope rest upon him. He himself tells how we ought to ask. He says, “Return to me with all your hearts, in fasting and in weeping, and in mourning, and rend your hearts, not your garments.” Let us return to the Lord with a whole heart; let us placate his wrath and displeasure by fastings, weepings and mournings, as he himself admonishes.

Source: Treatise III. On the Lapsed 29
[AD 391] Pacian of Barcelona on Joel 2:13
Another disease is added to the original cause and a new wound inflicted, and all that is contrary is applied, all that is dangerous is drunk. Under this evil especially does this brotherhood toil, adding new sins on top of old faults. Therefore it has burst forth into vice, and more grievously still, is now racked by a most destructive wasting disease. What then shall I now do, I who as priest am compelled to cure? It is very late in such cases. But even so, if there is any one of you who can bear to be cut and cauterized, I can still do it. Behold the scalpel of the prophet: “Return,” he says, “to the Lord your God and together with fasting and weeping and mourning rend your hearts.” Do not fear this incision, dearly beloved. David bore it. He lay in filthy ashes and had his appearance disfigured by a covering of rough sackcloth. He who had once been accustomed to precious stones and to the purple clothed his soul in fasting. He whom the seas, the forests, the rivers used to serve, and to whom the bountiful land promised wealth, now consumed in floods of tears those eyes with which he had beheld the glory of God. This ancestor of Mary, the ruler of the Jewish kingdom, confessed that he was unhappy and wretched.

Source: ON PENITENTS 8:2
[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Joel 2:13
“Rend your hearts, not your garments,” that is, have recourse to thoughts of compunction, soften the obduracy of your thinking, accept beneficial advice, abandon the way of vice and travel by that way which leads directly to God. After all, many are the founts of compassion and mercy that flow from him, and in his exercise of longsuffering he is not in the custom of putting his threats into effect. In fact, he indicated as much by saying “repenting of the troubles,” that is, by instilling dread by the threats of punishment, and by the changes in human beings for the better transforming the threats into something pleasant. The God of all, you see, does not intend one thing at one time and another thing at another, or like us repent of what he does. Rather, while making threats he has mercy within himself, and he offers it to those who are sorry for their sins, and while making promises of good things he knows those who are good and those who are unworthy of his gifts, extending them to the former and giving to the latter the opposite of what he promises.

Source: COMMENTARY ON JOEL 2:13
[AD 533] Fulgentius of Ruspe on Joel 2:13
How well does the holy prophet teach that the seeds of good works must be watered by a river of tears! No seeds germinate unless they are watered; nor does fruit come forth from the seed if deprived of the aid of water. Accordingly, we too, if we wish to keep the fruits of our seeds, let us not stop watering our seeds with tears that must be poured out more from the heart than from the body. Therefore it is said to us through the prophet that we rend “our hearts and not our garments,” something we can do when we recall that we ourselves, even if not in deed, frequently sin at least in thought. Because the “earthly tent burdens the thoughtful mind” and our land does not cease to produce thorns and thistles for us. We are unable to get to eating our bread, unless we will have been worn out by weariness and the sweat of our brow.

Source: LETTER 9
[AD 390] Gregory of Nazianzus on Joel 2:14
We should enter his house in sackcloth and lament night and day between the porch and the altar, in piteous array, and with more piteous voices. [We should] cry aloud without ceasing on behalf of ourselves and the people, sparing nothing, either toil or word, which may propitiate God. [We should] say, “Spare, O Lord, your people, and give not your heritage to reproach,” and the rest of our prayer; surpassing the people in our sense of the affliction as much as in our rank, instructing them in our own persons in compunction and correction of wickedness, and in the consequent longsuffering of God, and cessation of the scourge. Come then, all of you, my brethren, “let us worship and fall down, and weep before the Lord our maker”; let us appoint a public mourning in our various ages and families; let us raise the voice of supplication. Let this, instead of the cry which he hates, enter into the ears of the Lord of Sabbaoth. Let us anticipate his anger by confession;13 let us desire to see him appeased, after [his wrath]. Who knows, he says, if he will turn and choose again, and leave a blessing behind him?

Source: ON HIS FATHER’S SILENCE, ORATION 16:13–14
[AD 850] Ishodad of Merv on Joel 2:14
The prophet in effect says what you need to do. I know, however, that you will not really repent before you are deported. But, when you would have done penance for your sins after being punished by captivity, then God will take care of you and will bring you back to your land.

Source: COMMENTARY ON JOEL
[AD 373] Athanasius of Alexandria on Joel 2:15
Since, as I said, there are many kinds of proclamations, let us listen to the trumpet blast of the prophet: “Blow a trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast.” This is a warning trumpet, and it earnestly commands us that when we fast, we should do it in a holy manner, for God is holy and has pleasure in his holy people. Not everyone, however, who calls upon God honors him. Some defile him—although they don’t actually defile him: that’s impossible. But they do defile their own consciences concerning him. The apostle Paul tells us how it is that some people dishonor God: those who break the law dishonor God. So the prophet said, in order to point out those who pollute the fast, “Sanctify a fast.” Many people, though they go through the motions of a fast, are still polluted in their hearts because they do evil against their brothers and sisters or because they dare to cheat. And many, if nothing else, think more highly of themselves than of their neighbors, thereby committing a great offense.

Source: FESTAL LETTERS 1
[AD 420] Jerome on Joel 2:15-17
(Verse 15 and following) Blow the trumpet in Zion: sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the people: sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and those who still nurse at the breast. Let the bridegroom come out of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet: between the porch and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say: Spare, O Lord (Vulgate adds, spare), your people, and do not let your heritage become a reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why do they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?' LXX: Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babes; let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, and the bride from her dressing room. Between the vestibule and the altar, let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say: 'Spare Your people, O Lord, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'" } Still he exhorts them to repentance, before the enemy army comes. Above, he said: Blow the trumpet in Zion, wail on my holy mountain, and so on, because the day of the Lord is coming, the day of darkness and gloom, the day of clouds and whirlwinds, announcing to you a numerous and powerful people that will come, which will overthrow your possessions and cities. Now because I am kind and merciful, patient, and abundant in mercy, I again command and say: Blow the trumpet in Zion, and preach repentance to the peoples; sanctify the fasting, preach healing, or gathering, of which we have already spoken: gather the people, so that the one who had sinned by being dispersed, having been gathered, may cease to sin. Sanctify the Church so that no one in the Church is not holy, lest your prayers be hindered and a small amount of yeast corrupts the whole batch (I Cor. V). Unite or choose elders, so that it is not age but holiness that is chosen in them. Also gather little children and those nursing at the breast, so that there is no age that does not turn to the Lord. Little children and infants, of whom we read in the Psalms and in the Gospel: 'From the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise' (Psalm VIII, 3; Matthew XXI, 16). Petrus says about those who are nourished with milk without guile or deceit (1 Peter 2), to whom Paul also speaks: I gave you milk to drink, not solid food (1 Corinthians 3:2), whom the Savior also mentions: Do not despise one of these little ones (Matthew 18:10). Let the bridegroom also come out of his chamber, and the bride out of her bridal chamber, so that in the time of fasting, calling, assembly, sanctification of the Church, election of the elders, gathering of the little children and those who suck the breast, the bridegroom and bride do not serve the wedding work, as it is allowed by the Law, not to go to war. Therefore, the Apostle commanded that we should temporarily abstain from sexual relations in order to devote ourselves to prayer (1 Corinthians 7). So, someone who claims to be doing penance through self-discipline, fasting, and almsgiving, promises in vain unless they leave their bed and fulfill chaste repentance with a holy and pure fast. And what follows: 'Between the vestibule and the altar, the priests will weep.' For the vestibule, some have interpreted it as 'seventy steps,' others as 'the porch,' and Theodotion as 'the entrance hall.' It is what we can call the area in front of the temple doors and portico. And note what the (others, that) priests who are ministers of the Lord should do, that they should weep between the temple and the altar, and say with the Apostle: Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not burned? (II Cor. XI, 29) And: Weep with those who weep. And the suitable place for repentance and confession is the temple and the altar: and it teaches what the priests should say, or rather how to pray to the Lord: Spare, O Lord, your people; when they sinned, they were called not your people: now that they have turned away from vices, they are called your people. And do not give your inheritance into disgrace, so that nations may rule over them. The hidden riddle has been revealed. For that people, numerous and strong, who are described by the names of locusts, and caterpillars, and worms, and rust, are now shown more clearly who they are: So that nations may rule over them, He says. But the inheritance of the Lord is given into disgrace when they have served their enemies and the nations have said: Where is their God, whom they boasted to be their ruler and defender? We can interpret nations and opposing powers, which as long as we do not repent, dominate us, and reproach and say: Where is their God? The Jews refer this place to Gog and Magog, the most savage nations, which they say will come against Israel in the last days, as is more fully written in Ezekiel.

Source: Commentary on Joel
[AD 420] Jerome on Joel 2:15
If these [vessels] were approved by the Lord it was at a time when the priests had to offer victims and when the blood of sheep was the redemption of sins. They were figures typifying things still future and were “written for our admonitions upon whom the ends of the world are come.” But now our Lord by his poverty has consecrated the poverty of his house. Let us, therefore, think of his cross and count riches to be but dirt. Why do we admire what Christ calls “the mammon of unrighteousness”? Why do we cherish and love what it is Peter’s boast not to possess? Or if we insist on keeping to the letter and find the mention of gold and wealth so pleasing, let us keep to everything else as well as the gold. Let the bishops of Christ be bound to marry wives, who must be virgins. Let the best-intentioned priest be deprived of his office if he bears a scar and is disfigured. Let bodily leprosy be counted worse than spots on the soul. Let us be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, but let us slay no lamb and celebrate no mystic Passover, for where there is no temple, the law forbids these acts. Let us pitch tents in the seventh month25 and noise abroad a solemn fast with the sound of a horn.

Source: LETTER 52:10
[AD 461] Leo the Great on Joel 2:16
Devout fasting has a very great value for gaining the mercy of God and for strengthening human frailty. We know this from the teaching of holy prophets, dearly beloved. They insist that the arousal of divine justice—which the people of Israel frequently brought upon themselves in punishment for their wickedness—could not be placated except by fasting. Joel the prophet warns us in saying, “The Lord God says these things: ‘Turn to me with all your heart, in fasting, in weeping and in mourning. Rend your hearts, and not your garments. Be converted to the Lord your God, because he is merciful and patient and magnanimous and rich in mercy.’ ” At another point, the same prophet says, “Make a holy fast, preach healing, call together the people, make holy the assembly.” This exhortation, dearly beloved, is what we must embrace in our times also. We must of necessity preach the remedy of this healing, so that Christian devotion in the observance of that ancient means for sanctification might acquire what the Jewish transgression lost.

Source: SERMON 88:1
[AD 535] Eugippius on Joel 2:16
He addressed them piously. “Have you not read,” he said, “what divine authority has prescribed to a sinful people through the prophet: ‘Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting and in weeping,’ and a little later: ‘Sanctify a fast,’ he says, ‘call an assembly, gather the congregation,’ and all that follows? Therefore, fulfill with worthy actions what you teach, that you may perhaps escape the evil of the present time. And let nobody, on any account, go out on his field as if he could ward off the locusts by human effort, lest God’s wrath be provoked even more.” Without delay everybody gathered in the church, and they all, each in his place, recited the psalms, as was the custom. Every age and sex, even those who could not yet speak, offered a prayer to God with tears, alms were given unceasingly, and every good work that the present emergency demanded was carried out as had been prescribed by the servant of God. THE LIFE OF ST.

Source: SEVERIN 12
[AD 390] Gregory of Nazianzus on Joel 2:17
Who will cry aloud, “Spare your people, O Lord, and do not give your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them”? Noah, Job and Daniel stood together as men of prayer. Who will pray for us, that we might have a slight respite from warfare and recover ourselves?

Source: IN DEFENSE OF HIS FLIGHT TO PONTUS, ORATION 2:89
[AD 420] Jerome on Joel 2:18-21
(Verse 18 and following) The Lord was zealous for His land, and spared His people. And the Lord answered and said to His people: Behold, I will send you grain and wine and oil, and you will be filled with them, and I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations. And I will remove him who is from the north far away from you, and I will drive him into a dry and desolate land: his face will be towards the eastern sea, and his end towards the western sea. And his stench will rise up, and his rottenness, for he has acted arrogantly. LXX: And the Lord was jealous for his land and spared his people and the Lord answered and said to his people: Behold, I will send you grain and wine and oil, and you will be filled with them, and I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations, and I will drive away the one from the north and bring him into a land that is without water, and I will destroy his face in the first sea and his hind parts in the last sea: and his stench will rise, and his decay will rise, because his works are magnified. After the priests prayed for the people and said: Spare, Lord, your people, and do not give your inheritance into reproach, and the people did what was commanded, to sanctify the fast, to preach healing, to gather (or compel) the multitude, to sanctify the Church, to choose the old men, to gather the little ones and those suckling at the breast, and for the bridegroom to go forth from his bed, and the bride from her chamber, and to serve not the flesh and pleasure, but the soul and tears. The Lord was zealous for his land, which he had previously treated as if it were foreign, and he had allowed the locusts to devastate it. He had spared the repentant ones so much that he made them worthy of his response and said, 'Because the locusts, the cankerworm, and the mildew have destroyed all your crops, I will give you grain and everything else that the prophet has described, and I will not deliver you to captivity again. I will also keep the Assyrians and the Chaldeans from the north, especially those from Babylon, far away from you.' As it is written, 'A numerous and mighty people, with fire devouring before them and flames burning behind them, like the appearance of horses.' And I will cast him into a land of solitude, says he, and his former parts shall fall into the Eastern Sea, and his latter parts into the Western Sea, and his stench shall ascend, that is, the one from the North, and his decay, because he has acted arrogantly. Often I have heard it said under the figure of the flight of locusts to describe the assault of the Chaldeans, by which Judaea was laid waste. Therefore, he keeps the metaphor in the remaining parts, and he speaks in this way, according to the location of the province, as if he seems to refer not to enemies, but to locusts. Even in our times, we have seen swarms of locusts cover the land of Judea, which later, with the mercy of the Lord, were driven by the wind into the sea, between the vestibule and the altar, that is, between the place of the cross and the resurrection, while the priests and the people were praying to the Lord and saying: Spare your people. The first and the last were cast into the sea. Understand the first sea that is near the desert and faces the East, which is the place where there were once Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which is now called the Dead Sea because no living creatures exist there." } But the western sea, which leads to Egypt, has on its shore Gaza, Ascalon, Azotus, Joppa, Caesarea, and other coastal cities. And when the shores of both seas were filled with heaps of dead locusts disgorged by the waters, the stench and decay of them was so harmful that it corrupted the air, and a pestilence arose affecting both animals and humans. The learned reader may inquire where this was done literally regarding the Chaldeans. Not long after these prophecies were made, as we read in Isaiah, one hundred eighty-five thousand Chaldeans were struck down by a raging angel in one night under the reign of King Hezekiah (Isa. XXXVII). This we will say according to history. However, according to allegory, every soul is the Lord's earth, in which the father of a family sows his seed, which when it grows among the wheat produces weeds, that is, oats and darnel, and offends its Lord. But afterwards it repents, and with weeping says: Spare, O Lord, your people. The Lord is zealous for his earth, and he will spare it, which he had previously despised, and he addresses it with his own words, saying: I will send you grain, of which it is written: Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces many fruits (John XII): and wine that gladdens the heart of man, and oil that makes the face shine, so that the old sorrow of sins may be tempered by the joy of wheat and wine and oil, that is, the joy of virtues, and they will have such an abundance of all good things that they will be filled and satisfied. And when they have achieved this, they will never be handed over as a reproach to the nations about whom the Apostle speaks: Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual wickedness in the celestial places (Ephesians 6:12). Also, the one who is from the north (about whom Jeremiah speaks: From the north evil will be kindled on all the inhabitants of the earth (Jeremiah 1:14): about whom Solomon also writes: The north wind is extremely harsh). I will remove him far away from you, and I will expel him into an uninhabited and deserted land, which has no knowledge of God, in which the Holy Spirit does not dwell. And his appearance will be in the first and last sea, among those who have opened the door of sin for him, and with whom he will remain until the end of his life, and its stench and decay even rises against those who promise great things to themselves, and they fall because of their pride: for human frailty is never secure, and the more we grow in virtues, the more we ought to fear falling from the heights. According to the letter, the swarms of locusts are more often brought by the south wind than the north wind, that is, they do not come from cold, but from heat: but since he was speaking about the Assyrians, putting the similitude of locusts, he included the north wind, so that we understand not a true locust, which usually comes from the south, but under the locust we understand the Assyrians and Chaldeans.

Source: Commentary on Joel
[AD 585] Cassiodorus on Joel 2:20
Joel, the prophet, offers evidence about [the devil] with these words: “And I will remove far off from you the northern one, and I will drive him into the land thirsty and desert, and I shall expel his face into the nearest sea and his hinder parts into the utmost sea.” We thank you, Lord, for this arrangement. What would the devil do if free, when he afflicts the world when bound?

Source: EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 36:35
[AD 850] Ishodad of Merv on Joel 2:20
“I will remove the northerner,” both the Assyrian and Babylonian. Someone may ask, “Since for its position Babylon is not situated north of Jerusalem, why does God say through the prophet, ‘I will remove the northerner far from you’ and ‘Out of the north evil shall break forth upon’ these people”? And we answer that first of all, these words are not said in consideration of the geographical position of Babylon and Jerusalem but of those northern nations subject to the Babylonians—the Arzanites, the Araratites2—who will come down to Jerusalem with the Babylonians. Second, it is because those who want to reach Jerusalem from the regions of Babylon, Persia and the east go up toward the region of the north and then come down toward Jerusalem in the south.

Source: COMMENTARY ON JOEL
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Joel 2:20
The northern enemy: Some understand this of Holofernes and his army: others, of the locusts.
[AD 220] Tertullian on Joel 2:22
David said that “the Lord would reign from the tree.” Elsewhere too the prophet predicts the fruit of this tree, saying, “The earth has given its blessings”6—of course that virgin earth, not yet irrigated with rains or fertilized by showers, out of which humanity was of old first formed, out of which now Christ through the flesh has been born of a virgin. “And the tree bears its fruit”—not that tree in paradise, which yielded death to the first humans, but the tree of the passion of Christ, whence life, hanging, you did not believe!

Source: ANSWER TO THE JEWS 12
[AD 311] Methodius of Olympus on Joel 2:22
For the fig tree, on account of its sweetness and richness, represents the delights of humankind, which they had in paradise before the Fall. Indeed, not rarely, as we shall afterwards show, the Holy Spirit takes the fruit of the fig tree as an emblem of goodness. But the vine, on account of the gladness produced by wine and the joy of those who were saved from wrath and from deluge, signifies the change produced from fear and anxiety into joy. Moreover, the olive, on account of the oil which it produces, indicates the compassion of God, who again, after the deluge, bore patiently when people turned aside to ungodliness, so that he gave them the law and manifested himself to some, and nourished by oil the light of virtue, now almost extinguished.

Source: BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS 10:2
[AD 420] Jerome on Joel 2:22-27
(Verse 22 onwards) Do not be afraid, O land; rejoice and be glad, for the Lord has done great things. Do not fear, you animals of the field, for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches. Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains for your vindication. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm — my great army that I sent among you. My strength is great, which I have sent upon you: and you will eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of your God, who has worked wonders with us, and my people will not be put to shame forever. And you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and I am the Lord your God, and there is no other, and my people will not be put to shame forever. Rejoice, O earth, and be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has magnified and done great things: believe, O animals of the field, for the meadows of the wilderness have put forth their greenery, because the tree has produced its fruit, the fig tree and the vine have given their strength. And the children of Zion, rejoice and be glad in the Lord your God, for He has given you the food of righteousness, and has showered upon you a timely and late rain, as in the beginning, and the barns will be filled with wheat, and the vats will overflow with wine and oil. And I will compensate you for the years in which the locust, the beetle, the mildew, and the caterpillar have consumed your crops. My great strength, which I have sent upon you, will sustain you and you will eat and be satisfied. You will praise the name of your God, who has done wonders with you, and my people will never be put to shame. You will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and I am the Lord your God, and there is no other besides me. And my people will never be put to shame. He now promises the opposite of what he had threatened above. He had said before: the fire consumes the beautiful things of the desert, and the flame sets ablaze all the wood of the region, and the beasts of the field, like a dry patch of land, look up to you as they thirst for rain: because the springs of water have dried up, and the fire has devoured the beautiful things of the desert. Now he mitigates sadness with joy, and turns tears into laughter. Do not be afraid, he says, animals of the region: because the beautiful things of the desert have budded forth: because the tree has brought forth its fruit, the fig and the vine have given their power: and there will be such abundance of all things, that there will by no means be a lack of wheat, wine and oil for you to be satisfied with; but the threshing floors will be filled with wheat, and the wine presses will overflow with wine and oil, so that you may not only eat for yourselves, but also be able to provide for others. To the sons of Zion also He speaks specially, that they may exult and rejoice, not in any trivial thing; but in the Lord their God, who has given them the nourishment of righteousness. And as the Seventy have translated it, He gives them both the early and the late rain, that they may eat and be glad, and praise the name of their Lord God, who has done wonders with them, and that they may by no means be put to shame; and that they may know that the Lord God of Israel dwells among them, and besides Him there is no other, for the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father; and His people will not be put to shame forever. We believe that these things happened literal, because they were promised by the Lord, and that the past sterility was compensated by new crops: so that whatever the locust, the cankerworm, the mildew, and the caterpillar had consumed, would be replenished in the following years. We wonder why the caterpillar is called the strength, or virtue of the Lord, and not only virtue, but great virtue? How was the power of God shown in the plagues of the Egyptians by small animals, especially the gnats, which are such small mosquitoes that they can hardly be seen with the eyes. Thus, now, in a small and slow-moving little worm, which can barely move and is crushed by a light touch, the power of God and the frailty of humans are demonstrated. Not that God cannot overturn the earth and cover everything with a flood, or consume everything with lightning at His command and the majesty of His power; but He shows human frailty through small, and, so to speak, tiny bodies. Therefore, we often respond to Marcion and other heretics who tear apart the old Testament, that God made even fleas and mosquitoes and bugs, and creatures like them, in order to show the frailty and weakness of our flesh, which is so insignificant that it is wounded by such small things. But if a slow and tiny caterpillar is stronger than a human, why does the earth and ashes, being from which man is called, boast? Some interpret this place as follows: On the right and on the left, we read the virtues and powers of God, which the Greeks call δυνάμεις. On the right, Seraphim and Cherubim, and all the angelic powers; on the left, opposing strengths, of which it is written: He sent upon them the wrath of his indignation, anger, and tribulation, by sending evil angels (Ps. LXXVII, 49); of which Micheas also speaks in the book of Kings: I saw the Lord God of Israel sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left (3 Kings XXIII). I think the left spirit was the one who went out and stood before the Lord and said, 'I will deceive Ahab and go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.' To the power that was suitable for deceiving and skilled in causing destruction, and had deceived many before, God speaks: 'You will deceive and prevail, go out and do so.' That spirit who tormented Saul, about whom his servants said, 'Behold, an evil spirit from God is afflicting you' (1 Samuel 16:15), was from the left side, they minister to the Lord to punish those who have deserved to suffer for their sins. For not only are men ministers and avengers of His wrath upon those who do evil, and not without cause do they bear the sword; but there are also contrary powers, which are called the fury and wrath of God, which the prophet, declining, says: Lord, do not rebuke me in Your fury, nor chastise me in Your anger (Ps. 6:1). The Apostle delivered such (so to speak) interrogators and torturers to destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might be saved (1 Cor. 5), of whom Satan is, to whom he delivered others to learn not to blaspheme (1 Tim. 1)." } These things about the caterpillar, why it is called the power of God. Let us move on to the order of spiritual intelligence: Do not be afraid, O earth, indeed trust and rejoice, you who had previously lost the Lord's seed with your dryness: for the Lord has magnified, so as to show mercy to you, to such an extent that even the animals of the region and the deserted solitude are filled with joyful new growth, and the wood of the cross bears its fruit, and the sweetest gifts of the Holy Spirit bestow their abundance to all. You also, whom I rightly call sons of Zion and of the Church after repentance, rejoice and be glad; for God the Father has given you a teacher of righteousness or has granted you the nourishment of righteousness, and has caused the rains of temporal and late (Isa. XXX) to come down upon you. Rain is said to be late when we first receive the rain of doctrine; it is said to be late when we receive the fruits of our labor and attain to a perfect knowledge of the holy Scriptures. There may be temporary and late rain, the old and new Testament received. And not only that, he said, he did not only give this; but he made you abound with new fruits of virtues, and be satisfied and intoxicated with wheat, wine and oil, of which we have often spoken. And the years that you had lost in disturbances under the previous rulers, when your works had been consumed by locusts, weevils, rust and caterpillars, God did not allow you to perish. Then you shall eat the fruits of righteousness, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has done wonders with you. But if after such great repentance God promises such abundance of all things, what will Novatus, denying repentance and the possibility of sinners being restored to their former state if they perform worthy works of repentance, answer? For God receives penitents to such an extent that He calls them His people and does not in any way claim that they are to be confounded; and promises to dwell among them and that they shall not have any other God but Him; rather, they will trust in Him with their whole hearts, who will abide in them forever.

Source: Commentary on Joel
[AD 56] Romans on Joel 2:28-32
For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. [Joel 2:28-32]
[AD 62] Acts on Joel 2:28-32
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God,I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. [Joel 2:28-32] Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
[AD 165] Justin Martyr on Joel 2:28-29
I have already affirmed, and I repeat, that it had been predicted that he would do this after his ascension into heaven. It was said, therefore, “He ascended on high; he led captivity captive; he gave gifts to the sons of men.” And in another prophecy it is said, “And it shall come to pass after this, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and upon my servants and upon my handmaids, and they shall prophesy.”

Source: DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO 87
[AD 220] Tertullian on Joel 2:28-29
You hold to the Scriptures in which the flesh is disparaged; receive also those in which it is ennobled. You read whatever passage abases it. Now direct your eyes also to that which elevates it. “All flesh is grass.” Well, but Isaiah was not content to say only this; he also declared, “All flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Then notice what God says in Genesis: “My spirit shall not remain among these men, because they are flesh”; but then he is also heard saying by Joel, “I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh.” Even the apostle ought not to be known for any one statement in which he is inclined to reproach the flesh. Admittedly he says that “in his flesh dwells no good thing” and “they who are in the flesh cannot please God,” because “the flesh lusts against the Spirit.” Yet in these and similar assertions that he makes, it is not the substance of the flesh, but its actions, which are censured. Moreover, we shall elsewhere take occasion to remark that no reproaches can fairly be cast upon the flesh without tending also to the castigation of the soul, which compels the flesh to do its bidding. However, let me meanwhile add that in the same passage Paul “carries about in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” He also forbids our body to be profaned, since it is “the temple of God.” He makes our bodies “the members of Christ.” And he exhorts us to exalt and “glorify God in our body.” If, therefore, the humiliations of the flesh do not prevent its resurrection, why wouldn’t its high prerogatives avail to bringing it about? It better suits the character of God to restore to salvation what for a while he rejected, than to surrender to perditions what he once approved.

Source: ON THE RESURRECTION OF THE FLESH 10
[AD 220] Tertullian on Joel 2:28-29
We declare, then, that dreams are inflicted on us mainly by demons, although they sometimes turn out true and favorable to us. When, however, with the deliberate aim after evil, of which we have just spoken, they assume a flattering and captivating style, they show themselves proportionately vain, and deceitful, and obscure, and wanton, and impure. And no wonder that the images partake of the character of the realities. But from God—who has promised, indeed, “to pour out the grace of the Holy Spirit upon all flesh, and has ordained that his servants and his handmaids should see visions as well as utter prophecies”—must all those visions be regarded as emanating. [Those visions] may be compared with the actual grace of God, as being honest, holy, prophetic, inspired, instructive, inviting to virtue, the bountiful nature of which causes them to overflow even to the profane, since God, with grand impartiality, “sends his showers and sunshine on the just and on the unjust.”

Source: ON THE SOUL 47
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Joel 2:28-29
Now we are of the opinion that every rational creature, without any distinction, receives a share of him in the same way as of the wisdom and of the word of God. I observe, however, that the chief advent of the Holy Spirit is declared to people after the ascension of Christ into heaven, rather than before his coming into the world. For before that, it was on the prophets alone, and on a few individuals, if there happened to be among the people any deserving, that the gift of the Holy Spirit was conferred. But after the advent of the Savior, it is written that the prediction of the prophet Joel was fulfilled: “In the last days it shall come to pass, and I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and they shall prophesy,” which is similar to the well-known statement, “All nations shall serve him.” By the grace, then, of the Holy Spirit, along with numerous other results, this most glorious consequence is clearly demonstrated. With regard to those things which were written in the prophets or in the law of Moses, it was only a few persons at that time, namely, the prophets themselves, and scarcely another individual out of the whole nation, who were able to look beyond the mere corporeal meaning and discover something greater, something spiritual, in the law or in the prophets. But now there are countless multitudes of believers who, although unable to unfold methodically and clearly the results of their spiritual understanding, are nevertheless most firmly persuaded that neither ought circumcision to be understood literally, nor the rest of the sabbath, nor the pouring out of the blood of an animal, nor that answers were given by God to Moses on these points. And this method of apprehension is undoubtedly suggested to the minds of all by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Source: ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 2:7.2
[AD 258] Novatian on Joel 2:28-29
Next, well-ordered reason and the authority of our faith bid us (in the words and the writings of our Lord set down in orderly fashion) to believe, after these things, also in the Holy Spirit, who was in the times past promised to the church and duly bestowed at the appointed, favorable moment. He was promised by the prophet Joel but bestowed through Christ. “In the last days,” says the prophet, “I will pour out from my spirit upon my servants and handmaids.” And the Lord himself said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Source: ON THE TRINITY 29
[AD 380] Apostolic Constitutions on Joel 2:28-29
Since, therefore, he has forsaken his people, he has also left his temple desolate, and rent the veil of the temple, and took from them the Holy Spirit, for says he, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” And he has bestowed upon you, the converted of the Gentiles, spiritual grace, as he says by Joel: “ ‘And it shall come to pass after these things,’ says God, ‘that I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons shall prophesy, and your daughters shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.’ ” For God has taken away all the power and efficacy of his Word and such like visitations from that people, and he has transferred it to you, the converted of the Gentiles. For on this account the devil himself is very angry with the holy church of God. He is removed to you and has raised against you adversities, seditions, and reproaches, schisms and heresies.

Source: CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 6:2.5
[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on Joel 2:28-29
And if you would receive a testimony also, “listen,” he says. “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass after this, says God, I will pour forth of my Spirit’ ”—and this word, ‘I will pour forth,’ implied a rich gift; ‘for God gives not the Spirit by measure for the Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand’; and he has given him the power also of bestowing the grace of the all-holy Spirit on whomever he will—“I will pour forth of my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy;” and afterward, “Yea, and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.” The Holy Spirit is no respecter of persons, for he seeks not dignities but piety of soul. Let neither the rich be puffed up nor the poor be dejected, but only let each prepare himself for reception of the heavenly gift.

Source: CATECHETICAL LECTURE 27:19
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Joel 2:28-29
But of what creature can it be said that it fills all things, as it is written of the Holy Spirit: “I will pour my Spirit upon all flesh”? This cannot be said of an angel. Lastly, Gabriel himself, when sent to Mary, said, “Hail, full of grace,” plainly declaring the grace of the Spirit which was in her, because the Holy Spirit had come upon her, and she was about to have her womb full of grace with the heavenly Word.

Source: ON THE HOLY SPIRIT 1:7.85
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Joel 2:28-29
But that the Spirit is the arbiter of the divine counsel, you may know even from this. For when we showed that the Holy Spirit was the Lord of baptism and read that baptism is the counsel of God, as you read, “But the Pharisees despised the counsel of God, not being baptized of him,” it is quite clear that as there can be no baptism without the Spirit, so too the counsel of God is not without the Spirit. And that we may know more completely that the Spirit is power, we ought to know that he was promised when the Lord said, “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.” He, then, who was promised to us is himself power, as in the Gospel the same Father of God declared when he said, “And I will send the promise of the Father upon you, but do you remain in the city until you are endued with power from on high.”

Source: ON THE HOLY SPIRIT 2:2.21
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Joel 2:28-29
On unessential points one must not spend many words. And besides, the sequel is enough to bear him out on this point, so now the discourse is for all in common. “ ‘But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel, and it shall come to pass in the last days,’ says the Lord God.” Nowhere as yet the name of Christ or his promise, but the promise is that of the Father.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 5
[AD 420] Jerome on Joel 2:28-31
(Verse 28 and following) And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Acts 2:17-19: 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; and also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke.' The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and illustrious day of the Lord comes. And it will be, that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. The blessed apostle Peter explained this passage fulfilled at the time of the Lord's passion, when the Holy Spirit descended on the believers on the day of Pentecost, and they spoke in tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance, so that those present marveled and said, 'Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own native language?' Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, and others; some were saying, 'What does this mean?' But others were mocking and saying, 'They are filled with new wine.' Then Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice, and declared to them: 'Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen carefully to my words. These people are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ' And it shall come to pass afterward, says the Lord: I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. And also on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls. From the beginning, therefore, until the place where it is written: 'Great is the day of the Lord and very terrible, and who can endure it?' it is a threat and description of what the Lord will inflict upon the sinful people. But from the place where we read: 'Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning,' until the place where it says: 'Why do they say among the peoples, "Where is their God?"' it is the exhortation of the Lord, calling for repentance after punishment and affliction. Again, from that place which follows: The Lord was zealous for his land and spared his people, and the Lord answered and said, even to the place where it is written: And my people shall not be put to shame forever, the promise of things to come is that they should await the good after they have repented. And after many things which it is now tedious to recount, these things also are said in the promise, which we now endeavor to explain: I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and the rest. I seem to myself to have saved the text of the conversation from the beginning up to this point. It is a great labor how what follows should be connected to what we are now discussing. Another [person] says what was generally promised in the last times is now partly completed. And because the apostles felt the reward of future [events] at the first coming of the Lord, they mentioned certain offerings and first fruits of miracles that had been fulfilled, so that until what is perfect comes, we would feel what had previously come in part. But another asserts that it is an apostolic tradition, according to what is written about a holy man: 'He will dispense his words in judgment' (Ps. CXI, 5): so that whatever useful things they saw to be for the listeners and not contradicting what is present, they would strengthen them with testimonies from another time, not that they would exploit the simplicity and ignorance of the listeners, as the impious Porphyrius calumniates, but according to the apostle Paul, they would preach at the right time, and at the wrong time (II Tim. IV). And the following is the rule of the prophets: whatever the Jews in the last times promise themselves carnally, they would say was fulfilled spiritually in the first coming of the Lord and Savior: especially since both they and we say that the promises were to be fulfilled in Christ, only differing in this, that they contend for future things, while we maintain that they have already happened: about which more should be discussed in what follows. But every flesh on which the Lord promises to pour out His Spirit, that is the flesh about which Isaiah speaks: And all flesh shall see the salvation of God (Isaiah 40:5). Therefore, the salvation of God cannot be seen unless the Holy Spirit is poured out. And whoever claims to believe in Christ, without believing in the Holy Spirit, will not have the eyes of perfect faith. Hence, in the Acts of the Apostles, those who had been baptized with the baptism of John, in the one who was to come, that is, in the name of the Lord Jesus, are re-baptized when they respond to Paul's question: 'But did you receive the Holy Spirit?' (Acts 19). Indeed, they receive true baptism, because without the Holy Spirit and the mystery of the Trinity, whatever is received into one or the other person is imperfect. But indeed, not everyone who receives the Holy Spirit will immediately have spiritual grace; but through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, they will obtain different graces (I Cor. XII). Some will receive prophecy, like sons and daughters who are of greater merit; others will have dreams, like the elderly of advanced age; others will have visions, like the young who have conquered evil. However, servants and handmaids who still have the spirit of fear, and not of love, because perfect love casts out fear, will not have prophecy, dreams, or visions; but, content with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, they will possess only the grace of faith and salvation. Then the Lord will give signs in the sky and on earth: in the sky, because the sun will turn into darkness, and the moon into blood; on earth, because the earth will shake so violently and unusually that tombs will be opened and rocks will be split. And what he says, blood and vapors, or the vapor of smoke, that blood is the one of which we read in the Psalms: That your foot may be dipped in blood (Psalm 47:24). And in Isaiah: How red are your garments (Isaiah 63:2)! And when, after striking the side of the Savior, the Roman soldier poured out mixed water (John 19). And the fire of the Holy Spirit, which descended from heaven, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles: Tongues as of fire appeared to them, and it sat on each one of them, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:3-4). This is the fire that the Lord came to send upon the earth, and before he suffered, he desired it to burn in his disciples (Luke 12). Fire is of a double nature: it has light for those who believe; it has darkness and punishment for unbelievers, who are called the fumes of smoke. This smoke is very bitter, which blinded the eyes of the Jews, as we read in the proverbs: 'As smoke is harmful to the eyes, and an unripe grape to the teeth, so is wickedness to those who use it' (Prov. X, 26). Isaiah also speaks about this smoke in a great vision, in which the blindness of the Jews was foretold: 'And the threshold has moved, and the house is filled with smoke.' Then it follows: Go, and tell this people: You shall indeed hear, but not understand; and you shall indeed see, but not perceive. For the heart of this people has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing (Isaiah VI, 9, 10). The sun also turns into darkness when it does not dare to see its hanging Lord, and the moon into blood, which we may believe happened according to history and was passed over in silence by the evangelists. For not everything that Jesus did is recorded, and if every single thing were written, I do not think that even the world itself could contain the books that would be written (John XXI). Certainly, when the sun was obscured in darkness, it was not because it had turned to darkness itself, but because it had brought darkness upon the world: thus, the moon was not turned to blood, but it condemned the Jews covered in horror of blasphemies and denial of Christ with the eternal testimony of its blood, saying: 'His blood be upon us, and upon our children' (Matthew 27:25). These are all things that are described as future before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. But this day of the Lord is to be believed as either great and terrible of the resurrection, or certainly, after a long time, a day of judgment, which is truly great and terrible. But since it follows: And it shall be, everyone who shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, and the apostle Paul refers this to the time of the Lord's passion, it is more to be understood of the day of resurrection. For he says in writing to the Romans: There is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? Or how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? (Rom. 10:12-15) And when it is said, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, let us not lightly esteem it, for although the same apostle writes: No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. (1 Cor. 12:3) Yet we must understand that to say this is not a matter of mere words, but of heartfelt faith. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So Paul and Sosthenes write to the Church of God which is in Corinth: Sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, together with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (I Cor. 1): according to what we read in the Psalms: Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those who call upon his name. They called upon the Lord, and he answered them; he spoke to them in the pillar of cloud (Ps. 99:9). So if it is written about the believing Corinthians, and about Moses and Aaron and Samuel, that they invoked the name of the Lord, let us believe that this grace is not for beginners but for those who have reached perfection. The word 'effusion', which is said in Hebrew Esphoch (), and which all have translated similarly, shows the abundance of the gift, that it has not descended upon a few Prophets (as it once did in the Old Testament), but upon all who believe in the name of the Savior, the gifts of the Holy Spirit: not just on this one or that one, but on all flesh. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female; for we are all one in Christ. (Romans 10). Therefore, Agabus prophesied in Caesarea (Acts 21), and there were many prophets in Antioch. The Apostle commands that if one person is prophesying and another has a revelation, the first should keep silent. (1 Corinthians 14). We also read that the four daughters of Philip the evangelist prophesied. (Acts 21). Even the old men saw visions, as when Paul, an old man, heard a man from Macedonia saying to him: 'Come over to Macedonia and help us.' (Acts 16:9). And all the young men who stood forth strong in Christ, and fought the Lord's battles, saw visions, with the Lord fulfilling his promises: I multiply visions, and I am likened to the hands of the prophets (Hosea 10:12).

Source: Commentary on Joel
[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on Joel 2:28-32
Blessed Peter used this text in speaking to Jews on the occasion of the descent of the Holy Spirit. And rightly so, since the law contained a shadow of all things to come, whereas the people were granted care owing to the expectation of what would appear at the coming of Christ the Lord. What happened in their time was all insignificant and like a shadow, so that the account was given with use of hyperbole rather than containing facts. The reality of the account was found to be realized in the time of Christ the Lord, when everything was important and awesome, novel and really baffling, surpassing what had happened under the law to the greatest extent imaginable.

Source: COMMENTARY ON JOEL 2:28–32
[AD 533] Fulgentius of Ruspe on Joel 2:28-29
If we believe this, it is necessary that that proclamation of the blessed John the Baptist, which attributed to Christ a singular gift of the Spirit and one without measure, be interpreted. I refer to the statement “[God] does not ration his gift of the Spirit.” Since our ancestors too in us receive a measure of this gift, they profess that in Christ there abides the fullness of the Holy Spirit. For the blessed Ambrose, in the first book on the Holy Spirit, among other things, says, “I will pour out of my Spirit.” He did not say “my Spirit,” but “of my Spirit,” for we cannot take the fullness of the Holy Spirit, but we receive so much as our master divides of his own according to his will. Therefore, Saint Ambrose, showing that we receive not the fullness but of the fullness of the Spirit, that he may show that Christ has received the entire fullness of the Spirit, a little while after this says, “So too, the Father says that he pours out of the Holy Spirit upon all flesh; for he did not pour him forth entirely, but what he poured forth abounded for all.”

Source: LETTER 14:27
[AD 850] Ishodad of Merv on Joel 2:28-29
“I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.” In the first instance he talks about Ezekiel, Daniel, Haggai, Zechariah and other prophets whose names are not mentioned. In addition, “your daughters” will sing and intone psalms in happiness, as well as the rest of the people. This means I will openly reveal to you my fondness and will largely pour it onto you. Therefore these words follow: “My Spirit abides among you,” and also, “My spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh.” But the truth of these words is found in Christ and in the apostles, as well as in the prophets and in the righteous ones, who were filled with the Spirit, and in the daughters of Philip. Recall Peter, who testifies when he preaches to the Jews: “This is,” he says, “what Joel predicted.” Then the words: “The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood.” He talks according to the state of mind of those who are plunged into their afflictions.

Source: COMMENTARY ON JOEL
[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on Joel 2:30-31
The Lord has already foretold that the signs of the dissolution of the universe will appear in the sun and moon and stars: “the sun shall be turned to blood, and the moon will not give its light.” These are the signs of the consummation of the world.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE HEXAEMERON 6:4
[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on Joel 2:30-31
For just as man is said to perish, according to the text, “The just perishes, and no one takes it to heart,” and this is said, though the resurrection is expected, so we look for a resurrection of the heavens. “The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood.” Let the converts from the Manichaeans be instructed and no longer make the luminaries their gods or impiously think that this sun that is darkened is Christ. Listen to the Lord’s words: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away,” for the master’s creatures are less precious than his words.

Source: CATECHETICAL LECTURE 15:3
[AD 449] Eznik of Kolb on Joel 2:30-31
True is the word of Scripture that says, “I will turn the sun into darkness and the moon into blood.” It demonstrates that he is the Lord of the luminaries and of their lightening and darkening. This stands as a reproach to the sun worshipers and the moon worshipers. And there is no way for the moon to descend into the earth, as it has been claimed by magicians. It is God who commands the moon’s light to appear bloody and its features demonic. The magicians prattle that they will cause the moon to descend—an impossibility! They imagine that something greater than many worlds can be contained in one little threshing floor and that one without breasts can be milked. And how many numberless thousands upon thousands of magicians are there on earth! If each one of them independently were capable of making the moon descend, it would never be allowed to ascend to the heavens. But that it never descends is clear because no one sees it descending or ascending. And if you are patient, you will become aware that right there, having become darkened, the moon becomes luminous little by little until entirely it is restored.

Source: ON GOD 315–16
[AD 465] Maximus of Turin on Joel 2:30-31
The people, then, call this day “the new sun,” and although they say that it is new, yet they also show that it is old. This world’s sun—which undergoes eclipse, is shut out by walls and is hidden by clouds—I would call old. I would call old the sun that is subject to vanity, is fearful of corruption and dreads the judgment. For it is written, “The sun will be changed into darkness and the moon into blood.” Old, indeed, would I call that which is implicated in human crimes, does not flee adulteries, does not turn aside from murder and, although it does not wish to be in the midst of the human race when some offense is perpetrated, stands here alone among all the evil deeds. Therefore, inasmuch as it has been shown to be old, we have discovered that nothing is new but Christ the Lord, of whom it is written, “The Sun of justice will rise upon you” and of whom the prophet also says in the person of sinners, “The sun has not risen upon us, and the light of justice has not shone upon us.” For when the whole world was oppressed by the darkness of the devil and the gloom brought on by sin was laying hold of the world, at the last age—that is to say, when night had already fallen—this sun deigned to bring forth the rising of his birth. At first, before the light—that is, before the Sun of justice shone—he sent the oracle of the prophets as a kind of dawning, as it is written: “I sent my prophets before the light.” But afterwards he himself burst forth with his rays—that is, with the brightness of his apostles—and shed upon the earth a light of truth such that no one would stumble into the devil’s darkness.

Source: SERMON 62:2
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Joel 2:32
Martyrdom is customarily called “the cup of salvation,” as we find in the Gospel. For when those who wish to sit on Jesus’ right and left in his kingdom yearn for so great an honor, the Lord says to them, “Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” By “cup” he means martyrdom; and the point is clear because of the verse, “Father, if it be possible, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” We learn, moreover, that the person who drinks that cup which Jesus drank will sit with him and rule and judge with the King of kings. Thus this is the “cup of salvation,” and when someone takes it, he will “call upon the name of the Lord.” For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Source: EXHORTATION TO MARTYRDOM 28
[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on Joel 2:32
Well then, someone will say, will the large number of Christians who do not keep all the commandments practice the observance of some of them in vain? In this connection, it is well to recall blessed Peter, who, after he had performed so many good actions and had been a recipient of such great blessings, was told, upon his being guilty of one lapse only: “If I do not wash you, you will have no part with me.” I shall not point out that his act bore no signs of indifference or contempt but was a demonstration of honor and reverence. But, someone might say, it is written, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Source: THE LONG RULES, PREFACE
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Joel 2:32
Return, then, to the church, those of you who have wickedly separated yourselves. For he promises forgiveness to all who are converted, since it is written, “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” And lastly, the Jewish people who said of the Lord Jesus, “He has a devil,” and “He casts out devils through Beelzebub,” and who crucified the Lord Jesus, are, by the preaching of Peter, called to baptism, that they may put away the guilt of so great a wickedness.

Source: CONCERNING REPENTANCE 2:4.26
[AD 420] Jerome on Joel 2:32
(Verse 32) Because on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be salvation: as the Lord has said: and in the remnant whom the Lord has called. LXX: Because on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be the one who has been saved: as the Lord has said: and the announcer whom the Lord has called. In that place, where we have set ourselves, salvation, or the one who has been saved, and in Hebrew it is written Phaleta (), Symmachus translated, the one who has fled. And again where we have said, in the remnant, and the Septuagint translated, announcer, in Hebrew it is read Saridim (( Al. Saradim)) (), which the Jews believe is the name of the place. Therefore, when the great and dreadful day of the Lord came, and whoever called upon his name after the resurrection of the Lord, everyone who was on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem was saved. For the law came forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2), of which it is written: A prophet does not perish outside Jerusalem (Luke 13:33). So the beginning of their salvation was in Zion and Jerusalem, in the watchtower and in the vision of peace, and in those who remained, whom the Lord called. We must understand those remnants who believed from the Jewish people, of whom Isaiah speaks: Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and would have been made like Gomorrah (Isaiah 1:9). The Lord called and evangelized these remnants, whom He called, for so the LXX interpreted. This passage is very difficult, and receiving multiple explanations: so that under tropology we may refer everything that has been said to those times, to which Peter and Paul the apostles related, that is, when the Lord suffered and rose again." } For it is not possible that we understand the previous events during the time of suffering, and the events that follow on the day of judgment, especially when it is said: 'For behold, in those days, and in that time.' And this verse, connecting the subsequent events with the preceding ones, declares that everything was accomplished at once.

Source: Commentary on Joel
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Joel 2:32
But whether he or some partners of his error are with you—for they are too numerous to make it possible for us to hope they are not, and when they are not refuted they mislead others into their sect and increase so much that I do not know where they will break out next—we would rather see them cured in the body of the church than cut off from the body as rotten members, if necessity allows even that. We have to fear that others will be infected, if we spare their infection. But the mercy of our Lord is able rather to free them from disease, and no doubt he will do it if they note and hold faithfully to what is written: “Whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Source: LETTER 157
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Joel 2:32
When the holy apostle wished to show that the prophets had foretold the coming of those times when it should come to pass that all nations would believe in God, he cited the testimony that reads, “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” For the name of God who has made heaven and earth used to be invoked among the Israelites only. The rest of the nations used to call upon deaf and dumb idols and were not heard by them; or they invoked demons and were heard to their own harm. “But when the fullness of time had come,” then was fulfilled what had been foretold. “And it shall come to pass, that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Hence the Jews—even those of them who believed in Christ—begrudged the gospel of the Gentiles and maintained that the gospel of Christ ought not to be preached to the uncircumcised.

Source: SERMON 56:1