Joel 2:8

Neither shall one thrust another,.... Press upon another, thrust him out of his place, or push him forward, or any ways straiten and distress him, or in the least hinder him in his progress: they

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: Depicting the regular military order of

Neither shall one thrust another: the prophet, in pursuance of the allegory, tells us how this army of locusts do move without disorder; so shall they who are hereby typified; it is much the same with the last clause of the former verse. They shall walk; before it was run, i.e. for speed, now it is walk, for stedfast and even motion. Every one in his path; the track he first takes to, follow his leader exactly, and observe rank and file. When they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded; the sword shall not be a weapon to destroy them, they shall run among swords, yet not be wounded; literally verified in the locusts, and verified in the strange preservations and escapes from dangers in midst of the most desperate adventures made by Assyrians or Babylonians.

Joe 2:8 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.Ver. 8. Neither shall one thrust another] Or straiten another. The Greek word διωκω, to press and persecute, seems to come from this Hebrew word Dakag. The prophet still alludeth to the matter of marshalling armies in such sort, as that neither may the soldiers hinder one another, nor the enemy have any advantage to break in upon them. Exercitus pulchre dispositus, et amicis pulcherrimus videtur, et hostibus inexpugnabilis, saith Xenophon (In Oeconom.); that is, a well ordered army seemeth both beautiful to their friends and invincible to their enemies. They shall walk every one] Heb. βαψ Man, mighty man, q.d. each locust shall walk and stalk, as a strong lusty man in his trodden track, in the path that God hath put him into, and shall hold to it. ( Vir validus, Mesillah, Via trita.) And when they fall upon the sword] Heb. the long sword, or javelin, they shall not be wounded; as if they were unwoundable, or shot free, as the poet fabled of Achilles, and as the Persians, vanquished by the Athenians at the field of Marathon, cried out Bαλλομεν, ουπιπτουσιτιτρωσκομεν, ουφοβεονται. “ We fell them, yet they fall not; we them wound, And think them dead, but they are safe and sound” (Stobaeus).

(7-9) They shall run lite mighty men.—The onward irresistible march of the invaders is graphically described by the illustration of the advance of locusts. They appear on the mountains which environ the city, they mount the walls, they rush through the streets, they enter the houses, they are in possession of Jerusalem. Dr. Thomson (The Land and the Book, p. 416) describes the movements of a locust army in the following terms:—“Their number was astounding; the whole face of the mountain was black with them. On they came, like a living deluge. We dug trenches, and kindled fires, and beat and burned to death heaps upon heaps; but the effort was utterly useless. Wave after wave rolled up the mountain-side, and poured over rocks, walls, ditches, hedges—those behind covering up and bridging over the masses already killed.”

Verse 8. They shall not be wounded.] They have hard scales like a coat of mail; but the expression refers to the utter uselessness of all means to prevent their depredations. See Shaw's account above.

8. they move along every one in his highway] or raised way, specially prepared by throwing up earth, stones, &c., and then levelling the surface (Isaiah 40:3; Isaiah 57:14; Isaiah 62:10). Here figuratively for a definitely marked path. and they fall about the weapons without breaking (their course)] i.e. weapons are powerless to arrest their progress: a few may fall wounded, when the sword is directed against them, but the mass moves on, with its ranks still unbroken. Similarly R.V. marg. The words are however difficult; and this explanation cannot be said to be certain. R.V. renders the first clause (with Hitzig, Keil, and Wellhausen) “and they burst through (i.e. in between) the weapons,” viz. without injuring themselves, or having their progress impeded; but this implies a rather doubtful paraphrase of fall. The rendering of A.V. is not tenable. weapons] not the usual word, but one (ωׁ ?μη) which otherwise occurs only in late writings, viz. 2 Chronicles 23:10 (where the parallel passage 2 Kings 11:11 has the ordinary word λμιν), 2 Chronicles 32:5 (no parallel in Kings); Nehemiah 4:11; Nehemiah 4:17 [A.V. 17, 23]; Job 33:18; Job 36:12. Silβḥ ? in Arabic has the same sense. It is practically impossible[38] to arrest or divert the advance of a body of locusts. “The guard of the Red Tower attempted to stop their irruption into Pennsylvania by firing at them; and indeed when the balls and shot swept through the swarm, they gave way and divided; but having filled up their ranks in a moment, they proceeded on their journey.” When locusts on the march approach a village, the inhabitants endeavour often to stop their advance by kindling fires, or digging trenches and filling them with water, but to little effect (see pp. 88 ff.): a flight of locusts is however sometimes deterred from alighting by the noise of pots and pans, kettles, drums, &c. [38] Except indeed by elaborate contrivances such as are in use now in Cyprus.

When they fall upon the sword - (literally, “among the darts”) they shall not be wounded It may be that the prophet would describe how the locust seems armed as in a suit of armor.

7-10. The comparison with a well-equipped army is taken up again and carried further; the advance is irresistible; there is no confusion or disorder in their ranks; they climb the highest walls; they