King James Version

Joel 2:31

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

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Hebrew

Tap a word to see its meaning. Words run left to right in English reading order.

In the Hebrew text this line is Joel 3:4.

הַשֶּׁ֨מֶשׁ֙hashemeshthe sunשֶׁמֶשׁdefinite article, noun, common, both genders, singular, absolute — “the sun”, the ordinary formH8121the sun; by implication, the east; figuratively, a ray, i.e. (architectural) a notched battlement[phrase] east side(-ward), sun (rising), [phrase] west(-ward), window. See also H1053 (בֵּית שֶׁמֶשׁ).יֵהָפֵ֣ךְyehafekhechangeהָפַךְverb, niphal, imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “change”, an unfinished actionH2015to turn about or over; by implication, to change, overturn, return, pervert[idiom] become, change, come, be converted, give, make (a bed), overthrow (-turn), perverse, retire, tumble, turn (again, aside, back, to the contrary, every way).לְחֹ֔שֶׁךְlechoshekhto darkחֹשֶׁךְpreposition, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “to dark”, the ordinary formH2822the dark; hence (literally) darkness; figuratively, misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickednessdark(-ness), night, obscurity.וְהַיָּרֵ֖חַvehayarechaand the moon. Yrechow. See H3405יָרֵחַconjunction, definite article, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “and the moon. Yrechow. See H3405”, the ordinary formH3394the moonmoon. Yrechow. See H3405 (יְרִיחוֹ).לְדָ֑םledamto blood , innocentדָּםpreposition, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “to blood , innocent”, the ordinary formH1818blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or an animal; by analogy, the juice of the grape; figuratively (especially in the plural) bloodshed (i.e. drops of blood)blood(-y, -guiltiness, (-thirsty), [phrase] innocent.לִפְנֵ֗יlifneto a- foreפָּנִיםpreposition, noun, common, both genders, plural, construct — “to a- fore”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH6440the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.)[phrase] accept, a-(be-) fore(-time), against, anger, [idiom] as (long as), at, [phrase] battle, [phrase] because (of), [phrase] beseech, countenance, edge, [phrase] employ, endure, [phrase] enquire, face, favour, fear of, for, forefront(-…בּ֚וֹאboto comeבּוֹאverb, qal, infinitive construct — “to come”, the to-form of the verbH935to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)abide, apply, attain, [idiom] be, befall, [phrase] besiege, bring (forth, in, into, to pass), call, carry, [idiom] certainly, (cause, let, thing for) to come (against, in, out, upon, to pass), depart, [idiom] doubtless again, [phrase] eat,…י֣וֹםyomas long asיוֹםnoun, common, masculine, singular, construct — “as long as”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH3117a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)age, [phrase] always, [phrase] chronicals, continually(-ance), daily, ((birth-), each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), [phrase] elder, [idiom] end, [phrase] evening, [phrase] (for) ever(-lasting, -more), [idiom] full, life, as (so) lon…יְהוָ֔הyehvahJehovahיְהֹוָהnoun, proper name — “Jehovah”H3068Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodJehovah, the Lord. Compare H3050 (יָהּ), H3069 (יְהֹוִה).הַגָּד֖וֹלhagadolthe greatגָּדוֹלdefinite article, adjective, adjective, masculine, singular, absolute — “the great”, the ordinary formH1419great (in any sense); hence, older; also insolent[phrase] aloud, elder(-est), [phrase] exceeding(-ly), [phrase] far, (man of) great (man, matter, thing,-er,-ness), high, long, loud, mighty, more, much, noble, proud thing, [idiom] sore, ([idiom]) very.וְהַנּוֹרָֽאvehanoraand the fearיָרֵאconjunction, definite article, verb, niphal, participle, absolute — “and the fear”, a verb used as a describing wordH3372to fear; morally, to revere; caus. to frightenaffright, be (make) afraid, dread(-ful), (put in) fear(-ful, -fully, -ing), (be had in) reverence(-end), [idiom] see, terrible (act, -ness, thing).

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

(3-4) The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come.

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh.

Young’s Literal Translation

The sun is turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, Before the coming of the day of Jehovah, The great and the fearful.

World English Bible

The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.

Darby Translation

The sun shall be changed to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come.

Douay-Rheims

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood: before the great and dreadful day of the Lord doth come.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

(3-4) The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come.

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord come.

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Ὁ ἥλιος μεταστραφήσεται εἰς σκότος, καὶ ἡ σελήνη εἰς αἷμα, πρὶν ἐλθεῖν τὴν ἡμέραν Κυρίου τὴν μεγάλην, καὶ ἐπιφανῆ.