Bible Strands
Joel 2:1
Blow the ram’s horn in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy mountain! Let all who dwell in the land tremble, for the Day of the LORD is coming; indeed, it is near—
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks to the inhabitants of Judah, issuing a military alarm as the Day of the LORD approaches like an invading army (v. 2). The moment is one of imminent, not distant, threat.
The words — שׁוֹפָר (shofar) is a ram's horn, the specific instrument of war and alarm, not a generic trumpet; הָרִיעוּ (hari'u) is a battle-cry or war-signal, a term from the military lexicon rather than ordinary noise.
The thread — Joel 1:15 repeats the "Day of the LORD is near" formula with the added note of destruction from the Almighty; Joel 2:15 returns to the shofar command but adds a fast and a sacred assembly; 1 Peter 4:7 echoes the nearness of the end with the call to clear-mindedness.
Why it lands — The verse does not invite contemplation; it demands an alarm response — to wake, to tremble, to act before the army arrives. It asks the reader to treat the coming judgment as a present military threat, not a distant theological abstraction.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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;
Cross-references
- Joel 1:15 Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
- Joel 2:15 Blow the ram’s horn in Zion, consecrate a fast, proclaim a sacred assembly.
- 1 Peter 4:7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and sober, so that you can pray.
- Malachi 4:1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”
- Joel 3:17 Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy, never again to be overrun by foreigners.
- Zephaniah 1:14 The great Day of the LORD is near—near and coming quickly. Listen, the Day of the LORD! Then the cry of the mighty will be bitter.
- Jeremiah 5:22 Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it.
- Zephaniah 3:11 On that day you will not be put to shame for any of the deeds by which you have transgressed against Me. For then I will remove from among you those who rejoice in their pride, and you will never again be haughty on My holy mountain.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:2 For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
- Hosea 5:8 Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah; raise the battle cry in Beth-aven: Lead on, O Benjamin!