Joel 2:25
I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the great locust, the grasshopper, and the caterpillar, my great army, which I sent among you.
Interpretation
The prophet calls a restoration that is worked out in concrete decisions in Joel 2:25—look for "locust" and "great". Choose restoration with time and attention—bind joy to obedience.
Context
Joel speaks here as prophetic oracle writing, developing restoration. Read in Joel 2, its force becomes clearer. It also intersects prophetic hope & judgment. Listen for “locust” alongside “great”.
Manuscripts & Textual Witnesses
The Hebrew text is preserved in the Masoretic tradition, stabilized between the 6th-10th centuries CE. The the Dead Sea Scrolls (found 1947-1956) provide manuscripts 1000+ years older than medieval texts, generally confirming the Masoretic Text's reliability with only minor variations. The Septuagint (Greek translation, 3rd-2nd century BCE) offers an independent textual witness. Variations between manuscripts are typically minor: spelling differences, word order, or clarifications that do not alter the main meaning. Modern translations compare all available manuscripts to reconstruct the most probable original wording text.
Sources & witness notes
MT