The fourth call to communal lamentation in this subsection begins with this verse, so it should begin as a separate stanza (see the introductory comments on verses 5-14).

Gird on sackcloth and lament, O priests, wail, O ministers of the altar: For Gird on sackcloth, see Joel 1.8. The word for sackcloth does not occur in the Hebrew text, but it can be implied from the third line. In English the verb Gird requires an object, so Revised Standard Version adds sackcloth. Bible en français courant expresses the function of sackcloth by beginning with “Put on your mourning clothes and lament.”

Priests, ministers of the altar, and ministers of my God in the first four lines all refer to the same persons. Good News Translation combines these three vocative phrases and makes explicit the “servant” function of the ministers by saying “you priests who serve at the altar.” In many languages parallelism can be handled quite well, and this kind of restructuring in Good News Translation is not necessary. Again Revised Standard Version uses the archaic expression O to begin each of these vocatives, while New Revised Standard Version is more natural in English by beginning each one with the pronoun “you.”

The altar was the large bronze structure in front of the Temple, on which animals were burned as sacrifices to God (see 2 Chr 4.1). Service at the altar implied service at the Temple. If necessary, altar may be translated “place [or, table] for offering sacrifices.”

Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God: There was a custom in Israel of spending the night in the Temple, perhaps in the hope of receiving a special vision. Here the prophet is turning this custom into one of mourning. These two lines probably imply staying awake all night, actively mourning, perhaps beating the breast. Some translations miss the idea of entering the Temple when they translate Go in as “Come” (for example, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible). Good News Translation says “Go into the Temple and mourn all night!” leaving the fourth line implicit, since it is understood that the ministers are being addressed. Good News Translation also leaves sackcloth implicit, since it was already made explicit in the first line, and since “mourn” expresses the function.

The phrase My God seems strange when compared with your God in the last line. Some scholars believe an error in copying the text occurred here, and the text should simply be “God.” However, such switching between first, second, and third persons occurs frequently in Hebrew poetry. Such shifts are not possible in English and in many other languages.

Because cereal offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God: Cereal offering and drink offering have been discussed in Joel 1.9. Good News Translation refers to them as “grain or wine to offer.” Are withheld does not state who the agent is that withholds the grain and wine. In a sense the locusts and the drought have withheld them. Good News Translation states that “There is no grain or wine,” mentioning only that they are not available, and this may be the best way to express the Hebrew verb here.

The house of your God is “the Temple” (see Joel 1.9), which Good News Translation mentions earlier and therefore does not repeat it here. The Hebrew idiom here can be understood to mean “your house of God,” but the practical meaning, in any case, is that these offerings were to be given to “your God” (Good News Translation).

Quoted with permission from de Blois, Kees & Dorn, Louis. A Handbook on Joel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2020. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .