And rend your hearts and not your garments: Among the people of Israel it was their custom to tear a portion of their clothing as a sign of deep grief. This could have been a fourth outward sign of their repentance here. However, Yahweh tells them to rend their hearts and not their clothing. In other words, something more important than external signs is needed. Rend your hearts is a metaphor indicating that there must be a radical change from former thoughts and actions which they regret having done. The combination of the metaphor rend your hearts with the symbolic action [rend] your garments by means of the shared verb rend adds to the impact of this divine admonition. Good News Translation divides this line into two, saying “Let your broken heart show your sorrow; tearing your clothes is not enough.” Unfortunately “broken heart” usually refers to deep sadness and disappointment over the unfaithfulness or wrongdoing of another person. Furthermore, “tearing your clothes is not enough” assumes that the people tore their clothes as well. Although this line does not absolutely forbid such an outward demonstration of sorrow, it at least indicates that such an action is not required. It would be good if translators could keep some of the figurative language here, though perhaps in different forms. Since the symbolic action of tearing clothes reflects the culture of the source language, translators should not attempt to substitute it with a local custom. To avoid misunderstanding, they may need to make explicit that it was done to show sorrow. As for the metaphor of rending one’s heart, they may substitute a local metaphor or express it nonfiguratively; for example, the line may be rendered “Don’t tear your clothes to show your sorrow. Instead, show your sorrow in your heart” (similarly Contemporary English Version).
Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation end the quotation at this point as the Hebrew text changes from first to third person references to God. The writings of the prophets frequently move back and forth between first and third person in this manner, and it is necessary in some languages to use either first or third person references consistently. However, here it seems clear that up to this point the prophet has quoted Yahweh, but now he adds words of his own that are still regarded as inspired prophetic speech. The prophet now tries to motivate the people to repent. This is a good place to insert a stanza break, as in Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch.
Return to the LORD, your God: The verb Return is repeated from verse 12. Good News Translation varies the style with “Come back.” The LORD, your God identifies Yahweh by his personal name and states that he is still their God, although he has acted as the leader of an enemy army (of locusts). This means that there is still a proper relationship possible between Yahweh and his people.
For he is …: The list of divine qualities that follows occurs in Exo 34.6; Neh 9.17; Psa 86.15; 103.8; 145.8; and Jonah 4.2. The list is exactly the same in Jonah 4.2, so it may be proper to translate it in the same way in both passages.
The Hebrew word for gracious is better translated “kind” (Good News Translation); it refers to being ready to do good things to others. Other possible renderings are “loving” and “kind-hearted.”
The Hebrew word for merciful refers to love or compassion, an emotion that sympathizes with the difficulties of another person. The word is sometimes associated with motherhood. Some languages use figurative expressions involving organs of the body to express the meaning, for example, “he has a white heart for me.”
Slow to anger requires no explanation; the Hebrew expression is literally “long of anger.” Good News Translation renders it well with “patient,” changing it from a negative to a positive expression. Contemporary English Version has “I don’t easily lose my temper,” but it is better to say “he does not easily lose his temper” since the LORD is not speaking directly here.
Abounding in steadfast love expresses the Hebrew concept of faithfulness to a promise or to a covenant agreement. Good News Translation has “keeps his promise,” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “his goodness has no limits,” and Revised English Bible simply says “ever constant.”
Repents of evil may be misunderstood that God is sorry for moral evil he has done. God had planned to bring evil, that is trouble, upon Judah, but he changes his plan. So Good News Translation says “he is always ready to forgive and not punish,” and New International Version has “he relents from sending calamity.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (1982) translates “He doesn’t permit trouble to run its course [or, to continue on its way],” and Bible en français courant reads “always ready to revoke his threats.”
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 .