Paragraph 2:21–22

The overall meaning of this paragraph is that the LORD will respond to the situation in the land of Israel and will send rain, causing the earth to produce good crops. This response contrasts with the earlier agricultural disasters with which the LORD punished Israel. (2:9, 2:12).

2:21a

On that day: This is the same expression that Hosea used in 2:18a. See how you translated the expression there.

I will respond: There is a textual issue here:

(1) The Masoretic Text includes the verb phrase I will respond after the phrase “in that day.” For example:

When that day comes, I shall respond—declares Yahweh— (New Jerusalem Bible)

(2) The LXX and Syriac do not have this phrase. For example:

And in that day, says the Lord (Revised Standard Version)

It is recommended that you follow option (1) along with most versions and commentaries.

This is the first time that the phrase I will respond occurs in 2:21–22. The text does not identify who the LORD will respond to. There are two main ways to interpret the function of this statement here:

(1) It indicates that the LORD will respond to the heavens. For example:

On that day I will answer, says the Lord, I will answer the heavens (New Revised Standard Version)

(2) It indicates that the LORD will respond to the prayers of the Israelites. For example:

I will answer the prayers of my people Israel (Good News Translation)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) along with most versions and commentaries. Some versions indicate that this is a general request that introduces other requests. The Berean Standard Bible does this by inserting a long dash. Another way to indicate this is to reorder the phrases in this verse part and use a colon. For example:

The LORD says, “At that time I will respond:

In some languages, it may not be possible to use a statement such as I will respond without indicating who the LORD is responding to. If that is true in your language, you may need to use a different phrase. For example:

The LORD says, “At that time this is what I will do:

declares the LORD: This phrase emphasizes that the message was directly from the LORD. This is the same phrase as in 2:13c. See the note there.

2:21b

I will respond to the heavens: This is a figurative statement. It means that the LORD will do something in response to the implied request from the heavens that he send clouds or rain. In some languages, it may be necessary to clarify this figure of speech by making some of the implied information explicit. For example:

I will answer the sky ⌊as it pleads for clouds ⌋ (New Living Translation (2004))

the heavens: In this context, the phrase that the Berean Standard Bible and many versions translate as the heavens refers to the sky, that is, the atmosphere above the earth.

they will respond to the earth: This is a figurative statement. It means that the skies will respond to the implied request of the earth for rain. In some languages, it may be necessary to make some of the implied information explicit. For example:

⌊ which will pour down water⌋on the earth in answer to ⌊its cries for rain ⌋. (New Living Translation (1996))

they: The plural pronoun they refers back to “the heavens.” If you translated “heavens” with a form such as “sky/heaven,” then you will need to use a singular form here. For example:

I will speak to the sky, it will speak to the earth (God’s Word)

General Comment on 2:21b

In some languages, it may be more natural to reorder and/or combine the parts of this verse. For example:

The earth needs rain, so I will tell the sky to cause rain to fall.
-or-
I will command the sky to send rain on the earth (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
I will make rain fall on the earth (Good News Translation)

© 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.