The prophet gives a series of urgent, terse commands in these verses. In English each brief command can end with an exclamation point. Earlier the people could do nothing (see verse 6); now there is something specific for them to do, and they are to waste no time but are to act! Those not normally expected to be present—children, the newly married—must attend the assembly, for they are equally in danger of suffering from God’s judgment (see Isa 13.16; Jer 7.34; 25.10).

As in Joel 2.1, the priests are to Blow the trumpet in Zion, not to sound a warning or an alarm this time, but to sanctify a fast. For sanctify a fast, see 1.14.

Call a solemn assembly and gather the people are synonymous commands. If necessary, they may be combined. Call a solemn assembly means they are to call a religious meeting (see the comments on 1.14), while gather the people translates a Hebrew command for assembling people at any time. The Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translation suggests that the religious meeting here is for the purpose of repentance. Good News Translation renders these two lines as “call an assembly! Gather the people together.”

Sanctify the congregation refers to preparing the people through ritual cleansing. They must ritually cleanse themselves by washing, avoiding unclean things, and abstaining from work, food, and sexual intercourse. The Hebrew word for congregation points to people gathered for worship. Good News Translation provides a good functional equivalent for this line, saying “prepare them for a sacred meeting.” In areas where people are familiar with ritual cleansing, translators could say “let the people prepare themselves ritually for this occasion” or “let the people purify themselves.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is similar with “ensure that the people will appear ritually clean before the LORD.”

Assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants: In this context the elders are not the official leaders but “the old people” (Good News Translation), as shown by the contrast with the children (compare 1.2, where the opposite is true). New Revised Standard Version translates “the aged.” When Hebrew mentions the extremes of the oldest and the youngest, it implies that everyone in between is included. Thus the whole congregation is to be present. The one extreme here includes nursing infants, which is literally “those sucking the breasts.” New Revised Standard Version says “infants at the breast.” For these three lines Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “From suckling infant to hoary head, all should come together.”

Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber: Jewish tradition honored the first year of marriage as a time when nothing should disturb newly wedded couples, and bridegrooms were exempt from military and political duties (Deut 24.5). The commands here specifically go against that tradition. The Hebrew words for his room and her chamber (New Revised Standard Version “her canopy”) both refer to the same inner or innermost part of the house or tent, where the couple’s privacy was ensured. The parallel form of these two lines shows that they are not two separate rooms, but one room in which the bride and bridegroom were staying together. In some languages it may be better to combine the two lines into one statement; for example, Good News Translation says “Even newly married couples must leave their homes and come.”

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 .