Before them peoples are in anguish: Before them may be rendered “As they approach” or “When people see them.” The Hebrew word for peoples normally refers to many nations, not just to the people of Judah. However, here it is probably an example of poetic hyperbole. Good News Translation uses the indefinite term “everyone.”

Are in anguish renders a Hebrew verb that is usually applied to a woman in childbirth, writhing and turning back and forth. Good News Translation says “is terrified,” which is a general expression with no poetic imagery. Translators should use a term that pictures people who turn every way, running back and forth, looking for some means to protect themselves against the locusts, yet finding they are helpless. For this whole line NET Bible has “People writhe in fear when they see them.” Other possibilities are “People cringe in fear…” or “Fear grips all the people” (New Living Translation).

All faces grow pale: The Hebrew here is unclear to scholars today. A possible literal translation is “all faces gather glowing,” so Wolff suggests “all faces are aglow.” Others suggest it is literally “all faces gather in their beauty,” which means they grow pale (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation). Revised English Bible says “every face is drained of colour.” King James Version has “all faces shall gather blackness,” but this is not likely correct. Translators can express the idea of people’s faces becoming either flushed (red) or pale in fear as they observe the approaching danger. Most languages can handle this idea of fear and anguish figuratively in one way or another. If a change in the color of the face does not express it, perhaps there is some other facial sign.

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 .