Skip to content
יכיל נו ו מי מאד ו נורא יהוה יום גדול כי דבר ו עשה עצום כי מחנ הו מאד רב כי חיל ו ל פני קול ו נתן ו יהוה
he is containing usand whovery much/greatlyand he who is fearedHe Isdaymegaforthey ordered words/his wordshe has mademighty powerfulforthe encampment of himselfvery much/greatlymultiplying one/abundantlyforfortified perimeter/bulwark of himselfto the facesthe voice of himselfhe has givenand He Is
| | | | | | | | | | | |
RBT Hebrew Literal:
and He Is he has given the voice of himself to the faces fortified perimeter/bulwark of himself for multiplying one/abundantly very much/greatly the encampment of himself for powerful he has made they ordered words/his words for mega day He Is and he who is feared very much/greatly and who he is containing us
RBT Paraphrase:
חיל - Outer bulwark, Perimeter defense
And He Is has given the voice of himself, in front of the faces of the fortified perimeter of himself, for the encampment of himself is exceedingly abundant for he has made powerful the word of himself, for mega is the day of He Is and he who is feared greatly! And who is prevailing against us?2
Julia Smith Literal 1876 Translation:
And Jehovah gave his voice before the face of his strength: for exceedingly great his camp, and strong he doing his word: for great the day of Jehovah, and exceedingly terrible; and who shall endure it?
LITV Translation:
And Jehovah shall give His voice before His army, for His camp is very great. For he who does His word is strong. For the day of Jehovah is very great and terrifying, and who can endure it?
ESV Translation:
Error retrieving verse.
Brenton Septuagint Translation:
And the Lord shall utter his voice before his host: for his camp is very great: for the execution of his words is mighty: for the day of the Lord is great, very glorious, and who shall be able to resist it?

Footnotes

Joe. 2:11

The verb form יכילנו (yəḵilen-nū) is derived from the root כּוּל (K-V-L), meaning “to contain” or “to hold.” It appears in the Hiphil imperfect 3rd masculine singular conjugation with a pronominal suffix attached. The suffix -נוּ (nū) corresponds to the 1st person plural pronoun “us,” thus rendering the meaning “he will contain us” or “he is containing us.”

For the third-person masculine singular object “him,” the pronominal suffix is -הוּ (hū). Accordingly, the equivalent form “he will contain him” or “he is containing him” is יכילהוּ (yəḵilēhū). This form is constructed by attaching the suffix -הוּ to the Hiphil imperfect base. Morphologists and scholars skewed it toward the 3rd person masculine suffix, because of the context. But the grammar is what it is.

Hence:

  • יְכִילֶנּוּ = Hiphil imperfect 3ms + suffix “us” = “he will contain us”

  • יְכִילֵהוּ = Hiphil imperfect 3ms + suffix “him” = “he will contain him”

Cf. השמים לא יכלכלהו in 2 Chronicles 2:6 "the dual heavenly ones cannot contain-contain himself"

This distinction in pronominal suffixes is critical for understanding subject-object relationships encoded morphologically in Biblical Hebrew verb forms.