Joel chapter 2

The Hebrew of Joel 2 is only 27 verses where the English is 32. The remaining 5 verses are in chapter 3 of the Hebrew. Chapter 3 English is chapter 4 Hebrew. I wonder if the music reflects a rationale for this division.  So let's look in detail at each phrase.

Probably its best if you want to read what follows, to open the document below in full screen and have the text on a separate page where your eyes can flit back and forth. You could also sing it to yourself too.

so Verse 1: It's a long first phrase, subdued recitation on the tonic e with ornaments that remain close to the reciting note - e qad,ger-rev,qad,qad,
then we move to a B reciting note with z-q,z-g, (abbreviated from zaqef qatan, zaqef gadol. All the ornaments are abbreviated. See here and here.)
then quickly to the cadence via g# B ^A
the second phrase of the verse sounds like a verse all by itself without a rest, beginning and ending on the tonic. e f g# f e
It is a very low key intro to the day of Yahweh.

Then verse 2 - this will take a long time - (a whole book to describe) so pardon me if we skip to the high points. Day of darkness is magnified suddenly by the jump of a major seventh.

This beginning of a verse with the jump of a major seventh occurs only 14 times in the Bible's 23000+ verses. If you are a traditionalist, the sequence darga-munah occurs 14 times at the beginning of a verse. The sequence occurs 256 times in total.

The cadence in this verse is in the middle of a thought (IMO). The abundant people is similarly highlighted by high notes - fierce perhaps. (Note the English is NOT mapped to a word underlay in this copy but is just there as a tease. See if you could create an English lyric.)

Got to verse 3. Note the rest note has a long recitation on it about Eden - I have not noted this sort of recitation elsewhere and I cannot think how to search for similar passages. One would have to have a syllable count on each note. Possible - but needs an intermediate table for such searching.

Verses 4 and 15 are a relatively common pattern occurring 65 times - quite symmetrical e f g# ^A g# f e.

You can see the other common patterns below. Of the 27 verses 19 are unique in their sequence of accents.

The maximum recitation length is 29 syllables in this chapter - that is a long recitation. (Look for it - on verse 20 the ultimate defeat and isolation of the scary enemy).

If you persist in the analysis of each verse, you will find it eminently singable and purposeful in its music. Sometimes the high notes are fierce, sometimes tender. Sometimes the rest is particularly poignant. Sometimes an ornament highlights a particularly important motif in the text.

Can we answer the division into chapters? Probably it is the significant change in subject. You can see the music for the 5 verse chapter 3 in the usual places.



The sequences of notes and ornaments in Joel 2 - the music is clearer!

Verse	Sequence of notes and ornaments	Freq in Bible
1	e qad,ger-rev,qad,qad,B z-q,z-g,g# B ^A e f g# f e	1
2	c B rev,C qad,z-q,g# B e ^A C B z-q,rev,C e qad,B z-q,e qad,B z-q,g# f e	1
3	e qad,B z-q,g# B e ^A qad,ger-rev,e qad,B z-q,g# f e	1
4	e f g# ^A g# f e	65
5	e B rev,C e qad,z-q,qad,B z-q,g# ^A B z-q,g# e	2
6	e g# B ^A g# f e	40
7	e B z-q,f g# B ^A C qad,e z-q,f g# e	1
8	e C qad,B z-q,f g# e ^A f d g# f e	1
9	e B rev,e qad,z-q,g# ^A c d g# e	1
10	e qad,B z-q,g# ^A C qad,qad,z-q,g# f e	2
11	e rev,C qad,B z-q,B C qad,z-q,f g# B ^A  c d f g# f e	1
12	e qad,z-q,f g# ^A f g# e	6
13	e C qad,z-q,g# B e ^A e C qad,z-q,C qad,qad,z-q,g# e	1
14	f g# B ^A C e qad,z-q,B z-q,g# e	1
15	e f g# ^A g# f e	65
16	e tar,C qad,B z-q,qad,e z-q,g# ^A C qad,e z-q,g# e	1
17	C qad,z-q,qad,B z-q,g# ^A e tar,c B rev,qad,C qad,B z-q,C B e z-q,g# e	1
18	e f g# ^A g# e	54
19	e qad,ger,B rev,qad,C qad,qad,B z-q,g# ^A qad,f d g# e	1
20	e tar,B rev,zar,B B seg,rev,qad,z-q,g# B e ^A B rev,qad,qad,z-q,f g# e	1
21	e e g# ^A B z-q,e f g# e	1
22	e e qad,B z-q,f g# B ^A e qad,B z-q,f g# f e	1
23	e B rev,C qad,B e z-q,e f d g# ^A B rev,d f g# e	1
24	e f g# ^A f g# f e	41
25	e C qad,z-q,qad,B e z-q,g# B ^A qad,z-q,f g# e	1
26	e C qad,z-q,rev,C qad,B z-q,f g# ^A f g# e	1
27	e rev,B C qad,z-q,d f g# B ^A f g# e	1