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General Information:
Joel continues poetry that began in the previous chapter. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism)
Blow the trumpet ... sound an alarm
Joel is emphasizing the importance of calling Israel together in preparation for the destruction that is coming.
day of darkness and gloom
The words "darkness" and "gloom" share similar meanings and emphasize that the darkness will be very dark. Both words refer to a time of disaster or divine judgment. AT: "day that is full of darkness" or "day of terrible judgment" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-doublet and rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy)
gloom
total or partial darkness
day of clouds and thick darkness
This phrase means the same thing as, and intensifies the idea of the previous phrase. Like that phrase, both "clouds" and "thick darkness" refer to divine judgment. AT: "day full of dark storm clouds" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-doublet and rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy)
Like the dawn that spreads on the mountains, a large and mighty army is approaching
When direct sunlight shines on a mountain at dawn, it begins at the top and spreads to the bottom. When an army comes over a mountain range, it comes over the top and spreads out as it comes down. AT: "A large, mighty army comes over the mountains into the land. They spread over the land like the light from the rising sun" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-simile)
a large and mighty army
The words "large" and "mighty" share similar meanings here and emphasize that the army will be very strong. The word "army" could possibly be 1) a metaphor for a swarm of locusts or 2) referring to a human army. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor and rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-doublet)