1:15 the day of the Lord. A thematic phrase in Joel (1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14) and in other Old Testament prophetic books (Is. 13:6, 9; Ezek. 13:5; Amos 5:18, 20; Obad. 15; Zeph. 1:7, 14; Mal. 4:5). Here (and in 2:1, 11) it refers to a day of the Lord’s wrath against Israel, though later in the book it refers to the Lord’s wrath against the nations and blessing of the Lord’s people (2:31; 3:14). The magnitude of the devastation points to an even more ominous day of judgment.

destruction from the Almighty. This phrase could be translated “might from the Almighty,” capturing the sense of the Hebrew wordplay shod (“destruction”) from shaddai (“the Almighty”; Is. 13:6).