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The very sight of them is frightening.

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What is the meaning of "the very sight of" in the above context? What else can be used instead of that phrase?

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    They are so frightening that it is frightful even to look at them, or to look at a picture (or a photograph) of them.
    – CowperKettle
    May 14, 2016 at 12:43

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Try Oxford Dictionary, adjective, definition 3:

3 With no addition of anything else; mere:
'the very thought of drink made him feel sick'

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Just seeing the creatures that Joel 2 describes is enough to be frightening. This does take into consideration anything else, such as what they might sound like, or do, which is probably cause destruction since this is apocalyptic literature.

So the very/mere sight of them produces fear.

Just seeing them, and nothing else, is frightening or scary. That is what Joel 2:6 means in this English translation.

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