Charles Ellicott Commentary Joel 3
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Joel 3
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Joel 3
"For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem," — Joel 3:1 (ASV)
That time.— The whole course of the events of the world is shown to lead up by Divine providence to the Great Day of the Lord, when the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain, and the Lord shall be exalted. Then will be the times of the restitution of all things; then will the people of God be brought out of captivity, and vengeance executed upon their enemies. This progress, with its final consummation, is the subject of the concluding lines of Joel’s prophecy.
"I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will execute judgment upon them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations: and they have parted my land," — Joel 3:2 (ASV)
The valley of Jehoshaphat.— Some fifty years before Joel prophesied, the kingdom of Judah had been menaced by an imposing confederacy of hostile tribes. It was an occasion of great anxiety. A national fast was proclaimed, and after it, Jehoshaphat engaged and completely routed the enemy in a valley in the wilderness of Tekoa. (See 2 Chronicles 20:0) The victory was an occasion of immense exultation and seems to supply the imagery with which Joel describes the day of the Lord. The name of Jehoshaphat was at some point given to the Kedron Valley, but it is here used rather in its grammatical meaning as the scene of the Divine judgment, the words signifying “the valley where Jehovah judges.”
"and have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink." — Joel 3:3 (ASV)
Cast lots ...—The nations who oppressed and carried away the Jews treated them as chattels, cast lots for their possession as slaves, and purchased a night’s revelry or other indulgence with the captives they had taken.
"Yea, and what are ye to me, O Tyre, and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? will ye render me a recompense? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompense upon your own head." — Joel 3:4 (ASV)
What have ye to do with me? —Rather, What are you to me? God, identifying Himself with His people, threatens retaliation upon their enemies for the wrongs they had inflicted upon them. Tyre and Zidon had oppressed the Jews in the time of the judges, and would do so again: the Philistines also were to the last the inveterate enemies of Israel; but in the end, could they measure strength with God?
"Forasmuch as ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly precious things," — Joel 3:5 (ASV)
My silver. —Mine, as being the property of my people, not as being dedicated to the service of the Temple. In the time of Jehoram, the Philistines and others had “carried away all the substance that was found in the king’s house” (2 Chronicles 21:17).
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