Charles Ellicott Commentary Joel 3:19

"Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land." — Joel 3:19 (ASV)

Egypt shall be a desolation.— Egypt and Edom always excited feelings of abhorrence in the hearts of the Jews. The memory of the exile in Egypt was always fresh and keen; no retrospect of their past history could leave it out of account. And the national detestation of the false and cruel-hearted Idumæan kinsmen is recalled by Obadiah in his prophecy and touching record; as also in Psalm 137:7, as rendered in the Prayer Book, “Remember the children of Edom, O Lord, in the day of Jerusalem, how they said, Down with it, down with it, even to the ground.”