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The Prophets · Old Testament

Joel 3

Joel 3: the nations in the valley of Jehoshaphat and the Lord dwelling in Zion

General context

In the days when the Lord brings again "the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem," he will gather all nations into "the valley of Jehoshaphat" and plead with them there "for my people and for my heritage Israel," whom they scattered and whose land they parted. They "cast lots for my people," gave "a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine." Tyre, Zidon and "all the coasts of Palestine" are asked what they have to do with him; any recompence will return on their own head. They took his silver and gold into their temples and sold the children of Judah and Jerusalem to the Grecians; their own sons and daughters will be sold to Judah and on to the Sabeans. The Gentiles are told to prepare war: "Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong." The heathen come up to the valley, "for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about," with sickle and full press. "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near." "The Lord also shall roar out of Zion," and he is "the hope of his people." "So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion"; Jerusalem will be holy, with no strangers passing through. Mountains drop new wine, hills flow with milk, and a fountain from the house of the Lord waters "the valley of Shittim." Egypt and Edom will be desolate "for the violence against the children of Judah." Judah will dwell for ever, and the chapter ends, "I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion."

Cited passages: Joel 3:1, Joel 3:2, Joel 3:3, Joel 3:4, Joel 3:5, Joel 3:6, Joel 3:8, Joel 3:10, Joel 3:11, Joel 3:12, Joel 3:13, Joel 3:14, Joel 3:15, Joel 3:16, Joel 3:17, Joel 3:18, Joel 3:19, Joel 3:20, Joel 3:21

Joel 3 (KJV)

1For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,

2I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

3And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.

4Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;

5Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:

6The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.

7Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head:

8And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the Lord hath spoken it.

9Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:

10Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.

11Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord.

12Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.

13Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

14Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

15The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

16The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

17So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

18And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

19Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

20But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

21For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.

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Historical context

Named parties are Judah, Jerusalem, Israel, Tyre, Zidon, the coasts of Palestine, the Grecians, the Sabeans, Egypt and Edom; named places are the valley of Jehoshaphat, Zion, the valley of decision and the valley of Shittim. The valley of Jehoshaphat is named twice and not located, and the chapter does not connect the name with any person. The charges, scattering the people, parting the land, casting lots, selling boys and girls, taking silver and gold into temples, are stated as done, but the chapter gives no date and no occasion, and "the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem" is assumed rather than narrated. The Lord speaks in the first person, "I will also gather all nations," and one line in verse 11 turns to address him, "thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord," without a marked change of speaker. Verse 10 reverses a line found in Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3, "they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks"; Joel prints the opposite command. Egypt and Edom are charged with "violence against the children of Judah" and shedding "innocent blood in their land," without detail. The closing promise concerns Judah and Jerusalem; the northern kingdom is not mentioned by that name in this chapter.

Cited passages: Joel 3:2, Joel 3:12, Joel 3:1, Joel 3:11, Isaiah 2:4, Joel 3:10, Joel 3:19, Joel 3:20

Literary context

The chapter is a trial and its outcome. The Lord gathers, pleads, sits to judge; the charges are listed; the sentence returns each act on its doer, "and will return your recompence upon your own head," and the sellers of children are themselves sold. Two harvest images stand in for battle, the sickle and the full press, and the doubled cry "Multitudes, multitudes" gives the valley a second name, "the valley of decision." Signs from chapter 2 recur: darkened sun and moon, the near day of the Lord, and the roar from Zion. The turn comes at "but" in verse 16, and from there the chapter reverses its own violence with abundance: mountains that drop wine, hills flowing with milk, rivers, a fountain from the house of the Lord. The book's first chapter dried the rivers and withered the vine; its last waters a valley and pours new wine from the mountains. "Zion" ends the chapter twice, as the place where the Lord dwells, and the final word of the book is a place rather than a people.

Cited passages: Joel 3:2, Joel 3:12, Joel 3:7, Joel 3:13, Joel 3:14, Joel 2:31, Joel 3:16, Joel 3:18, Joel 1:20, Joel 1:12, Joel 3:17, Joel 3:21

Key moments

  1. Nations gathered to the valley (Joel 3:2). The Lord will gather all nations to the valley of Jehoshaphat to plead for his scattered people.
  2. A boy for an harlot (Joel 3:3). The nations cast lots for the people and sold children for a harlot and for wine.
  3. Plowshares into swords (Joel 3:10). The Gentiles are told to make weapons of farm tools and the weak to call themselves strong.
  4. Multitudes in the valley of decision (Joel 3:14). The day of the Lord is near for the multitudes in the valley of decision.
  5. The Lord roars out of Zion (Joel 3:16). Heaven and earth shake at the Lord's roar, but he is the hope of his people.
  6. A fountain from the house of the Lord (Joel 3:18). Mountains drop wine, hills flow with milk and a fountain waters the valley of Shittim.
  7. The Lord dwelleth in Zion (Joel 3:21). The book closes with blood cleansed and the Lord dwelling in Zion.

For reflection

The nations are charged with selling "a boy for an harlot" and "a girl for wine," and the sentence is that their own sons and daughters will be sold. What does it mean that the chapter's justice takes the same shape as the crime?

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