ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for Joel 3

3:1–21 Judgment: The Lord’s Judgment against the Nations and His Dwelling with His People. The Lord provides reasons for judgment (vv. 1–8), a description of the climactic judgment on the day of the Lord (vv. 9–16), and certain hope of the Lord dwelling with his people (vv. 17–21).

Joel 3:1 In those days recalls the events of 2:28–32, particularly the day of the Lord.

Joel 3:2 all the nations. That is, all oppressors of God’s people. Valley of Jehoshaphat refers to a place of final judgment. Scattered refers to deportation associated with exile.

Joel 3:3 cast lots for my people. In order to take them away as slaves.

Joel 3:4 Tyre and Sidon were Phoenician cities along the Mediterranean coast. Relations between Israel and Phoenicia were occasionally good. Philistia, on the other hand, was a longtime enemy of Israel. I will return your payment on your own head. God will judge, or pay back, the Phoenicians and Philistines for stealing Judah’s silver and gold.

Joel 3:6 sold . . . to the Greeks. Both the Philistines and the Phoenicians are accused of selling slaves to the Edomites.

Joel 3:7–8 stir them up. The enslaved will become the enslavers. Sidon was destroyed by Artaxerxes III in 343 b.c., and Tyre was defeated by Alexander the Great in 332. Sabeans. Most commentators identify this people as inhabitants of the land of Sheba or Saba, located far away in southern Arabia.

Joel 3:9 Consecrate. The nations are told to spiritually prepare themselves for war, unaware that the Lord of heaven and earth is their opponent.

Joel 3:10 Beat your plowshares into swords. The warfare preparation is so thorough that agricultural tools must be transformed into weapons. the weak. The great need for soldiers means that even those unfit for battle must become warriors.

Joel 3:13 harvest is ripe. . . . winepress is full. . . . vats overflow. The nations’ evil is compared to grain and wine, and judgment to harvest and wine making. Their evil is full-grown. It is time to harvest (that is, to judge).

Joel 3:14 Multitudes. All the people of the world, standing before the Lord for judgment. valley of decision. The Valley of Jehoshaphat (see note on v. 2). the day of the Lord is near. The nations will soon be judged.

Joel 3:16 roars . . . utters his voice. God’s voice alone causes the world to quake. refuge, stronghold. Amid the confusion, the people of God are secure.

Joel 3:17 you shall know that I am the Lord your God. Judgment and salvation lead to knowledge of the covenant Lord and the removal of the people’s shame. Zion stands for the promise of God’s presence among his people. Jerusalem shall be holy. Where God is present, all is purified. strangers. Those who do not worship the Lord.

Joel 3:18 in that day. That is, the day of the Lord (2:2; 3:1). wine . . . milk . . . water. This and other descriptions of God’s provision recall the earlier absence of these things. a fountain . . . from the house of the Lord. Compare Ezek. 47:1–13.

Joel 3:19 Egypt and Edom were ancient enemies of Israel, representing all of those opposed to God’s people. Desolation was prophesied against Egypt and Edom. The nations shed, that is, “poured out” blood, but the Lord will “pour out” his Spirit.

Joel 3:20 The Lord’s residence in Zion ensures that his people live in unending security.

Joel 3:21 The verse brings together the two primary themes of Joel: judgment on the day of the Lord, and the fact that the Lord dwells in Zion.