Yoel 2:16

2:16 Gather the people;

sanctify an assembly!

Gather the elders;

gather the children and the nursing infants.

Let the bridegroom come out from his bedroom

and the bride from her private quarters. ¹ 

Yoel 3:17

The Lord’s Presence in Zion

3:17 You will be convinced ²  that I the Lord am your God,

dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain.

Jerusalem ³  will be holy –

conquering armies ⁴  will no longer pass through it.

Yoel 3:7

3:7 Look! I am rousing them from that place to which you sold them.

I will repay you for what you have done! ⁵ 

Yoel 3:13

3:13 Rush forth with ⁶  the sickle, for the harvest is ripe!

Come, stomp the grapes, ⁷  for the winepress is full!

The vats overflow.

Indeed, their evil is great! ⁸ 

Yoel 2:22

2:22 Do not fear, wild animals! ⁹ 

For the pastures of the wilderness are again green with grass.

Indeed, the trees bear their fruit;

the fig tree and the vine yield to their fullest. ¹⁰ 

Yoel 3:18

3:18 On that day ¹¹  the mountains will drip with sweet wine, ¹² 

and the hills will flow with milk. ¹³ 

All the dry stream beds ¹⁴  of Judah will flow with water.

A spring will flow out from the temple ¹⁵  of the Lord,

watering the Valley of Acacia Trees. ¹⁶ 

[2:16]  ¹ sn Mosaic law allowed men recently married, or about to be married, to be exempt for a year from certain duties that were normally mandatory, such as military obligation (cf. Deut 20:7; 24:5). However, Joel pictures a time of such urgency that normal expectations must give way to higher requirements.

[3:17]  ² tn Heb “know.”

[3:17]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “strangers” or “foreigners.” In context, this refers to invasions by conquering armies.

[3:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will return your recompense on your head.”

[3:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “send.”

[3:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “go down” or “tread.” The Hebrew term רְדוּ (rÿdu) may be from יָרַד (yarad, “to go down”) or from רָדָה (radah, “have dominion,” here in the sense of “to tread”). If it means “go down,” the reference would be to entering the vat to squash the grapes. If it means “tread,” the verb would refer specifically to the action of those who walk over the grapes to press out their juice. The phrase “the grapes” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[3:13]  ⁸ sn The immediacy of judgment upon wickedness is likened to the urgency required for a harvest that has reached its pinnacle of development. When the harvest is completely ripe, there can be no delay by the reapers in gathering the harvest. In a similar way, Joel envisions a time when human wickedness will reach such a heightened degree that there can be no further stay of divine judgment (cf. the “fullness of time” language in Gal 4:4).

[2:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “beasts of the field.”

[2:22]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “their strength.” The trees and vines will produce a maximum harvest, in contrast to the failed agricultural conditions previously described.

[3:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and it will come about in that day.”

[3:18]  ¹² tn Many English translations read “new wine” or “sweet wine,” meaning unfermented wine, i.e., grape juice.

[3:18]  ¹³ sn The language used here is a hyperbolic way of describing both a bountiful grape harvest (“the mountains will drip with juice”) and an abundance of cattle (“the hills will flow with milk”). In addition to being hyperbolic, the language is also metonymical (effect for cause).

[3:18]  ¹⁴ tn Or “seasonal streams.”

[3:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “house.”

[3:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “valley of Shittim.” The exact location of the Valley of Acacia Trees is uncertain. The Hebrew word שִׁטִּים (shittim) refers to a place where the acacia trees grow, which would be a very arid and dry place. The acacia tree can survive in such locations, whereas most other trees require more advantageous conditions. Joel’s point is that the stream that has been mentioned will proceed to the most dry and barren of locations in the vicinity of Jerusalem.