Yoel 3:8

3:8 I will sell your sons and daughters to ¹  the people of Judah. ² 

They will sell them to the Sabeans, ³  a nation far away.

Indeed, the Lord has spoken!

Yoel 2:20

2:20 I will remove the one from the north ⁴  far from you.

I will drive him out to a dry and desolate place.

Those in front will be driven eastward into the Dead Sea, ⁵ 

and those in back westward into the Mediterranean Sea. ⁶ 

His stench will rise up as a foul smell.” ⁷ 

Indeed, the Lord ⁸  has accomplished great things.

Yoel 3:2

3:2 Then I will gather all the nations,

and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. ⁹ 

I will enter into judgment ¹⁰  against them there

concerning my people Israel who are my inheritance, ¹¹ 

whom they scattered among the nations.

They partitioned my land,

[3:8]  ¹ tn Heb “into the hand of.”

[3:8]  ² tn Heb “the sons of Judah.”

[3:8]  ³ sn The Sabeans were Arabian merchants who were influential along the ancient caravan routes that traveled through Arabia. See also Job 1:15; Isa 43:3; 45:14; Ps 72:10.

[2:20]  ⁴ sn The allusion to the one from the north is best understood as having locusts in view. It is not correct to say that this reference to the enemy who came form the north excludes the possibility of a reference to locusts and must be understood as human armies. Although locust plagues usually approached Palestine from the east or southeast, the severe plague of 1915, for example, came from the northeast.

[2:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “his face to the eastern sea.” In this context the eastern sea is probably the Dead Sea.

[2:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “and his rear to the western sea.” The western sea refers to the Mediterranean Sea.

[2:20]  ⁷ sn Heb “and his foul smell will ascend.” The foul smell probably refers to the unpleasant odor of decayed masses of dead locusts. The Hebrew word for “foul smell” is found only here in the Old Testament. The Hebrew word for “stench” appears only here and in Isa 34:3 and Amos 4:10. In the latter references it refers to the stench of dead corpses on a field of battle.

[2:20]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text does not have “the Lord.” Two interpretations are possible. This clause may refer to the enemy described in the immediately preceding verses, in which case it would have a negative sense: “he has acted in a high-handed manner.” Or it may refer to the Lord, in which case it would have a positive sense: “the Lord has acted in a marvelous manner.” This is clearly the sense of the same expression in v. 21, where in fact “the Lord” appears as the subject of the verb. It seems best to understand the clause the same way in both verses.

[3:2]  ⁹ sn There is a play on words here. Jehoshaphat in Hebrew means “the Lord has judged,” and the next line in v. 2 further explicates this thought. The location of this valley is uncertain (cf. v. 12). Many interpreters have understood the Valley of Jehoshaphat to be the Kidron Valley, located on the east side of old Jerusalem. Since this is described as a scene of future messianic activity and judgment, many Jews and Muslims have desired to be buried in the vicinity, a fact attested to in modern times by the presence of many graves in the area. A variation of this view is mentioned by Eusebius, Onomasticon 1:10. According to this view, the Valley of Jehoshaphat is located in the Hinnom Valley, on the south side of the old city. Yet another view is held by many modern scholars, who understand the reference to this valley to be one of an idealized and nonliteral scene of judgment.

[3:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I will execute judgment.”

[3:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “concerning my people and my inheritance Israel.”