Joel 3:12-21

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Joel 3:13 tn Heb “send.”
2. Joel 3:13 tn Heb “go down” or “tread.” The Hebrew term רְדוּ (r^edu) 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. Joel 3:13 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).
4. Joel 3:14 sn The decision referred to here is not a response on the part of the crowd but the verdict handed out by the divine judge.
5. Joel 3:15 tn Heb “gather in.”
6. Joel 3:16 tn Heb “he sounds forth his voice.”
7. Joel 3:16 tn Or “the sky.” See the note on “sky” in 2:30.
8. Joel 3:16 tn Heb “sons.”
9. Joel 3:17 tn Heb “know.”
10. Joel 3:17 tn Heb “strangers” or “foreigners.” In context, this refers to invasions by conquering armies.
11. Joel 3:18 tn Heb “and it will come about in that day.”
12. Joel 3:18 tn Many English translations read “new wine” or “sweet wine,” meaning unfermented wine, i.e., grape juice.
13. Joel 3:18 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).
14. Joel 3:18 tn Or “seasonal streams.”
15. Joel 3:18 tn Heb “house.”
16. Joel 3:18 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.
17. Joel 3:19 tn Heb “violence of the sons of Judah.” The phrase “of the sons of Judah” is an objective genitive (cf. KJV “the violence against the children of Judah,” NAB, NIV, NRSV “violence done to the people of Judah”). It refers to injustices committed against the Judeans, not violence that the Judeans themselves had committed against others.
18. Joel 3:20 tn The phrase “will be secure” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.
19. Joel 3:21 tc The present translation follows the reading וְנִקַּמְתִּי (v^eniqqamti, “I will avenge”) rather than וְנִקֵּתִי (v^eniqqeti, “I will acquit”) of the MT.