Joel 3:11

Joe 3:11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.

Ver. 11. Assemble yourselves, and come all ye heathen] Come and fetch your bane, whereof by your forwardness to come uncalled ye may seem to be ambitious; judgments need not go to find you out; for you associate yourselves, that ye may be broken in pieces, Isa 8:9, as at Armageddon, Rev 16:16. Come on, therefore, since you will needs be so mad, and take what befalls you. "Who would set the briars and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together," Isa 27:4; see Zec 14:2-3 Eze 38:4; Eze 38:16-23 Rev 19:17-18. {See Trapp on "Zec 14:2"} {See Trapp on "Zec 14:3"} The word hero Englished assemble is by Jarchi rendered festinate, hasten; by others conglobamini, cluster together, that ye may be the sooner cut off, that the mouth of God s sword may have its full bit, that he may make an utter end, and your affliction may not rise up the second time, Nah 1:9.

Thither cause thy mighty ones to come down] Vel angeles vel alios, saith Mercer, either thine angels (called God’s mighties, Psa 103:20 Isa 10:34 Psa 18:17, where these "mighty ones" are said to make Sion as dreadful to all her enemies as these angels made Sinai at the delivery of the law) or other thine officers and executioners, that by thy command they may fall on, and destroy these heathen armies, see Joe 3:13; the answer to this prayer of the prophet, and the power of prayer which Luther fitly calleth bombardas et instrumenta bellica Christianorum, the great ordnance and warlike weapons of Christians.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joe 3:11-12. Thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord — After the prophet has given warning, in the way of irony, to the nations to provide for their defence by all possible means, and to assemble themselves together from all parts, that they might strive with their united force; he, in the conclusion of the verse, calls upon God to cause those to come whom he had appointed to overcome these nations. Some, however, render the clause, the Lord shall cause thy mighty ones to come down, or to be brought low. Let the heathen be awakened — Let their courage be roused up; and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat — To the place of divine judgment.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Assemble--"Hasten" [MAURER].

thither--to the valley of Jehoshaphat.

thy mighty ones--the warriors who fancy themselves "mighty ones," but who are on that very spot to be overthrown by Jehovah [MAURER]. Compare "the mighty men" (Joe 3:9). Rather, Joel speaks of God's really "mighty ones" in contrast to the self-styled "mighty men" (Joe 3:9; Psa 103:20; Isa 13:3; compare Dan 10:13). AUBERLEN remarks: One prophet supplements the other, for they all prophesied only "in part." What was obscure to one was revealed to the other; what is briefly described by one is more fully so by another. Daniel calls Antichrist a king, and dwells on his worldly conquests; John looks more to his spiritual tyranny, for which reason he adds a second beast, wearing the semblance of spirituality. Antichrist himself is described by Daniel. Isaiah (Isa. 29:1-24), Joel (Joel 3:1-21) describe his army of heathen followers coming up against Jerusalem, but not Antichrist himself.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

At length he concludes, There will Jehovah overthrow thy mighty ones. Though the Prophet uses the singular number, “thy”, he no doubt refers to the whole earth; as though he said, “Whatever enemies there may be to my people, I will cut them down, however strong they may be.” We now perceive that everything the Prophet has hitherto said has been for this end — to show, that God takes care of the safety of his Church, even in its heaviest afflictions, and that he will be the avenger of wrongs, after having for a time tried the patience of his people and chastised their faults — that there will be a turn in the state of things, so that the condition of the Church will be ever more desirable, even under its greatest evils, than of those whom the Lord bears with and indulges, and on whom he does not so quickly take vengeance.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(11) Thy mighty ones—i.e., thy, because Jehovah had summoned them to take arms, as champions against Him in the final conflict.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. Assemble yourselves] The word is found only here, and its meaning is very uncertain. A.V. follows LXX., Targ., Syr., Ibn Ezra, and Kimchi; but the rendering rests upon no philological basis, and is merely conjectured from the context. It is best to suppose an error in the text, and for עושו to read חושו, Hasten.

all ye nations (Joe_3:2) round about, and gather yourselves together] In Eze_36:4; Eze_36:7 the nations round about Israel are its more immediate neighbours; but the context (Joe_3:2; Joe_3:9; Joe_3:12 a) shews that the expression is meant here more generally.

thither cause thy mighty ones (or warriors) to come down] the prophet suddenly turns aside to address Jehovah: he has bidden the nations assemble, for the contest against Israel, in the valley of Jehoshaphat (Joe_3:2; Joe_3:12): he now prays Jehovah to cause His warriors also to descend thither to meet them. The mighty ones are, no doubt, the angelic hosts (Psa_68:17; Zec_14:5), whom Joel pictures as the agents of Jehovah’s will, and who are called in Psa_103:20 the “mighty in strength.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Assemble yourselves,.... From divers parts into one place: "be ye gathered"; or "gather yourselves together", as the Targum and Kimchi; get together in a body, muster up all the forces you can collect together, Jarchi, from Menachem, by the change of a letter, renders it, "make ye haste"; lose time in preparing for this battle; get men, and arms for them, as fast as you can; be as expeditious as possible:

and come, all ye Heathen; antichristian nations, Mahometan or Papal; which latter, especially, are sometimes called Heathen and Gentiles, because of the Heathenish rites introduced into their worship, Psa 10:16;

and gather yourselves round about: from all parts, to the valley of Jehoshaphat or Armageddon, Rev 16:14; this is spoken ironically to them, to use their utmost endeavours to get most powerful armies against the people of God, which would be of no avail, but issue in their own destruction; or it may signify what should be done by the providence of God, bringing such large numbers of them together to their own ruin:

thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord; which is a prayer of the prophet, or of the church, to God, that he would send down his mighty ones, the angels that excel in strength, and destroy this great army thus gathered together, as an angel in one night destroyed the army of Sennacherib. So Kimchi and Aben Ezra interpret if of angels, and many other interpreters; but perhaps it may be better to understand it of Christian princes and their forces, those armies clothed in white, and riding on white horses, in token of victory; with Christ at the head of them, Rev 19:14; who may be said to be caused to "come down"; because, being assembled shall go down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, where their enemies are gathered together, and discomfit them, The Targum is,

"there the Lord shall, break the strength of their strong ones.''

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Once more all the enemies of God are summoned together. “Assemble yourselves,” (Others in the same sense render, “Haste ye,) and come, all ye pagan, round about,” literally “from round about,” i. e., from every side, so as to compass and hem in the people of God, and then, when the net had been, as it were, drawn closer and closer round them, and no way of escape is left, the prophet prays God to send His aid; “thither cause Thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord.” Against “the mighty ones” of the earth, or “the weak” who “say” they are “mighty,” (the same word is used throughout,) there “come down the mighty ones of God.” The “mighty ones of God,” whom He is prayed to “cause to come down,” i. e., from heaven, can be no other than the mighty angels, of whom it is said, they “are mighty in strength” Psa 103:20 (still the same word,) to whom God gives “charge over” Psa 91:11. His own, “to keep” them “in all” their “ways,” and one of whom, in this place, killed “one hundred and fourscore and five thousand” 2Ki 19:35 of the Assyrians. So our Lord saith, “The Son of man shall send forth His Angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity” Mat 13:41.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Down. Many perished in Egypt, the rest in Judea, ver. 2.

Valley, at Jezrahel, the valley of destruction, ver. 14.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Assemble yourselves; the war proclaimed, Joe 3:9, pro vision made, Joe 3:10, now hasten to the general rendezvous; embody yourselves as you march, and hasten what you can, as the word imports.

Come all; not simply and in utmost latitude, but all that are here concerned.

Gather yourselves together round about; all round about Judea, the nations near about this valley of vision.

Thither, toward Judea and Jerusalem, the church and heritage of God, cause thy mighty ones to come down; direct and lead them by thy providence, that they may pitch their tents, or encamp there; let all thy mighty ones, whether enemies of thy church gathered against it, or friends of thy church, and gathered for its defence, let them all here encamp; or all those mighty warriors which thou wilt make use of successively to punish the proud oppressors of thy church; so the Chaldeans punished Assyria, Persians and Medes punished Babylon, Alexander punished the Persians, and the divided captains successors plagued one another with wars within sight, as it were, of Jerusalem and Judah.

O Lord; with which the prophet comforts himself and God’s people, intimating that all these mighty ones are under God’s conduct, and he is in the midst of them to save his own people.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

This verse expresses the precipitancy with which the procession of the hostile nations is hurried on in order to meet their doom, as also the prophet"s prayer for the descent of Jehovah"s mighty ones to the slaughter. Assemble yourselves, and come. It is rather, hasten, and come; the word WvW, only occurring here, being equivalent to WvWj, equivalent to "hasten ye." The LXX and Chaldee, indeed, favour the sense of "assemble;" the former has sunayroizesye . But that idea is expressed afterwards by the verb WxBq, which is an anomalous form of the imperative Niph. for wxbQhi, though some take it for the perfect with vau consec. The word hanchath is usually and properly taken as the imperative Hiph., from nachath, to come down, the pathach taking the place of tzere on account of the guttural and the nun retained without assimilation, as the nun rarely falls away in verbs that have a guttural for their second stem-letter. The meaning

(1) then, is, "Assemble yourselves." The margin,

(2) however, has, "The Lord shall bring down," i.e. cause to succumb, destroy, "thy mighty ones," which must then signify "the mighty ones of the enemy.

This, though supported by the Chaldee, Syriac, Vulgate, and Jerome, is less simple and obvious, necessitating also a corresponding change of the verbal form into tjinji or tyjinhi. The LXX rendering is peculiar, and as follows: "Let the meek become a warrior."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Round about - All round about Judah. Thither - Toward Jerusalem; the church and heritage of God. Thy mighty ones - All those mighty warriors whom thou wilt make use of successively to punish the oppressors of thy church.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

General Information:

Yahweh continues the speech he began in Joel 2:25, promising good things for the people of Israel.

Hurry and come ... together there

These words continue the ironic call to battle that begins in Joel 3:9. (See: Irony)

gather yourselves together

The purpose of the gathering is for battle. This can be stated explicitly. AT: "gather yourselves together for battle" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

Yahweh, bring down your mighty warriors

Possible meanings are 1) Joel is telling the people of Judah that this is what they are to "proclaim among the nations" (Joel 3:9) or 2) Joel interrupts the words of Yahweh and prays a short prayer.

translationWords

might

Yahweh

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.