Joel 3:12

Joe 3:12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.

Ver. 12. Let the heathen be awakened] Here begins God’s answer to the prophet’s prayer. The heathen, though at ease, Zec 1:11, and fast asleep, must be aroused and assembled to the valley of Jehoshaphat, where God the righteous Judge (at the prophet’s request reminding him of his promise, "I am come for thy words," saith he to Daniel, Dan 10:12) gets up to the tribunal, and there sits to judge all the heathen round about. Let not us doubt of the like success of our suits; but, when wronged, run to the Judge of heaven and earth, who will do us right. So we pray over the promises, as here, and not faint, though he bear long with us. This our Saviour has taught us, by that famous parable of the uniust judge and the importunate widow, Luk 18:2-3, wherein we may take notice of many excellent encouragements to pray down our enemies. 1. He was a judge only; but God is our Father also. 2. He was an unrighteous judge; but is there unrighteousness with God? Rom 9:14. 3. He, as he feared not God, so he cared not for man; but God is φιλανθρωπος, properly and peculiarly loving to man above other creatures, Tit 3:4 4. He avenged the widow, as wearied out with her, and merely to be rid of her; and shall not God do as much for us, out of his love to righteousness and hatred of wickedness? Psa 45:7 5. It was troublesome to him to be sued unto; but God is displeased with us for nothing more than for our backwardness and bashfulness, Joh 16:24. Quid est cur nihil petis? What meanest thou to ask me nothing? said Severus to his favourite. 6. The unjust judge had no care of his credit; but God is most tender of his glory; and delights much in that title of his, "O thou that hearest prayers."

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.

3:12 The battle would take place in the valley of Jehoshaphat (see study note on 3:2-3), where the Lord would pronounce judgment on them all.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

See Joe 3:2.

judge all the heathen round about--that is, all the nations from all parts of the earth which have maltreated Israel; not merely, as HENDERSON supposes, the nations round about Jerusalem (compare Psa 110:6; Isa 2:4; Mic 4:3, Mic 4:11-13; Zep 3:15-19; Zac 12:9; Zac 14:3-11; Mal 4:1-3).

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

Verse 12. Let the heathen be wakened] The heathen shall be wakened.

The valley of Jehoshaphat] Any place where God may choose to display his judgments against his enemies.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Prophet proceeds with the same subject, — that God will at length become an avenger of the wrongs of his people, when they shall be unjustly harassed by profane men. We indeed know that God does not immediately succor his servants but rests as though he did not regard their troubles; but this he does to try their patience; and then at a suitable time he declares that he had not been indifferent, but had noticed the evils done to them, and deferred punishment until the wickedness of his enemies had been completed. So he says now, that God will at length be the defender of his people against all the nations assembled from every quarter in the valley of Jehoshaphat. Of this valley we have said enough already. But the chief thing is, that the afflictions of the Church shall not go unpunished; for God at the right time will ascend his tribunal, and cause all nations from every part of the earth to assemble and to be there judged. Now it follows —

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.

12. Let the nations be stirred up] corresponding to the stir up of Joe_3:9.

for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about] Another, but a different play on the name Jehoshaphat: Jehovah no longer, as in Joe_3:2, stands (Isa_50:8) to litigate (נשפט) with the nations, but sits (Isa_28:6; Psa_9:4; Exo_18:13) to judge (שפט) them. The sentence which the judge passes follows immediately in Joe_3:13.

12–13. Jehovah’s reply: the nations may assemble; He will be ready to meet them: already (Joe_3:13) He commands His ministers to begin the work of destruction.

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.

Let the Heathen be awakened, and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat,.... That is, let the enemies of Christ and his church be aroused from that state of security in which they are, and prepare for their own defence; for in such a state the antichristian powers will be before their destruction; see Rev 18:7; let them bestir themselves, and exert all the rigour and strength they have; let them come in high spirits against the people of God; let them invade the holy land, and come even to the valley of Jehoshaphat; and, when come thither, let them, descend into the place appointed for their ruin: the land of Judea being said to be higher than other countries, going to it is generally expressed by going up to it; otherwise it is more usual to say that men go down a valley than come up to it; and, mention being made again of this valley, shows that the same thing is referred to here as in Joe 3:2; these words are said in answer to the petition in Joe 3:11; for they are spoken by the Lord, as appears by what follows:

for there will I sit to judge all the Heathen round about; thither gathered together from all parts: the allusion is to a judge upon the bench, sitting to hear and try causes, and pass a definitive sentence; and here it signifies the execution of that sentence; such a pleading the cause of his people, as to take vengeance and inflict just punishment upon their enemies; see Psa 9:4.

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

Let the pagan be awakened - This emphatic repetition of the word, “awaken,” seems intended to hint at the great awakening, to Judgment , when they “who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, being awakened” from the sleep of death. Another word is used of “awakening” . On the destruction of antichrist it is thought that the general Judgment will follow, and “all who are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of Man and shall come forth” Joh 5:27-29 : They are bidden to “come up” into the valley of Jehoshaphat , “for to come into the presence of the most High God, may well be called “a coming up.” For there will I sit to judge all the pagan round about,” (again literally “from round about,) from every side,” all nations from all the four quarters of the world. The words are the same as before. There “all nations from every side” were summoned to come, as they thought, to destroy God’s people and heritage. Here the real end is assigned, for which they were brought together, for God would sit to judge them. In their own blind will and passion they came to destroy; in God’s secret overruling Providence, they were dragged along by their passions - to be judged and to be destroyed. So our Lord says, “When the Son of Man shall come in His Glory, and all the Holy Angels with Him, then shall He sit on the throne of His Glory and before Him shall be gathered all nations” Mat 25:31-32. Our Lord, in that He uses words of Joel, seems to intend to direct our minds to the prophet’s meaning. What follows are nearly His own words;

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

Let the heathen; the several nations in their appointed time; and perhaps the Assyrians are first to awake and stir under Shalmaneser, next under Sennacherib, both which came up against this valley of Jehoshaphat.

Be wakened, by the sins and divisions of God’s own people, by their own ravenous and turbulent disposition, and by a secret hand of Providence.

And come up, in hostile manner, against the church and people of God, intended here by this valley: so Sennacherib did in Hezekiah’s time.

For there, in the midst of my people and church,

will I sit to judge, to plead with, condemn, and punish by the sword,

all the heathen round about; not all the world, but all the heathen round about Judea, which was oppressed by these heathens: there God judged Sennacherib by his own hand; there God punished the Egyptians by Nebuchadnezzar who defeated Necho; and within sight of the Jews were all the punishments God inflicted on the Assyrian, Babylonish, Persian, and Grecian monarchies executed; and God all this while in the midst of his people preserved them as a bush all in a flame, yet not consumed: so did the Lord lead his mighty ones, and limited their power.

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

This verse points out the place where the great assemblage of the heathen is to hold, and the final decision in answer to the prophet"s prayer is to take place. Let the heathen he wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat. All the nations that have opposed the kingdom of God, as well as those hostile nations from round about Israel and Judah, in their more immediate neighbourhood; though these, no doubt, are primarily meant. The expression, "be wakened," of this verse corresponds to "waken up" of ver. 9. The force of coming up is explained by some

(1) as implying the ascent to Palestine in order to reach the valley of Jehoshaphat. It is rather

(2) to be understood in the general sense of advancing or marching on; otherwise "to come into the presence of the Most High God" may well be called "a coming up." The decision takes the form of a judicial process conducted by Jehovah, who as Judge takes his seat on a throne of judgment.

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

The heathen - The several nations in their appointed time, perhaps the Assyrians first under Salmaneser, next under Sennacherib, both of whom came up to the valley of Jehoshaphat. For there - In the midst of my people to plead with, condemn and punish the heathen round about Judea.

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

General Information:

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

Let the nations wake themselves ... all the surrounding nations

The words "the nations" and "the surrounding nations" refer to the same nations, those that surround Judah. Yahweh will judge them in the Valley of Jehoshaphat for what they have done to Jerusalem.

Valley of Jehoshaphat

Jehoshaphat, whose name means "Yahweh judges," was king of Judah before Joel lived. There is no known place with this name. It would be best to translate this as the name of a valley that people named after the man Jehoshaphat. See how you translated this in Joel 3:2.

Put in the sickle ... the winepress is full

Possible meanings are that Yahweh speaks of completely destroying the nations as if 1) he were harvesting all the grapes and all the grain or 2) he were harvesting quickly, while the grain and grapes are ripe. (See: Metaphor)

Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe

Yahweh speaks of making war against the nations as if he were using a sharp tool to harvest a field of ripe crops. If your readers will not understand the word "sickle," you may use the word for any sharp tool that your people use for harvesting. (See: Metaphor)

Put in the sickle

"Swing the sickle to cut the grain." This is a metaphor for a soldier using a sword to kill people, but it is best to use the word for a sharp tool used in harvesting. (See: Metaphor)

sickle

a long curved knife that people use for cutting grain

the harvest is ripe

"the grain is ready to be harvested"

Come, crush the grapes, for the winepress is full

Yahweh speaks of the nations as if they were many grapes in a winepress, ready for people to crush them by stepping on them. AT: "Come, completely destroy the nations, for they are many, and they are helpless to resist you" (See: Metaphor)

The vats overflow, for their wickedness is enormous

Yahweh speaks of the nations' wickedness as if it were the juice that flows from the winepress into storage containers, and more juice flows into the vats than they can contain. (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

nation

Jehoshaphat

judge

harvest

grape

winepress

evil

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