Joel 3:5

Joe 3:5 Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:

Ver. 5. Because ye have taken my silver, &c.] Sacrilege is a second sin they here stand charged with. Ye have taken, that is, taken away (by which observation, ye shall easily reconcile the Psalmist, Psa 68:19, with the apostle, Eph 4:8, saith Tarnovius here), my silver and my gold; vessels consecrated to my use and service; or mine, that is, my people’s, whom ye have robbed; but it shall not thrive with you; it shall prove as the gold of Toulouse (Aurum Tholosanum), fatal to them that had any part of it, or as Achan’s wedge, that cleft his body and soul asunder.

These ye have carried into your temples Or palaces, even my goodly pleasant things] My desirable goods, either to adorn your houses or your idols, to your own bane, as Belshazzar. It is surely a snare to a man who devoureth dedicated things, Pro 20:25, that bowseth in the bowls of the sanctuary. And it was a sad complaint of Luther, that even in the reformed Churches, parishes and schools were robbed of their due maintenance; as if they meant to starve us all. The like saith Gualther in his homily upon this text: Non desunt pseudo-evangelici, saith he, There want not such false gospellers among us, who restore not the Church her wealth, pulled out of the Papists’ fingers; but make good that saying of one, Possidebant Papistae, possident Rapistae, Papists had Church livings, and now Rapists have gotten them; like as a good author observeth upon the battle of Montlecherye, that some lost their livings by running away, and they were given to those that ran ten miles farther.

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 3:5. Because ye have taken my silver and my gold — Have taken out of my temple the silver and golden vessels dedicated to my service; and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things — Hebrew, my desirable goodly things. God’s temple was several times despoiled of its ornaments by the Chaldeans. Once in the reign of Jehoiakim, 2Ch 36:7. Then in the short reign of Jehoiachin, 2Ki 24:13, before the last destruction of it, recorded 2Ki 25:13. Some part of the furniture might probably be sold to the merchants of Tyre and Sidon. The profanation of God’s temple, and the sacrilegious robbing it of its vessels and ornaments, were crimes remarkably punished by God in heathen and infidels: see Jer 50:28; Jer 51:11. So it was in Belshazzar, Dan 5:1; in Antiochus Epiphanes, 1Ma 6:12; and afterward in Pompey and Crassus. And no wonder, for God had given remarkable proofs of his divine presence being in that place; and the heathen themselves might have discovered, by the light of nature, that there was but one true and living God.

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

my silver . . . my gold--that is, the gold and silver of My people. The Philistines and Arabians had carried off all the treasures of King Jehoram's house (Ch2 21:16-17). Compare also Kg1 15:18; Kg2 12:18; Kg2 14:14, for the spoiling of the treasures of the temple and the king's palace in Judah by Syria. It was customary among the heathen to hang up in the idol temples some of the spoils of war as presents to their gods.

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 5. Ye have taken my silver and my gold] The Chaldeans had spoiled the temple, and carried away the sacred vessels, and put them in the temple of their own god in Babylon.

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

Let us now proceed: He says that their silver and their gold had been taken away by the Syrians and the Sidonians. All who were the neighbors of that people, no doubt, derived gain from their calamity, as is usually the case. They were at first ill disposed towards them; there was then a new temptation; they gaped after booty: and they showed themselves openly their enemies, when they saw that there was hope of gain. Such was the case with the Syrians and Sidonians. There is no doubt, but that they sedulously courted the favor of the Assyrians, that they helped them with provisions and other things, that they might partake of the spoil. It was, therefore, no wonder that gold and silver was taken away by them, for the carriage of them to Assyria would have been tedious: and, as I have just hinted, it is usually the case, that conquerors gratify those by whom they have been assisted. Many extend this plunder generally to the whole wealth of the people; that is, that the enemies plundered what gold and silver there was in Judea, and that the Sidonians got a portion of it for themselves. But there seems to have been a special complaint, that the sacred vessels of the temple were taken away by the Syrians and Sidonians: I therefore prefer to render the word, temples, rather than palaces. Some say, ‘Ye have carried away my silver and my gold to your palaces.’ Though the word is capable of two meanings, yet the Prophet, I have no doubt, refers here to the temples. The Syrians, then, and the Sidonians profaned the silver and the gold of the temple by dedicating them to their idols; they adorned their idols with spoils taken from the only true God. This was the reason why God was so exceedingly displeased. There was, indeed, a cause why God, as we have said, contended for the whole nation of Israel: but it was a far more heinous wrong to spoil the temple, and to strip it of its ornaments, and then to adorn idols with its sacred vessels; for God was thus treated with scorn; and in contempt of him, the Syrians and Sidonians built, as it were, a trophy of victory in their own dens, where they performed sacrilegious acts in worshipping fictitious gods.

Ye have taken away, he says, my gold and silver, and my desirable good things. God speaks here after the manner of men; for it is certain that even under the law he stood in no need of gold or silver, or of other precious things; he wished the temple to be adorned with vessels and other valuable furniture for the sake of the ignorant (rudis — rude) people; for the Jews could not have been preserved in pure and right worship, had not God assisted their weak faith by these helps. (adminiculis — props, aids) But yet, as obedience is acceptable to him, he says that whatever was an ornament in the temple was a desirable thing to him; while, at the same time, by speaking thus, he put on, as I have said, a character not his own, as he has no need of such things, nor is he delighted with them. We ought not, indeed, to imagine God to be like a child, who takes delight in gold and silver and such things; but what is said here was intended for the benefit of the people, that they might know that God approved of that worship, for it was according to his command. He therefore calls every thing that was in the temple desirable, Ye have, he says, carried away into your temples my desirable good things.

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.

(5) My silver.—Mine, as being the property of my people, not as being dedicated to the service of the Temple. In the time of Jehoram, the Philistines and others had “carried away all the substance that was found in the king’s house” (2Ch_21:17).

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

5. my silver and my gold] not necessarily the silver and the gold in the Temple (1Ki_14:26; 2Ki_14:14), but more generally what belonged to Jehovah, or His people, whether in the Temple, or in the public treasuries, or in private houses.

temples] or palaces (Amo_8:3 al.), the abodes of the wealthy.

pleasant (or desirable) things] i.e. valuables: see 1Ki_20:6 (cf. Joe_3:7); Lam_1:10-11; Isa_64:11.

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.

Because ye have taken my silver and my gold,.... Which is all the Lord's, Hag 2:8; or which he had bestowed upon his people, and they had taken from them:

and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things; either the rich furniture of the houses of his people, which they carried into their own houses, or "palaces" (e), as it may be rendered; having either taken them away themselves, or bought them of others that had taken them: or else the rich vessels of the temple; as these were carried away by the Chaldeans, and put into their idol temples, Dan 1:2; so afterward they were taken by the Romans, and put into the temples of their gods: whether any of these came into the hands of the Tyrians, &c. by any means, and were put into their idol temples, as the temple of Hercules, is not certain; however, it is notorious that the Papists, the Tyrians are an emblem of, not only build stately temples, and dedicate them to angels and saints, but most profusely adorn them with gold and silver, and all goodly and desirable things; which is putting them to an idolatrous use they were not designed for.

(e) "in palatia vestra", Montanus, Drusius, Burkius.

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

Ye have taken My silver and My gold - Not the silver and gold of the temple, (as some have thought.) At least, up to the prophet’s time, they had not done this. For the inroad of the Philistines in the reign of Jehoram was, apparently, a mere marauding expedition, in which they killed and plundered, but are not said to have besieged or taken any city, much less Jerusalem. God calls “the silver and gold” which He, through His Providence, had bestowed on Judah, “My” gold and silver; as He said by Hosea Hos 2:8.

“She knew not that I multiplied her silver and gold, whereof she made Baal;” and by Haggai, “The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, saith the Lord of Hosts” Hag 2:8. For they were His people, and what they had, they held of Him; and the Philistines too so accounted it, and dedicated a part of it to their idols, as they had the ark formerly, accounting the victory over God’s people to be the triumph of their idols over God.

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

Temples, or palaces. The Chaldeans had done so, and perhaps had sold some to others.

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).

Ye have taken; you Tyrians, Zidonians, and Philistines have received at the hands of those you confederated with, you have taken them either as part of the spoil, or as part of your pay.

My silver and my gold; silver and gold vessels dedicated to my service in the temple, and about the altar.

And have carried into your temples; and in contempt of me, with proud insulting, have presented them in your temples to your idols, as if they were mightier and more glorious than I: so did the Philistines carry the ark into Dagon’s temple, but it cost Dagon his head, 1Sa 5:4; and Nebuchadnezzar carried away the sacred vessels when he spoiled the temple.

My goodly pleasant things; God speaks of these after the manner of man, and so accounteth of these things.

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

Vers. 5, 6. The prophet proceeds to enumerate the injuries sustained by his people at the hands of their enemies, and the evil attempted against himself.

(1) My sliver and my gold. The silver, gold, and precious or desirable things, whether taken immediately from the temple of God or plundered mediately from the palaces or wealthy mansions of his people, they transferred to their temples and suspended as trophies therein a custom common among ancient nations.

(2) The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians. The part which the Phoenicians had in the transaction was the purchase and sale of the Jewish captives who had fallen into the hands of the Philistine conquerors. The mention of Grecians, or sons of Javan, brings for the first time the Hellenic and Hebrew races into contact a contact sad and sorrowful for the latter. That ye might remove them far from their border. This was at once the climax of their cruelty and the aggravation of their crime. The object which their enemies had in view in selling the Hebrew captives to the sons of Javan, or Ionian Greeks of Asia Minor, was by that remote exile to prevent the possibility of their return to their own land. The historic reference is thought by some to be the event narrated in 2Ch_21:16, 2Ch_21:17, where it is written, "The Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines... And they came up into Judah, and brake into it, and carried away margin, "carried captive all the substance that was found in the king"s house, and his sons also, and his wives."

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

Taken - Either as part of the spoil, or as part of your pay. My silver - Silver and gold vessels dedicated to my service.

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

And it shall come to pass that whoever shall call etc. as... said—And where did He say it? (Deut. 28:10), “And all the peoples of the earth shall see that the Name of the Lord is called on you.” [from Mechilta, Ex. 12:25]

and among the survivors—And in the remnant that will remain.

whom the Lord invites Heb. קֹרֵא, an expression of those invited to a banquet or to the service of the king, an expression of invitation.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.