Joel 3:2

Joel 3:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
• New International Version (NIV)I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel, because they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land.
• English Standard Version (ESV)I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land,
• New King James Version (NKJV)I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up My land.

Context of Joel 3:2

1“For behold, in those [climactic] days and at that time, When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather together all the [Gentile] nations [that were hostile to My people] And bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat (the Lord has judged). And there I will deal with them and enter into judgment with them there For [their treatment of] My people, My inheritance, Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations, And [because] they have encroached on My land and divided it up. 3They have also cast lots for My people, And have traded a boy for a prostitute And have sold a girl for wine that they may drink. 4Moreover, what are you to Me, O Tyre and Sidon and all the [five small] regions of Philistia? Will you pay Me back for something [I have supposedly done to you]? Even if you do pay Me back, I will swiftly and speedily return your deed [of retaliation] on your own head.

Joel 3:2 word by word

וְקִבַּצְתִּי֙ אֶת־כָּל־הַגּוֹיִ֔ם וְה֣וֹרַדְתִּ֔ים אֶל־עֵ֖מֶק יְהֽוֹשָׁפָ֑ט וְנִשְׁפַּטְתִּ֨י עִמָּ֜ם שָׁ֗ם עַל־עַמִּ֨י וְנַחֲלָתִ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר פִּזְּר֣וּ בַגּוֹיִ֔ם וְאֶת־אַרְצִ֖י חִלֵּֽקוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• I will also gatherקָבַץqâbats · to gatherH6908
• all nationsגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
• and will bring them downיָרַדyârad · to go downH3381
• into the valleyעֵ֫מֶק‛êmeq · Valley (Of Kidron)H6010
• of Jehoshaphatיְהוֹשָׁפָטyehôshâphâţ · (Valley of) JehoshaphatH3092
• and will pleadשָׁפַטshâphaţ · to judgeH8199
• with them there for my peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• my heritageנַחֲלָהnachălâh · inheritanceH5159
• Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• whom they have scatteredפָּזַרpâzar · to scatterH6340
• and partedחָלַקchâlaq · to divideH2505
• my landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776

Cross-references for Joel 3:2

• Zephaniah 3:8“Therefore [you of the godly remnant of Judah, patiently] wait for Me,” declares the Lord, “[Wait] for the day when I rise up as a witness [against the nations]. For it is My decision and My right to gather the nations, To assemble kingdoms, To pour out on them My indignation, All [the heat of] My burning anger; For [in that day] all the earth shall be consumed By the fire of My zeal.
• Zechariah 14:2For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured and the houses plundered and the women ravished; and half of the city will be exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.
• Revelation 16:14for they are [actually] the spirits of demons, performing [miraculous] signs. And they go out to the kings of the entire inhabited earth, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
• Revelation 19:19Then I saw the beast and the kings and political leaders of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against Him who is mounted on the [white] horse and against His army.
• Revelation 20:8and will come out to deceive and mislead the nations which are in the four corners of the earth—[including] Gog and Magog—to gather them together for the war; their number is like the sand of the seashore.
• Joel 3:12Let the nations be stirred [to action] And come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, For there I will sit to judge and punish All the surrounding nations.
• 2 Chronicles 20:26Then on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, for it was there that they blessed the Lord. For that reason they named that place “The Valley of Beracah (blessing)” until today.
• Ezekiel 39:11“And on that day I will give Gog a place for burial there in Israel, the valley of those who pass through east of the sea, and it will block the way of those who would pass through. So they will bury Gog there with all his hordes, and they will call it the Valley of Hamon-gog (the multitude of Gog).
• Zechariah 14:4In that day His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives, which lies before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in half from the east to the west by a very large valley, and half of the mountain will move toward the north and half of it toward the south.
• Isaiah 66:16For the Lord will execute judgment by fire And by His sword on all mankind, And those slain by the Lord will be many.
• Ezekiel 38:22With pestilence and with bloodshed I will enter into judgment with Gog; and I will rain on him torrents of rain with [great] hailstones, fire and brimstone on his hordes and on the many nations that are with him.
• Amos 1:11Thus says the Lord, “For three transgressions of Edom [the descendants of Esau] and for four (multiplied delinquencies) I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it, Because he pursued his brother Jacob (Israel) with the sword, Corrupting and stifling his compassions and casting off all mercy; His destructive anger raged continually, And he maintained [and nurtured] his wrath forever.
• Obadiah 1:10“Because of the violence you did against your brother Jacob, Shame shall cover you [completely], And you shall be cut off forever.
• Zechariah 12:3And in that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will come and be gathered against it.
• Revelation 11:18And the nations (Gentiles) became enraged, and Your wrath and indignation came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and [the time came] to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints (God’s people) and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and [the time came] to destroy the destroyers of the earth.”
• Revelation 16:6for they have poured out the blood of the saints (God’s people) and the prophets, and You [in turn] have given them blood to drink. They deserve Your judgment.”

Commentaries on Joel 3:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2The valley of Jehoshaphat - There is no such valley in the land of Judea; and hence the word must be symbolical. It signifies the judgment of God, or Jehovah judgeth; and may mean some place (as Bp. Newcome imagines) where Nebuchadnezzar should gain a great battle, which would utterly discomfit the ancient enemies of the Jews, and resemble the victory which Jehoshaphat gained over the Ammonites, Moabites, and Edomites, 2 Chronicles 20:22-26. And parted my…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2I will gather all nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat - It may be that the imagery is furnished by that great deliverance which God gave to Jehoshaphat, when “Ammon and Moab and Edom come against” him, “to cast God‘s people out of” His “possession,” which “He gave” them “to inherit” 2 Chronicles 20:11, and Jehoshaphat appealed to God, “O our God, wilt Thou not judge them?” and God said, “the battle is not yours but God‘s,” and God…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2-3The Lord would gather the armies of the world (literally all the nations) in the valley of Jehoshaphat. This valley is not related to King Jehoshaphat of Judah (1 Kings 22:41). Instead, it means “the valley where the Lord judges.” It is the place where God would decide the fate of the nations (see Joel 3:14). The sins of the nations included driving God’s covenant people into exile. They also included abusing helpless boys and girls by selling them as…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. Parallel to Zec 14:2, 3, 4, where the "Mount of Olives" answers to the "Valley of Jehoshaphat" here. The latter is called "the valley of blessing" (Berachah) (2Ch 20:26). It lies between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives and has the Kedron flowing through it. As Jehoshaphat overthrew the confederate foes of Judah, namely, Ammon, Moab, &c. (Psa 83:6-8), in this valley, so God was to overthrow the Tyrians, Zidonians, Philistines, Edom, and Egypt, with a…Read the comment

Topics related to Joel 3:2

• Church
• Jehoshaphat
• Jerusalem
• Joel

In the dictionaries

• Israel
• Jehoshaphat
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• Flow
• Harvest
• Hope
• Jehoshaphat, Valley of
• Kidron
• Valley

Commentaries on Joel 3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings