Joel 2:13

Joel 2:13 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
• New International Version (NIV)Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
• English Standard Version (ESV)and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.
• New King James Version (NKJV)So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.

Context of Joel 2:13

11The Lord utters His voice before His army; His camp is indeed very great, For mighty is one who carries out His word. The day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome, And who can endure it? 12“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping, and mourning; And tear your heart and not merely your garments.” Now return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in mercy And relenting of catastrophe. 14Who knows, He might turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him, Resulting in a grain offering and a drink offering For the Lord your God. 15Blow a trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,

Joel 2:13 word by word

וְקִרְע֤וּ לְבַבְכֶם֙ וְאַל־בִּגְדֵיכֶ֔ם וְשׁ֖וּבוּ אֶל־יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֑ם כִּֽי־חַנּ֤וּן וְרַחוּם֙ ה֔וּא אֶ֤רֶךְ אַפַּ֙יִם֙ וְרַב־חֶ֔סֶד וְנִחָ֖ם עַל־הָרָעָֽה׃Read the interlinear

• tearקָרַעqâra‛ · to tearH7167
• your heartלֵבָבlêbâb · heartH3824
• your garmentsבֶּ֫גֶדbeged · garmentH899
• Now returnשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
• to the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• your Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• graciousחַנּוּןchannûn · graciousH2587
• and compassionateרַחוּםrachûm · compassionateH7349
• Slowאָרֵךְ'ârêk · slowH750
• to angerאַף'aph · face: angerH639
• aboundingרַבrab · manyH7227
• in mercyחֶ֫סֶדchêsêd · kindnessH2617
• relentingנָחַםnâcham · to be sorry: relentH5162

Cross-references for Joel 2:13

• 2 Kings 22:19since your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become an object of horror and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have indeed heard you,’ declares the Lord.”
• Psalms 34:18The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.
• Psalms 51:17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, God, You will not despise.
• Isaiah 57:15For this is what the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, says: “I dwell in a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.
• Isaiah 66:2For My hand made all these things, So all these things came into being,” declares the Lord. “But I will look to this one, At one who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who trembles at My word.
• Ezekiel 9:4And the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and make a mark on the foreheads of the people who groan and sigh over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.”
• Matthew 5:3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• Genesis 37:29Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his garments.
• 2 Samuel 1:11Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so also did all the men who were with him.
• 1 Kings 21:27Yet it came about, when Ahab heard these words, that he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about despondently.
• 2 Kings 5:7But when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to keep alive, that this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? But consider now, and see how he is seeking a quarrel against me.”
• 2 Kings 6:30When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his clothes--and he was passing by on the wall--and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth underneath on his body.
• 2 Kings 22:11When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes.
• Job 1:20Then Job got up, tore his robe, and shaved his head; then he fell to the ground and worshiped.
• Isaiah 58:5Is it a fast like this that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord?
• Matthew 6:16“Now whenever you fast, do not make a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they distort their faces so that they will be noticed by people when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

Commentaries on Joel 2:13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13Rend your heart - Let it not be merely a rending of your garments, but let your hearts be truly contrite. Merely external worship and hypocritical pretensions will only increase the evil, and cause God to meet you with heavier judgments. For he is gracious - Good and benevolent in his own nature. Merciful - Pitying and forgiving, as the effect of goodness and benevolence. Slow to anger - He is not easily provoked to punish, because he is gracious and…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13And rend your hearts and not your garments - that is, “not your garments only” (see the note at Hosea 6:6). The rending of the clothes was an expression of extraordinary uncontrollable emotion, chiefly of grief, of terror, or of horror. At least, in Holy Scripture it is not mentioned as a part of ordinary mourning, but only upon some sudden overpowering grief, whether public or private. It was not used on occasion of death, unless there were something…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13In the ancient world, people showed grief by tearing their clothes (Genesis 37:34; 2 Samuel 3:31; 2 Kings 19:1). rend your hearts: In Hebrew culture, the heart represents thought, faith, and will. God wanted people to repent inwardly, not just outwardly. This meant changing their mindset, priorities, and attitudes. They could only do this by returning to the Lord. For He is gracious and compassionate … abounding in loving devotion: The people's only hope…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. Let there be the inward sorrow of heart, and not the mere outward manifestation of it by "rending the garment" (Jos 7:6). the evil--the calamity which He had threatened against the impenitent.Read the comment

Topics related to Joel 2:13

• Fasting
• God Continued...
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• Rending
• Repentance
• Seekers

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Darkness
• Fat
• Pour
• Rend
• Reproach
• Thrust
• Compassion
• Eschatology of the Old Testament

Commentaries on Joel 2

• 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