New King James Version
Joel 2:13
13So 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.
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 Living Translation (NLT)Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish.
Context of Joel 2:13
11The Lord gives voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; Who can endure it? 12“Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” 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. 14Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him— A grain offering and a drink offering For the Lord your God? 15Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly;
Read all of Joel 2Joel 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
Words taken from the KJV.
- And rendקָרַעqâra‛ · to tearH7167
- your heartלֵבָבlêbâb · heartH3824
- and not your garmentsבֶּ֫גֶדbeged · garmentH899
- and turnשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
- unto the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- your Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- graciousחַנּוּןchannûn · graciousH2587
- and mercifulרַחוּםrachûm · compassionateH7349
- slowאָרֵךְ'ârêk · slowH750
- to angerאַף'aph · face: angerH639
- and of greatרַבrab · manyH7227
- kindnessחֶ֫סֶדchêsêd · kindnessH2617
- and repentethנָחַםnâcham · to be sorry: relentH5162
- him of the evilרָעָהra‛ râ‛âh · distress: harmH7451
Cross-references for Joel 2:13
- 2 Kings 22:19because 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 a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the Lord.
- Psalms 34:18The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
- Psalms 51:17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.
- Isaiah 57:15For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
- Isaiah 66:2For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,” Says the Lord. “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite 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 put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”
- Matthew 5:3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- Genesis 37:29Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes.
- 2 Samuel 1:11Therefore David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him.
- 1 Kings 21:27So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning.
- 2 Kings 5:7And it happened, when the king of Israel read the letter, that he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and make alive, that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy? Therefore please consider, and see how he seeks a quarrel with me.”
- 2 Kings 6:30Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes; and as he passed by on the wall, the people looked, and there underneath he had sackcloth on his body.
- 2 Kings 22:11Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes.
- Job 1:20Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped.
- Isaiah 58:5Is it a fast that I have chosen, A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, And to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, And an acceptable day to the Lord?
- Matthew 6:16“Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
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
In the dictionaries
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries