Joel 2:14

Joel 2:14 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God?
• New International Version (NIV)Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing— grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?
• New King James Version (NKJV)Who 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?

Context of Joel 2:14

12That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. 13Don’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. Who knows? Perhaps he will give you a reprieve, sending you a blessing instead of this curse. Perhaps you will be able to offer grain and wine to the Lord your God as before. 15Blow the ram’s horn in Jerusalem! Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting. 16Gather all the people— the elders, the children, and even the babies. Call the bridegroom from his quarters and the bride from her private room.

Joel 2:14 word by word

מִ֥י יוֹדֵ֖עַ יָשׁ֣וּב וְנִחָ֑ם וְהִשְׁאִ֤יר אַֽחֲרָיו֙ בְּרָכָ֔ה מִנְחָ֣ה וָנֶ֔סֶךְ לַיהוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃ פRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Who knowethיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• he will returnשׁוּבshûb · to return: repentH7725
• and repentנָחַםnâcham · to be sorry: relentH5162
• and leaveשָׁאַרshâ'ar · to remainH7604
• a blessingבְּרָכָהberâkâh · blessingH1293
• behindאַחַר'achar · afterH310
• a meat offeringמִנְחָהminchâh · offeringH4503
• and a drink offeringנֶ֫סֶךְnesek nêsek · drink offeringH5262
• unto the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• your Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430

Cross-references for Joel 2:14

• Exodus 32:30The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a terrible sin, but I will go back up to the Lord on the mountain. Perhaps I will be able to obtain forgiveness for your sin.”
• Joshua 14:12So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the Lord is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the Lord said.”
• 1 Samuel 6:5Make these things to show honor to the God of Israel. Perhaps then he will stop afflicting you, your gods, and your land.
• 2 Samuel 12:22David replied, “I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the Lord will be gracious to me and let the child live.’
• 2 Kings 19:4But perhaps the Lord your God has heard the Assyrian chief of staff, sent by the king to defy the living God, and will punish him for his words. Oh, pray for those of us who are left!”
• Amos 5:15Hate evil and love what is good; turn your courts into true halls of justice. Perhaps even yet the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will have mercy on the remnant of his people.
• Jonah 1:6So the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives.”
• Jonah 3:9Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.”
• Zephaniah 2:3Seek the Lord, all who are humble, and follow his commands. Seek to do what is right and to live humbly. Perhaps even yet the Lord will protect you— protect you from his anger on that day of destruction.
• 2 Timothy 2:25Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth.
• Isaiah 65:8“But I will not destroy them all,” says the Lord. “For just as good grapes are found among a cluster of bad ones (and someone will say, ‘Don’t throw them all away— some of those grapes are good!’), so I will not destroy all Israel. For I still have true servants there.
• Haggai 2:19I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn. You have not yet harvested your grain, and your grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not yet produced their crops. But from this day onward I will bless you.”
• Joel 1:9For there is no grain or wine to offer at the Temple of the Lord. So the priests are in mourning. The ministers of the Lord are weeping.

Commentaries on Joel 2:14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14Who knoweth if he will return - He may yet interpose and turn aside the calamity threatened, and so far preserve the land from these ravagers, that there will be food for men and cattle, and a sufficiency of offerings for the temple service. Therefore: -Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14Who knoweth if He will return - God has promised forgiveness of sins and of eternal punishment to those who turn to Him with their whole heart. Of this, then, there could be no doubt. But He has not promised either to individuals or to Churches, that He will remit the temporal punishment which He had threatened. He forgave David the sin. Nathan says, “The Lord also hath put away thy sin.” But he said at the same time, “the sword shall never depart from…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14Who knows?: Joel’s simple question acknowledges God's complete control (see also Jonah 3:9). God does not have to restore us just because we perform certain rituals. Forgiveness comes only through divine grace, but Joel knew that God was willing to forgive (Joel 2:13).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1414. leave ... a meat offering and a drink offering--that is, give plentiful harvests, out of the first-fruits of which we may offer the meat and drink offering, now "cut off" through the famine (Joe 1:9, 13, 16). "Leave behind Him": as God in visiting His people now has left behind Him a curse, so He will, on returning to visit them, leave behind Him a blessing.Read the comment

Topics related to Joel 2:14

• Israel, Prophecies Concerning

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Drink Offering
• Meat Offering
• Darkness
• Drinkoffering
• Fat
• Pour
• Rend
• Reproach

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