2:17 Let the priests, those who serve the Lord, weep
from the vestibule all the way back to the altar. 1
Let them say, “Have pity, O Lord, on your people;
please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked,
to become a proverb 2 among the nations.
Why should it be said 3 among the peoples,
“Where is their God?”
3:2 Then I will gather all the nations,
and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. 4
I will enter into judgment 5 against them there
concerning my people Israel who are my inheritance, 6
whom they scattered among the nations.
They partitioned my land,
3:18 On that day 7 the mountains will drip with sweet wine, 8
and the hills will flow with milk. 9
All the dry stream beds 10 of Judah will flow with water.
A spring will flow out from the temple 11 of the Lord,
watering the Valley of Acacia Trees. 12
1 tn Heb “between the vestibule and the altar.” The vestibule was located at the entrance of the temple and the altar was located at the other end of the building. So “between the vestibule and the altar” is a merism referring to the entire structure. The priestly lament permeates the entire house of worship.
2 tn For the MT reading לִמְשָׁל (limshol, an infinitive, “to rule”), one should instead read לְמָשָׁל (lÿmashal, a noun, “to a byword”). While the consonantal Hebrew text permits either, the context suggests that the concern here is more one of not wanting to appear abandoned by God to ongoing economic depression rather than one of concern over potential political subjection of Israel (cf. v. 19). The possibility that the form in the MT is an infinitive construct of the denominative verb II מָשַׁל (mashal, “to utter a proverb”) does not seem likely because of the following preposition (Hebrew בְּ [bÿ], rather than עַל [’al]).
3 tn Heb “Why will they say?”
4 sn There is a play on words here. Jehoshaphat in Hebrew means “the Lord has judged,” and the next line in v. 2 further explicates this thought. The location of this valley is uncertain (cf. v. 12). Many interpreters have understood the Valley of Jehoshaphat to be the Kidron Valley, located on the east side of old Jerusalem. Since this is described as a scene of future messianic activity and judgment, many Jews and Muslims have desired to be buried in the vicinity, a fact attested to in modern times by the presence of many graves in the area. A variation of this view is mentioned by Eusebius, Onomasticon 1:10. According to this view, the Valley of Jehoshaphat is located in the Hinnom Valley, on the south side of the old city. Yet another view is held by many modern scholars, who understand the reference to this valley to be one of an idealized and nonliteral scene of judgment.
5 tn Heb “I will execute judgment.”
6 tn Heb “concerning my people and my inheritance Israel.”
7 tn Heb “and it will come about in that day.”
8 tn Many English translations read “new wine” or “sweet wine,” meaning unfermented wine, i.e., grape juice.
9 sn The language used here is a hyperbolic way of describing both a bountiful grape harvest (“the mountains will drip with juice”) and an abundance of cattle (“the hills will flow with milk”). In addition to being hyperbolic, the language is also metonymical (effect for cause).
10 tn Or “seasonal streams.”
11 tn Heb “house.”
12 tn Heb “valley of Shittim.” The exact location of the Valley of Acacia Trees is uncertain. The Hebrew word שִׁטִּים (shittim) refers to a place where the acacia trees grow, which would be a very arid and dry place. The acacia tree can survive in such locations, whereas most other trees require more advantageous conditions. Joel’s point is that the stream that has been mentioned will proceed to the most dry and barren of locations in the vicinity of Jerusalem.