1.
For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
For. Binding this portion to what immediately precedes.
behold. Figure of speech Asterisms. App-6 .
in those days, &c. The prophecy, instead of con tracting, widens out to the final judgment of the nations (Matthew 25:31-46 , "when the Son of Man shall come in His glory . . . and sit upon the throne of His glory"), There is no resurrection in this chapter or in that. Here we have the nucleus of the nations of Revelation 21:24 .
bring again the captivity. The idiom for restoring the fortunes of. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 30:3 ). App-92 , Compare Job 42:10 . Psalms 126:1 , Psalms 126:4 . Ezekiel 16:53 , &c. Amos 9:14 .
2.
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.
I will also gather. Compare Zechariah 14:2-4 .
all nations. Put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of the Whole), App-6 , for representatives or people from all nations.
the valley of Jehoshaphat. Between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. The name then existing is still preserved in the village of Sh'afat; now the Wady Sidi Miriam and Wady Far'aun . Mentioned only here, and in Joel 3:12 ; the event recorded in 2 Chronicles 20:21-26 being typical of this scene of the future judgment of the nations. Note "to this day".
Jehoshaphat = Jehovah hath judged.
will plead with them = will judge them. Note the Figure of speech Paronomasia ( App-6 ) for emphasis. Hebrew. yehoshaphat vnishpatti. Compare Isaiah 66:16 . Ezekiel 38:22 .
My. Note the force of this pronoun when Jehovah calls Israel again "Ammi" (Hosea 2:23 ). The judgment of Matthew 25 turns on how the nations had treated "My brethren", and not upon the grounds of justification by faith.
My heritage. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 32:9 ). App-92 . Israel. Note this; not merely Judah, but the twelve-tribed nation.
3.
And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.
they have, &c. This describes past sufferings. Compare Obadiah 1:16 . Nahum 3:11 .
wine . Hebrew. yayin. App-27 .
4.
Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompence me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;
coasts = circuit, or region.
Palestine = Philistia.
render = pay back. Compare Ezekiel 25:15-17
if = though.
5.
Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:
pleasant things = things of desire, or valuable things. Compare Daniel 11:38 .
6.
The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.
children = sons.
the Grecians . Hebrew the sons of the Greeks.
7.
Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head:
I will raise , &c. Compare Isaiah 43:5 , Isaiah 43:6 , with Joe 49:12 .Jeremiah 23:8 .
8.
And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD hath spoken it.
Sabeans. Defined as a distant nation. See note on Job 1:15 .
people = nations.
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 .
9.
Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
Proclaim, &c. Compare Isaiah 8:9 , Isaiah 8:10 . Jeremiah 46:3 , Jeremiah 46:4 .Ezekiel 38:7 .
Gentiles = nations.
Prepare = Hallow.
men. Hebrew, plural of 'enosh . App-14 .
10.
Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
Beat your plowshares, &c. This precedes the opposite command to be given after this in Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3 , when Hosea 2:18 shall be fulfilled.
pruninghooks : or, scythes.
11.
Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.
Assemble yourselves. Compare Joel 3:2 . Hebrew ' ushu = haste ye, as in Septuagint and Vulgate. Occurs only here.
heathen = nations.
thither. To the valley of Jehoshaphat.
Thy mighty ones. Compare Psalms 103:20 . Isaiah 13:3 .
12.
Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
wakened. Compare Joel 3:2 .
and come up. Compare Psalms 96:13 ; Psalms 98:9 ; Psalms 110:6 . Isaiah 2:4 ; Isaiah 3:13 .Micah 4:3 .
there will I sit, &c. See Joel 3:2 .
13.
Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
Put ye in the sickle. Compare Matthew 13:39 . Revelation 14:15 , Revelation 14:18 .
sickle = vintage-knife. Heb . maggal. Occurs only here and Jeremiah 50:16 .
the harvest = the vintage. Compare Jeremiah 51:33 .Hosea 6:11 .
get you down = go in: i.e. into the winepress = tread ye.
press. Hebrew. gath.
fats. Hebrew. yekeb . See note en Joe 2:74 .
their. The 1611 edition of the Authorized Version reads "the".
wickedness. Hebrew raa. App-44 .
14.
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
Multitudes. Note the Figure of speech Epizeuxis ( App-6 ), to express "great multitudes".
decision = threshing: i.e. judgment. Compare Isaiah 41:15 .
the day, &c. Defining the time as well as the place. Compare Joel 2:1 .
15.
The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
16.
The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
The LORD = But Jehovah. App-4 .
roar out of Zion. Compare Jeremiah 25:30 . Ezekiel 38:18-22 .Amos 1:2 .
roar = thunder.
the heavens . . . shall shake. Compare Joel 2:10 Haggai 2:6 .
but the LORD . Compare Isaiah 51:5 , Isaiah 51:6 .
hope = refuge.
strength = stronghold.
17.
So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
So shall ye know , &c. Compare Joel 2:27 . See note on Ezekiel 6:7 .
God. Hebrew. Elohim . App-4 .
My holy mountain. Compare Daniel 11:45 .Obadiah 1:16 . Zechariah 8:3 .
holy = holiness. See note on Exodus 3:5 .
no strangers. Compare Isaiah 35:8 ; Isaiah 52:1 .Nahum 1:15 .Zechariah 14:21 .Revelation 21:27 .
strangers = foreigners.
18.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
that day. Compare Joel 3:1 .
mountains . . . hills. Compare Amos 9:13 .
drop down = distil.
new wine = sweet wine, or mead. Hebrew. 'asis. App-27 .
rivers. Hebrew. 'aphikim. See note on "channels", 2 Samuel 22:16 .
Judah. The country; not the People.
a fountain, &c. Ezekiel 47:1 .Zechariah 14:8 . Revelation 22:1 . See App-68 .
Shittim = the acacias. Reference to Pentateuch (Numbers 33:49 ). App-92 .
19.
Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
violence against. Genitive of Relation. App-17 . innocent blood. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 19:10 ; Deuteronomy 27:25 ).
20.
But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
dwell = remain, or be established.
21.
For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.
cleanse . . . cleansed = clear . . . cleared. This could be done only by avenging it; for God will "by no means clear the guilty" (Exodus 34:7 . Numbers 14:18 ); and Egypt, Edom, &c., were guilty (Joel 3:19 ), and are not to be cleansed", but punished for shedding Judah's blood. The Hebrew nakah is not used of cleansing, naturally or ceremonially. Not the same word as Isaiah 4:4 . The Septuagint and Syriac render it "make inquisition for" in 2 Kings 9:7 ; and evidently read nakam = to avenge (akin to nakah). This would be a vivid reference to Pent in Deuteronomy 32:42 , Deuteronomy 32:43 , the parallel event. Compare Revelation 6:10 , Revelation 6:11 .
have not = had not.
dwelleth in Zion = is about to make His dwelling in Zion. Thus ending like Ezekiel (Ezekiel 48:35 ), Jehovah Shammah. Compare Joel 3:17 . Psalms 87:3 .Revelation 21:3 .