Blow the trumpet in Zion ,.... For the calling of the people together to religious duties, which was one use of the silver trumpets made for and blows by the priests, Numbers 10:2 ; sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly ; See Gill on Joel 1:14 . read more
Gather the people ,.... The common people, all the inhabitants of the land, Joel 1:14 ; summon them to meet together in the temple, in order to humble themselves before God for their sins, and implore his mercy, and seek his face to remove his judgments, or avert them: sanctify the congregation ; see that they are sanctified and prepared for a fast, as the law directs in such cases; that they may be clean and free from all ceremonial impurities; that their bodies and clothes be washed,... read more
Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar ,.... Not the altar of incense which stood in the holy place; but the altar of burnt offering, where the priests used to stand and do service; but now having nothing to do of that kind, they are called upon to weep and pray between that and the porch of the temple; where they might be seen and heard by the people in the outward court which the porch led into: this is thought by some to be the same situation with... read more
Blow the trumpet - Let no time be lost, let the alarm be sounded. read more
Gather the children - Let all share in the humiliation, for all must feel the judgment, should it come. Let no state nor condition among the people be exempted. The elders, the young persons, the infants, the bridegroom, and the bride; let all leave their houses, and go to the temple of God. read more
Let the priests - weep between the porch and the altar - The altar of burnt-offerings stood before the porch of the temple, 2 Chronicles 8:12 , and between them there was an open space of fifteen or twenty cubits. It was there that the priests prostrated themselves on such occasions. It was into this place that the priests brought the sacrifice or victim of atonement; and where the high priest laid his hands on the head of the victim confessing his sins. Let them say - The following... read more
Verse 15 Here again the Prophet reminds them that there was need of deep repentance; for not only individuals had transgressed, but the whole people had become guilty before God; and we also know how many and grievous their sins had been. There is no wonder then that the Prophet requires a public profession of repentance. He bids them first to sound the trumpet in Zion. This custom, as we have seen at the beginning of the chapter, was in common use under the Law; they summoned their meetings... read more
Verse 16 Proclaim, he says, a meeting עצרה otsare is not properly an assembly, but the deed itself: (6) hence also the word is transferred to festivals. Proclaim, then, a meeting, call the people, sanctify the assembly. The word, sanctify, seems to be taken here in a sense different from what it had been before. The people, in order to engage in holy services, performed those rites, as it is well known, by which they cleansed themselves from their pollutions. No one entered the temple without... read more
Verse 17 Then it follows, Between the court and the altar let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep. It was the priests’ office, we know, to pray in the name of the whole people; and now the Prophet follows this order. It was not, indeed, peculiar to the priests to pray and to ask pardon of God; but they prayed in the name of all the people. The reason must be well known to us; for God intended by these legal types to remind the Jews, that they could not offer prayers to him, except... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Joel 2:12-17
We have here an earnest exhortation to repentance, inferred from that desolating judgment described and threatened in the Joel 2:1-11: Therefore now turn you to the Lord. 1. ?Thus you must answer the end and intention of the judgment; for it was sent for this end, to convince you of your sins, to humble you for them, to reduce you to your right minds and to your allegiance.? God brings us into straits, that he may bring us to repentance and so bring us to himself. 2. ?Thus you may stay the... read more