Joel 2:15-17

Joel 2:15-17 are an emphatic re-iteration of the exhortation in Joel 1:14. Joel 2:15; Joel 2:15 takes us back to Joel 2:1, where the priests are exhorted to blow the trumpet. There it was intended to be chiefly a signal of danger, here a call to a religious gathering. 15b is a repetition of Joel 1:14 a. No one is to be excluded or excused from the proposed service; all are to take part. Even the smallest children are to join. Joel 2:16 is an expansion of Joel 1:14 b.

Gather the people In Joel 1:14, “all the inhabitants of the land.” The purpose of the gathering is indicated in the following expression: Sanctify the congregation [“assembly”] Call a holy meeting of the congregation and consecrate the thus gathered people so that they can approach God properly (Exodus 19:10; 1 Samuel 16:5). The act of consecration was external, but it signified an inner spiritual preparation (13). In order that none might consider themselves exempt, the people are precisely defined as old men, children, and sucklings. No one is free from sin, no one can escape the judgment, therefore no one can afford to stay away from the service of prayer.

Elders Better, R.V., “old men.” Persons of old age (Joel 1:2), not elder in an official sense (Joel 1:14).

Those that suck the breasts “Nothing could evidence the deep and universal guilt of the entire nation more than the fact that on the great day of penitence and prayer even the newborn babes were to be brought together in the arms of their parents” (Umbreit).

Bridegroom… bride Even the newly wedded, who are least inclined to mourning, and who might possibly claim exemption (Deuteronomy 24:5), are to come forth and participate in the solemn worship. Chamber (Hebrews hedher)… closet (Hebrews huppah) The two words are to be understood as synonyms; the bride and groom are thought to be together in the bridal chamber or nuptial pavilion (Psalms 19:5). A common Arabic phrase for the consummation of marriage is “he built a tent over his wife,” and even to-day a special tent or hut is built for the bride on the night of marriage (W.R. Smith, Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia, 167ff.).

It is the duty of the priests, who are the mediators between the community and God, to convey the petition to the throne of Jehovah; in Joel 2:17 they are exhorted to discharge their duty in the religious gathering.

Weep In sorrow and repentance.

Between the porch and the altar As in Ezekiel 8:16. The porch is the fore court on the east side of the temple, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide (1 Kings 6:3), which separates the inner court, or court of the priests (1 Kings 6:36; 2 Chronicles 4:9), from the great court (2 Chronicles 4:9) intended for the laity. In the court of the priests was the great altar of burnt offering, perhaps near the fore court and thus in sight of the people in the outer court (1 Kings 8:64; 2 Chronicles 8:12). Here, with their faces turned toward the temple, they are to entreat Jehovah with tears. The prayer is prescribed by the prophet.

Spare Have mercy, and withhold further judgment.

Thy people… thine heritage The fact that Israel is the people, the heritage, of Jehovah is made the basis of appeal (Deuteronomy 9:26; Deuteronomy 9:29); he should be intensely interested in their welfare.

Give not… to reproach To be an object of reproach and mockery. Again and again Jehovah is reminded that, should he forsake Israel and permit it to be destroyed, his own power would be called in question.

That the heathen [“nations”] should rule over them The greatest disgrace in the thoughts of the Jews was the fact of being governed by heathen nations, as is shown at a later period by their frequent revolts against the Roman power. The severity of the plague of locusts has exhausted their resources; in case of hostility the Jews would fall an easy prey to their enemies, and thus become an object of reproach. The above meaning is reproduced in the ancient versions and is adopted by some moderns; it is supported by Psalms 106:41; Deuteronomy 15:6; Lamentations 5:8, and is in perfect accord with the context. For its bearing upon the allegorical interpretation see above p. 145. Most commentators, however, favor the marginal reading, “use a byword against them.” Mashal be means ordinarily “to rule over,” but the other translation is possible, and the last clause of the verse rather favors it. (The claim of Merx, Nowack, and others, that the same construction is found in Ezekiel 12:23; Ezekiel 18:3, is not well founded; the preposition be is used there in a sense entirely different from that required here.) The country having been so severely afflicted, the surrounding nations might be tempted to mock the Jews, and declare that they were forsaken by their God, or that he had no power to help them (Exodus 32:12; Numbers 14:13-16).

Where is their God? A sneer at the covenant relation between Jehovah and his people to which Jehovah could not be indifferent. The ancients traced every extraordinary event directly to the deity. The prosperity of a people was evidence of the power of its God, and even surrounding nations would look up to such a deity with a feeling of respect. On the other hand, disaster was proof of the weakness of the deity, and he would be mocked (Isaiah 10:10-11; Isaiah 36:18; Isaiah 36:20). The only way to avoid such mockery is for Jehovah to avert the calamity (Exodus 32:12; Psalms 79:10).

With this appeal, presenting the strongest reason why God should avert the judgment, the first division of the book closes. The prayer was not in vain; Jehovah heard it, and turned in mercy and loving-kindness toward his penitent people.