Joel 3:2-3

2. At the time of the restoration Jehovah will gather all nations All that are guilty of hostility toward the people of God; and that included all the nations known to the prophet, for all had sinned at some time against the covenant people.

Valley of Jehoshaphat This name is given to the scene of the final conflict because of the meaning of the name: Jehovah judges. It is thought by some that the place is to be identified with the valley in which several nations were conquered by Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20:26 ff.), and which received the name, valley of blessing. That valley, however, was farther from Jerusalem than the scene of this conflict. Tradition, from the time of Eusebius on, has identified the valley of Jehoshaphat with the depression between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, otherwise called valley of the Kidron. This may be a correct identification; but it is by no means certain that the prophet had in mind any particular spot; the meaning of the name would account satisfactorily for the use of the same. Hostility against the people was hostility against the God of the people; he now interferes on their behalf.

Plead Or, enter into judgment; R.V., “execute judgment.”

Heritage They belong to Jehovah, and they are as dear and precious to him as an heirloom; therefore he will not “on any terms part with them or suffer them to be lost.”

Now follow the specific charges against the nations; they are twofold: (1) they have deported the Jews, and (2) they have parted divided among themselves the land of Jehovah.

Scattered among the nations,… parted my land These words cannot refer to the invasion of Judah by the Philistines and Arabians in the time of Jehoram (2 Chronicles 21:16-17), for their deeds of violence would not warrant the use of these expressions; they can refer only to a dispersion of great numbers of Jews and the occupying of their territory by foreign invaders. But the statement of Keil, that this takes us to the dispersion of the Jews after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., and that therefore we have the prediction of an event in the distant future, finds no support in the context. The words are explained best as presupposing the exiles of 597 and 586 B.C. (Ezekiel 11:17; Ezekiel 12:15). The attempt of Koenig to identify Israel with the northern kingdom only cannot be considered successful, since the terms Israel and Judah are used interchangeably in the Book of Joel. For the expression “parted my land” compare Micah 2:4; Amos 7:17.

Joel 3:3 depicts the ignominious treatment which the captive Jews received from their conquerors.

Cast lots The distribution of captives among their captors by lot seems to have been a common custom with ancient peoples (Obadiah 1:11; Nahum 3:10; Thucid., 3:50). This made the captives the absolute property of their masters, who could do with them as they pleased, even might dispose of them if they could do so to greater advantage.

Boy Since he would be of little immediate use, they exchanged him for a harlot To satisfy their lusts.

A girl Too young to serve their purposes, or after having satisfied their lusts, they give away for wine To indulge in licentious revelry.