know, that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.

28. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 29. And also upon the servants and upon the hand maids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

30. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. 32. And it shall come to pass, that, whoever shall call on the name of the Lord, shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord will call.

iii. 1*. For behold, in those days and in that

*Chap. iii. 1.] "The following prophecy relates to the "latter times of the world: when, upon their conversion, God "shall deliver the Jews from their oppressors, and restore them "to their own land. The prophet likewise foretells the de"struction of their enemies and other unbelievers in some "decisive battle, such as that mentioned Rev. xvi. 14, and "the glorious state of the Church that should follow." Mr. Lowth in loc.

time,

time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, 2. I will also gather all the nations, and will bring them down into the valley of the Lord's judgment ‡, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and they have divided my land. 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. 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 swift recompence? and, if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head; 5. Because ye have taken my silver and my gold,

* The captivity.] A noun of number, as Chandler rightly remarks, denoting those who were carried away captive.

The captivity of Judah and Jerusalem.} "This is to be

"understood of that restoration of the Jewish nation and their capital city, which shall be brought to pass in the latter "times of the world, according to the predictions of the prophets." Mr. Lowth in loc.

66

I will also gather all the nations, and will bring them down into the valley of the Lord's judgment.] "The prophets speak "of a general discomfiture of God's enemies in some decisive "battle before the general judgnient-Such probably is the "battle of Armageddon, spoken of Rev. xvi. 14, 16. The place "of this remarkable action is here called the valley of Jehoshaphat, as if the prophet had said, the place where the Lord "will execute judgment, for so the word Jehoshaphat signifies in "the original." Mr. Lowth in loc.

and

and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things: 6. The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Ionim, that ye might remove them far from their border. 7. Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head. 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.

9. Proclaim ye this among the nations *: sanctify war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up.

10. Beat your plow-shares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. 11. Assemble yourselves and come, all ye nations; and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. 12. Let the nations be roused, and come up to the valley of the Lord's judgment: for there will I the Lord sit to judge all the nations round about. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get ye down, for the press is full, the fats overflow;

13.

*Proclaim ye this among the nations.] "The prophet re"turns to what he had mentioned (ver. 2.) concerning the heathen or unbelieving world gathering themselves either to 66 oppose the Jews in their return homeward, or some other way "to hinder the growth of Christ's kingdom." Mr. Lowth in loc.

VOL. II.

for

for their wickedness is great. 14. Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of cutting off: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of cutting off. 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. 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 f. 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

*Then shall Jerusalem be holy.] "This character-may be "understood of the earthly Jerusalem, as the metropolis of "the converted Jews. As the inhabitants themselves shall be holy, so the city shall be called the holy city, as in former "times it was." Mr. Lowth in loc..

66

+ There shall no strangers pass through her any more. .} " It "shall no more be subject to be polluted or oppressed by un"believers." Mr. Lowth in loc. Compare Nahum i. 15. and Luke xxi. 24.

The mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk.] "In the Millennial state there shall be plenty "of all things." Mr. Lowth in loc.

§ A fountain.]

in loc.

Compare Zechar. xiii. 1. and see Mr. Lowth

the

the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim. 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. 20. But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. 21. For shall I declare innocent their blood? I will not declare it innocent. Even the Lord dwelleth in Zion.

COMMENTARY.

In this prediction Joel gives us a full account of what shall take place in the great day of the Lord, and in the period which ushers in that great day. He beholds the armies of Antichrist, numerous and rapacious as locusts and caterpillers, spreading themselves over the whole land of Palestine, and devouring all its produce. He beholds them effecting wonderful revolutions in the political heavens, and marvellously succeeding in all their enterprizes f. And he solemnly calls upon the house of Judah, now wholly converted to the faith of Christ

Egypt-Edom.] "These two nations are taken in a general sense for the enemies of God's people." Mr. Lowth in loc.

''

†The revolutions here commented upon are those predicted in Chap. ii. 10, 30, 31. They are described as being caused by the mystic locusts of Antichrist.