Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, “Spare your people, Yahweh, and don’t give your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ”
Parallel Translations
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Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, “Spare your people, Yahweh, and don’t give your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ”
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Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
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Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say: 'Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not Thy heritage to reproach, that the nations should make them a byword: wherefore should they say among the peoples: Where is their God?'
Cross-references (37)
Passages linked to Joel 2:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 115:2 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God, now?”
- Psalms 79:10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let it be known among the nations, before our eyes, that vengeance for your servants’ blood is being poured out.
- Ezekiel 8:16 He brought me into the inner court of Yahweh’s house; and I saw at the door of Yahweh’s temple, between the porch and the altar, there were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward Yahweh’s temple, and their faces toward the east. They were worshiping the sun toward the east.
- Exodus 34:9 He said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, Lord, please let the Lord go among us, even though this is a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”
- 1 Kings 6:3 The porch in front of the temple of the house had a length of twenty cubits, which was along the width of the house. Ten cubits was its width in front of the house.
- Daniel 9:18-19 My God, turn your ear, and hear. Open your eyes, and see our desolations, and the city which is called by your name; for we do not present our petitions before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies’ sake. Lord, hear. Lord, forgive. Lord, listen and do. Don’t defer, for your own sake, my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”
- Hosea 14:2 Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Tell him, “Forgive all our sins, and accept that which is good: so we offer our lips like bulls.
- Joel 1:9 The meal offering and the drink offering are cut off from Yahweh’s house. The priests, Yahweh’s ministers, mourn.
- Amos 7:2 When they finished eating the grass of the land, then I said, “Lord Yahweh, forgive, I beg you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small.”
- Matthew 23:35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar.
- Exodus 32:11-13 Moses begged Yahweh his God, and said, “Yahweh, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians talk, saying, ‘He brought them out for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the surface of the earth?’ Turn from your fierce wrath, and turn away from this evil against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”
- Numbers 14:14-16 They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you Yahweh are among this people; for you Yahweh are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them, and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if you killed this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying, ‘Because Yahweh was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness.’
- Deuteronomy 32:27 were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, lest they should say, ‘Our hand is exalted, Yahweh has not done all this.’ ”
- 2 Chronicles 8:12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to Yahweh on Yahweh’s altar, which he had built before the porch,
- Psalms 42:10 As with a sword in my bones, my adversaries reproach me, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”
- Psalms 44:10-14 You make us turn back from the adversary. Those who hate us take plunder for themselves. You have made us like sheep for food, and have scattered us among the nations. You sell your people for nothing, and have gained nothing from their sale. You make us a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and a derision to those who are around us. You make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples.
- Psalms 74:10 How long, God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever?
- Psalms 74:18-23 Remember this, that the enemy has mocked you, Yahweh. Foolish people have blasphemed your name. Don’t deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts. Don’t forget the life of your poor forever. Honor your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the earth. Don’t let the oppressed return ashamed. Let the poor and needy praise your name. Arise, God! Plead your own cause. Remember how the foolish man mocks you all day. Don’t forget the voice of your adversaries. The tumult of those who rise up against you ascends continually.
- Psalms 79:4 We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and derision to those who are around us.
- Psalms 89:41 All who pass by the way rob him. He has become a reproach to his neighbors.
- Psalms 89:51 With which your enemies have mocked, Yahweh, with which they have mocked the footsteps of your anointed one.
- Isaiah 37:20 Now therefore, Yahweh our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are Yahweh, even you only.”
- Isaiah 63:17-19 O Yahweh, why do you make us wander from your ways, and harden our heart from your fear? Return for your servants’ sake, the tribes of your inheritance. Your holy people possessed it but a little while. Our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary. We have become like those over whom you never ruled, like those who were not called by your name.
- Isaiah 64:9-12 Don’t be furious, Yahweh. Don’t remember iniquity forever. Look and see, we beg you, we are all your people. Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and our beautiful house where our fathers praised you is burned with fire. All our pleasant places are laid waste. Will you hold yourself back for these things, Yahweh? Will you keep silent and punish us very severely?
- Ezekiel 20:9 But I worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, among which they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them, in bringing them out of the land of Egypt.
- Ezekiel 36:4-7 therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh: The Lord Yahweh says to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which have become a prey and derision to the residue of the nations that are all around; therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Surely in the fire of my jealousy I have spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all Edom, that have appointed my land to themselves for a possession with the joy of all their heart, with despite of soul, to cast it out for a prey.” ’ Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and tell the mountains, the hills, the watercourses and the valleys, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my wrath, because you have borne the shame of the nations.” Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “I have sworn, ‘Surely the nations that are around you will bear their shame.’
- Amos 7:5 Then I said, “Lord Yahweh, stop, I beg you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small.”
- Micah 7:10 Then my enemy will see it, and shame will cover her who said to me, where is Yahweh your God? Then my enemy will see me and will cover her shame. Now she will be trodden down like the mire of the streets.
- Malachi 1:9 “Now, please entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With this, will he accept any of you?” says Yahweh of Armies.
- Matthew 27:43 He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now, if he wants him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”
- Nehemiah 9:36 “Behold, we are servants today, and as for the land that you gave to our fathers to eat its fruit and its good, behold, we are servants in it.
- Deuteronomy 9:16-29 I looked, and behold, you had sinned against Yahweh your God. You had made yourselves a molded calf. You had quickly turned away from the way which Yahweh had commanded you. I took hold of the two tablets, and threw them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes. I fell down before Yahweh, as at the first, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you sinned, in doing that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger. For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which Yahweh was angry against you to destroy you. But Yahweh listened to me that time also. Yahweh was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him. I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire, and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust. I threw its dust into the brook that descended out of the mountain. At Taberah, at Massah, and at Kibroth Hattaavah you provoked Yahweh to wrath. When Yahweh sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, “Go up and possess the land which I have given you,” you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God, and you didn’t believe him or listen to his voice. You have been rebellious against Yahweh from the day that I knew you. So I fell down before Yahweh the forty days and forty nights that I fell down, because Yahweh had said he would destroy you. I prayed to Yahweh, and said, “Lord Yahweh, don’t destroy your people and your inheritance that you have redeemed through your greatness, that you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Don’t look at the stubbornness of this people, nor at their wickedness, nor at their sin, lest the land you brought us out from say, ‘Because Yahweh was not able to bring them into the land which he promised to them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.’ Yet they are your people and your inheritance, which you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.”
- Deuteronomy 28:37 You will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where Yahweh will lead you away.
- 1 Kings 9:7 then I will cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and I will cast this house, which I have made holy for my name, out of my sight; and Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
- 2 Chronicles 7:20 then I will pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
- Psalms 42:3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”
- Joel 1:13 Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priests! Wail, you ministers of the altar. Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God, for the meal offering and the drink offering are withheld from your God’s house.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Then it follows, Between the court and the altar…
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 through some mediator; the people were unworthy to offer prayers by themselves. Hence the priest was, as it were, the middle person. The whole of this is to be referred to Christ; for by him we now pray; he is the Mediator who intercedes for us. The people stood then afar off, we now dare to come nigh to God; for the vail is rent, and through Christ we are all made priests. Hence, we are allowed in familiar way and in confidence to call God our Father: and yet without Christ’s intercession, no access to God would be open to us. This then was the reason for the legal appointment. Hence the Prophet now says, Let the priests weep; not that he wished the people in the meantime to neglect their duty; but he expresses what had been prescribed by the law of God; that is, that the priests should offer supplications in the name of the people.
And he says, Between the court and the altar; for the people remained in the court, the priests themselves had a court by its side which they called the sacerdotal court; but the people’s court was over against the sanctuary. Then the priest stood, as it were, in the middle between God, that is, the ark of the covenant, and the people: the people also were standing there. We now perceive that what the Prophet meant was, that the people had the priests as their mediators to offer prayers; and yet the confession of them all was public. He calls the priests the ministers of Jehovah, as we have before found. He thus designates their office; as though he had said, that they were not more worthy than the rest of the people, as though they excelled by their own virtue or merits; but that the Lord had conferred this honor on the tribe of Levi by choosing them to be his ministers. It was then on account of their office that they came nearer to God, and not for any merit in their own works.
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He further adds, Spare, Lord, or be propitious to, thy people; and give not thy heritage to reproach, that the Gentiles may rule over them. Here the Prophet leaves nothing to the priests, but to flee to God’s mercy; as though he had said that now no plea remained for the people, and that they were greatly deceived if they pretended any excuse, and that their whole hope was in God’s mercy. He afterwards shows the ground on which they were to seek and to hope for mercy; and he calls their attention to God’s gratuitous covenant, Give not thy heritage for a reproach to the Gentiles. By these words he shows, that if the Jews depended on themselves, they were past recovery; for they had so often and in such various ways provoked God’s wrath, that they could not hope for any pardon: they had also been so obstinate that the door as it were had been closed against them on account of their hardness. But the Prophet here reminds them, that as they had been freely chosen by God as his peculiar people, there remained for them a hope of deliverance, but that it ought not to have been sought in any other way. We now then understand the design of the Prophet, when he speaks of God’s heritage; as though he had said, that the people could now undertake nothing to pacify God, had they not been God’s heritage: Give not then thy heritage to reproach. He had in view the threatening, which he had before mentioned; for it was an extreme kind of vengeance, when the Lord determined to visit his people with utter destruction; after having worn them out and consumed them by famine and want, God resolved wholly to consume them by the sword of enemies. It is then to this vengeance that he now alludes when he says, That the Gentiles may not rule over them. It is therefore absurd, as many do, to connect with this the discourse concerning the locusts: such a thing is wholly inconsistent with the design of the Prophet.
It is then added, Why should they say among the people, Where is their God? The Prophet now adduces another reason, by which the Jews might propitiate God, and that is, because his own glory is concerned: this reason has indeed an affinity to the former, for God could not expose his heritage to the reproaches of the Gentiles without subjecting also his holy name to their blasphemies. But the Prophet shows here more distinctly that God’s glory would be subject to reproach among the nations, if he dealt with the people according to the full demands of justice; for the Gentiles would contemptuously deride him, as though he could not save his people. Hence in this second clause he reminds us, that when engaged in seeking pardon, we ought to place before our eyes The glory of God, that we ought not to seek our own salvation without remembering the holy name of God, which ought of right to be preferred to all other things. And at the same time he strengthens also the hope of the people, when he teaches that the glory of God is connected with the salvation of those who had sinned; as though he had said, “God, that he may provide for his own glory, will have mercy on you.” They must then have come more willingly to God’s presences when they saw that their salvation was connected with the glory of God, and that they would be saved that the name of God might be preserved safe and free from blasphemies.
We now then perceive what the Prophet meant in this verse: he first strips the Jews of all confidence in works, showing that nothing remained for them except they fled to God’s free mercy. He then shows that this mercy is folded on God’s gratuitous covenant, because they were his heritage. In the third place, he shows that God would be merciful to them from a regard to his own glory, lest he should expose it to the reproaches of the Gentiles, if he exercised extreme severity towards his people. Let us now proceed —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Joe 2:17 Let the priests, the ministers of the…
Joe 2:17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where [is] their God?
Ver. 17. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord] Let not them be either dull or dumb (as Popish mass-priests, with their dumb shows at divine service), but as (for their dignity) they are the Lord’s ministers, as likewise the good angels are, and their fellow-servants, so (according to their duty) they must be first in holy exercises, Psa 103:21 Rev 22:9, going in and out before God’s people in the performance of their trust, and that worthy work of theirs, 1Ti 3:1, for the which they are to be very highly esteemed in love, i Thess. v. 13. Let ministers, therefore, pray hard for their people, as did Aaron, Samuel, Paul, &c. Let their prayers (at fasts especially) be well watered with tears (those effectual orators, that cry to God for mercy, Psa 39:12, as blood doth for vengeance, Gen 4:16), as theirs were, Jdg 20:28; Jdg 2:5 1Sa 7:6; and as Ezra, x. 1, and Jeremiah, ix. 1; xiii. 17; and why? but for corruption, in magistrates, ministers, all sorts; a general defection, drawing on a general desolation. Oh let God’s two faithful witnesses be clothed in sackcloth, Rev 11:3, teaching God’s people with many "tears and temptations, both publicly and from house to house"; yea, not "ceasing to warn them night and day with tears," to redeem their own sorrows by sound repentance, Act 20:19-20; Act 20:31. It is said of Athanasius, that by his tears, as by the bleeding of a chaste vine, he cured the leprosy of that tainted age. And of Luther, that by his prayers and tears he had prevailed with God, that Popery should not overrun his country during his days. When I am dead, said he, let those pray that can pray, Melancthon, his colleague, writeth, that he constantly prayed with abundance of tears; for he knew, that as music upon the water sounds farther and more harmoniously than upon the land; so prayers, joined with tears, find much respect with Christ; who could not but look back upon the weeping women, and comfort them, though he was then going to his death.
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Between the porch and the altar] This was that void place, where the priests prayed after the sacrifices were offered, Eze 8:16. As in man there is body, soul, and spirit, 1Th 5:23, so in the temple at Jerusalem, 1. between Solomon’s porch, Act 3:11, and the altar of burnt-offering, was the outer great court, 2Ch 4:9, where the people met for preaching and prayer. Next, there was the second court, for the priests only; and here was the altar of incense, Luk 1:9-10. Thirdly, the most holy place, for the high-priest to enter once a year, Lev 16:17. The first is here spoken of, the outer court, where the priests might be best heard to pray, and seen to weep; and the people might comport, and say, Amen; the want whereof St Paul counts no small loss, i Cor. xiv. 16.
And let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, &c.] Other exercises there were usually performed at public fasts; as reading the Scriptures, Jer 36:5; Jer 36:27, expounding and preaching, Neh 8:4; Neh 8:8, examining, censuring, and punishing such sins as then most reigned, Neh 9:2 Ezr 9:2 Jos 7:6; Jos 22:5. Binding themselves to God by a covenant of better obedience, Neh 10:18; Neh 10:29-30, contributing to good uses, Isa 58:7 2Ch 31:3-4; but the chief business and duty of the day was, as here, prayer to God for pardon of sin, and removal of shame and other punishment; whence also it was called, a day of atonement, or expiation.
Spare thy people, O Lord, &c.] Brevis oratio, sed tota affeetibus ardens, saith Mercer, A short prayer, but very affectionate; so are all Scripture-forms: they have fulness of matter in fewness of words. Quam multa, quam paucis! How much in a little! as Cicero said of Brutus’s laconical epistle. See Num 6:24-26 Hos 14:2 Luk 18:13 Mat 6:9-10, &c., which is both a prayer and a pattern: as the standard is the exactest measure. Why, then, should any man fall out with forms, and call them idols, odious as swine’s-flesh, &c.? Why should they say, that the use of the Lord’s Prayer is the note of a formalist? Is not this to speak evil of good, &c.
And give not thine heritage to reproach] Suffer us not, for our sins, to be forced by famine to beg bread of our enemies, the Ammonites and Moabites; for that will reflect upon thee, Lord, and turn to thy dishonour, as if thou hadst no care of thine heritage, couldst not maintain thy servants. See a like prayer to this Num 14:11-12; Num 14:16-17 Deu 9:26-28, and learn to deprecate shame and reproach as a fruit of sin, and a piece of the curse, Deu 28:1-68 Lev 26:1-46 1Sa 2:30. Beg of God, 1. To keep thee from reproachful courses, such as may expose thee to the scandal of the weak and scorn of the wicked. David is much in this petition. 2. To hide thee in a pavilion from the strife of tongues, Psa 31:20, either to preserve thee from aspersions, or so to oil thy name, that they may not stick. 3. To give thee good repute and report among the best. It was God gave Solomon honour; and he promiseth it to all his, as a reward of religion, Pro 22:4.
That the heathen should rule over them] It is a heavy hand of God upon his people, when Pagans or Papagans have dominion over them, Neh 9:9-10; Neh 9:27 Psa 79:1; Psa 80:1-2; Psa 137:1-2 Lam 1:2; Lam 1:4-5. They are bloody in their positions and dispositions. See Rom 1:31. Their government is tyrannical, such as the Spaniards’ is over the poor Indians, the Turks’ over Greece, the rebels over the English in Ireland, &c. The saints also are, 1. Conscientious, and cannot yield to their unlawful commands, as the three children; 2. Zealous, and cannot but contest, as Stephen, Paul at Athens, the martyrs; 3. Friendless and destitute, Mat 10:16, as Paul before Nero, Christ before Pilate, forsaken of all. Pray, therefore, as here, and prevent such a mischief, by shunning Jerusalem’s sins of ignorance, ingratitude, incorrigibleness, formality, &c., and by putting our necks under the yoke of Christ’s obedience, observing from the heart that form of doctrine which he hath delivered unto us, Rom 6:17.
Wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?] q.d. Why should they cast our religion in our dish? why should they twit us with thy neglect of us? why should thy name be blasphemed and thy power traduced, as it were on a public theatre? This was that which most galled these good souls (as it had often done David before them), that God, with whom they quartered arms, should be reproached for their sakes, and through their sides; and his glory defaced. This was as a murdering knife in David’s bones, Psa 42:10, and worse to him than all the evil that he had suffered from his youth up. Our nature is most impatient with reproach: for there is none so mean but thinks himself worthy of some regard; and a reproachful scorn shows an utter disrespect which flows from the very superfluity of malice. You shall find some (saith Erasmus) that if death be threatened can despise it; but to be belied or reproached they cannot brook, nor from revenge contain. God’s people can bear wrongs best of any; compel them to go a mile, they will be content, if it may do good, to go two, yea, as far as the shoes of the preparation of the Gospel of peace will carry them. But if wrong be offered to God, if he be any way dishonoured, or his name bored through by blasphemies, O what a stomach they have presently, and how blessedly blown up are they with a zeal of God’s glory, which even eateth them up.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep,…
Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep, see Joe 1:13.
Between the porch; that stately porch built by Solomon, 1Ki 6:3; Eze 40:48,49.
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And the altar; not of incense, for that was in the holy place; but the great brazen altar, or altar of burnt-offering, which stood at some distance from this porch; and here the priests are commanded to stand, fasting and praying, whence they might be heard and seen by the people in the next court, in which the people were wont to pray.
Let them say, with loud voice, and with louder heart and affection; after this manner let them pray and intercede with God.
Spare: this includes confession of sin, acknowledging God’s justice, laying themselves at the foot of God for mercy, and imploring of mercy; Though we have sinned and deserve severe wrath, yet spare, deal not with us as we deserve.
Thy people: this includes all they can plead from the covenant of God with them, his grace, promise, faithfulness, &c.; We are thy peculiar people, thou art our God, therefore spare, &c.
Give not; thou only canst expose us to famine and servitude, and both will come upon us if thou first give us up to these predooming locusts, they will consume all, and if thou after give us up to those nations which as locusts are innumerable and irresistible. O give us not up to them.
Thine heritage; chosen, redeemed, possessed through many ages by thee. O Lord, even since we came out of Egypt thou hast owned us for thine heritage: though whilst we were impenitent, and sinned high against thee, we deserved to be cast off; now we return, repent, and pray, be gracious to us, and continue to own and bless thine heritage; since thou canst make it fruitful and beautiful, command it to excel in both; cultivate, fence, and watch over it, it is thine-heritage.
To reproach; it is a reproach to any land that it starves or eats up the inhabitants thereof, Num 13:32; Eze 36:30; and famine, though by locusts, will be a reproach to this thine heritage; it will be greater reproach to be slaves to the nations signified by the locusts; therefore of mercy deliver us from both one and the other.
The heathen; whether Assyrians, or Chaldeans, or Babylonians.
Rule over them; conquer first, and then enslave thy people; or, as the word will bear, take them up for a taunt and proverb, when they shall know that they leave their own land as too barren a place to maintain them, or seek their bread at a dear rate in heathen lands.
Wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? nay, these barbarous people will not so much consider our sins, or justify our God, but they will reproach God, our God, the great God, as if unable to maintain us. O spare for thine own glory’s sake, never let them as Psa 115:2 deride thee our God.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep…
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 that between the temple and the altar, Mat 23:35;
and let them say, spare thy people, O Lord; they are directed to plead, not in a way of justice, but mercy; that though it might be just with God to destroy these people, who were called by his name; yet it is entreated that he would not, but in mercy spare them, and not cut them off in his sore displeasure, which the present judgment threatened them with: there seems to be an argument for mercy suggested, in the relation these people stood in to God, they are "thy people", whom thou hast chosen, and who are called by thy name; though this was also an aggravation of their sin; and the same may be observed in what follows:
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and give not thine heritage to reproach: the people whom he had chosen for his inheritance, and the land of Canaan he had given to them for an inheritance; both which would be given to reproach if such a famine should ensue that they must be obliged to go into other countries for food:
that the Heathen should rule over them; as they would, should they be forced to leave their own country, and settle in theirs for the sake of food: or "to be a proverb", or "byword, among the Heathen", as Jarchi. This clause Jerom thinks opens the mystery, and explains who are meant by the mighty nation under the name of locusts, the enemies of the Jews; though this does not necessarily follow, take the words in either sense, as explained: it seems indeed very likely, that though the locusts may be understood literally, yet may be considered as an emblem of the Assyrian or Chaldean army, as we have all along observed; and, as the same ancient writer observes, when we read of the locusts, we should think of the Chaldeans, in which thought we may be confirmed by this clause:
wherefore should they say among the people, where is their God? they boast of as their Creator and Benefactor, their Protector and Defender, that gave them a land flowing with milk and honey, and abounding with all blessings? what is become of that? and where is he now? which the Gentiles would say in a reproaching blaspheming way, should they be reduced to famine by the locusts, or fall into the hands of their enemies; than which kind of reproach and blasphemy there is nothing more cutting to religious minds: see Psa 42:10; and this, as well as the former is used as an argument with God for mercy. The Targum is,
"where are they that are redeemed by the Word of your God?''
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The porch - That stately porch built by Solomon,…
The porch - That stately porch built by Solomon, 1 Kings vi, 3. The altar - The altar of burnt-offering, which stood at some distance from this porch, and here are the priests commanded to stand, fasting and praying, whence they might be heard and seen by the people in the next court, in which the people were wont to pray. To reproach - Famine, though by locusts is a reproach to this thine heritage; it will be greater reproach to be slaves to the nations signified by the locusts, therefore in mercy deliver us from both one and the other.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 17. Let the priests - weep between the…
Verse 17. Let the priests - weep between the porch and the altar] The altar of burnt-offerings stood before the porch of the temple, 2Ch 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 was the form to be used on this occasion, "Spare thy people," &c. And if this be done with a rent heart, &c., "then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people," Joe 2:18. He will surely save, if ye seriously return to and penitently seek him.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Joe 2:17. Let the priests, the ministers of the…
Joe 2:17. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar — The priests, being in a peculiar sense the Lord’s servants, are here required to take the lead in this sacred work of penitence, and to stand weeping and praying between the porch and the altar; that is, in the open court, just before the porch of the temple built by Solomon, (see 1Ki 6:3,) and the altar of burnt-offerings. This was called the priests’ court, and was the place where the greatest part of those, whose course it was, gave their attendance. Hereupon this is mentioned as the most proper place for the priests to stand in, while they addressed their prayers and intercessions to God in behalf of the people; because here they could best be seen and heard by all the assembly, and here they had before offered the sacrifices proper for such an occasion. And let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord — It was usual to prescribe certain forms of prayer or praise to the priests, in their public ministrations: see Hos 14:2; 1Ch 16:36. Such was this here mentioned, wherein they beseech God to deliver his people, not for any merit of theirs, but for his own glory, lest the heathen round about them should take occasion to blaspheme his name, as if he were not able to protect his worshippers. That the heathen should rule over them — This translation of the Hebrew verb שׁמל, favours their interpretation, who understand by the army, at the beginning of the chapter, an invading human enemy. But if expounded of a plague of locusts, still this translation, as Archbishop Newcome justly observes, may be supported, because, when the people were distressed by the locusts, they would be an easier prey to their enemies. But, to make a proverb of them, or to use a by-word against them, as the margin reads, is the more natural translation: for to have their country destroyed by locusts would naturally make them the subject of their enemies’ scorn and derision, as if they were forsaken by the God whom they worshipped; and the Hebrew verb above mentioned is indifferently taken in either sense.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep…
Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar - The porch in this, Solomon’s temple, was in fact a tower, in front of the holy of holies, of the same breadth with the temple, namely, 20 cubits, and its depth half its breadth, namely, 10 cubits 1Ki 6:3, and its height 120 cubits, the whole “overlaid within with pure gold” 2Ch 3:4. The brass altar for burnt-offerings stood in front of it 2Ch 8:12. The altar was of brass, twenty cubits square; and so, equal in breadth to the temple itself, and ten cubits high 2Ch 4:1. The space then between the porch and the altar was enclosed on those two sides 2Ch 7:7; it became an inner part of the court of the priests. Through it the priests or the high priest passed, whenever they went to sprinkle the blood, typifying the atonement, before the veil of the tabernacle, or for any other office of the tabernacle. It seems to have been a place of prayer for the priests. It is spoken of as an aggravation of the sins of those 25 idolatrous priests, that here, where they ought to worship God, they turned their backs toward the Temple of the Lord, to worship the sun Eze 8:16. Here, in the exercise of his office, Zechariah was standing 2Ch 24:20-21; Mat 23:35, when the Spirit of God came upon him and he rebuked the people and they stoned him. Here the priests, with their faces toward the holy of holies and the temple which He had filled with His Glory, were to weep. Tears are a gift of God. In holier times, so did the priests weep at the holy eucharist in thought of the Passion and Precious Death of our Lord Jesus, which we then plead to God, that they bore with them, as part of their dress, linen wherewith to dry their tears .
And let them say - A form of prayer is provided for them. From this the words, “spare us good Lord, spare thy people,” enter into the litanies of the Christian Church.
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And give not thine heritage to reproach - The enmity of the pagan against the Jews was an enmity against God. God had avouched them as His people and His property. Their land was an heritage from God. God, in that He had separated them from the pagan, and revealed Himself to them, had made them His special heritage. Moses Exo 32:12; Num 14:13-16; Deu 9:28, Deu 9:9, then Joshua Jos 7:9, the Psalmists Ps. 74; Psa 79:1-13; 115, plead with God, that His own power or will to save His people would be called in question, if he should destroy them, or give them up. God, on the other hand, tells them, that not for any deserts of theirs, but for His own Name’s sake, He delivered them, lest the Pagan should be the more confirmed in their errors as to Himself Eze 20:5; Eze 36:21-23. It is part of true penitence to plead to God to pardon us, not for anything in ourselves, (for we have nothing of our own but our sins) but because we are the work of His hands, created in His image, the prince of the Blood of Jesus, called by His Name.
That the pagan should rule over them - This, and not the rendering in the margin, use a byword against them, is the uniform meaning of the Hebrew phrase. It is not to be supposed that the prophet Joel would use it in a sense contrary to the uniform usage of all the writers before him. Nor is there any instance of any other usage of the idiom in any later writer . “The enigma which was closed,” says Jerome, “is now opened. For who that people is, manifold and strong, described above under the name of the “palmerworm, the locust, the canker-worm” and “the catterpillar,” is now explained more clearly, “lest the pagan rule over them.” For the heritage of the Lord is given to reproach, when they serve their enemies, and the nations say, “Where is their God,” whom they boasted to be their Sovereign and their Protector?” Such is the reproach ever made against God’s people, when He does not visibly protect them, which the Psalmist says was as a sword in his bones (Psa 42:3, Psa 42:10; add Psa 79:10; Psa 115:2 : Mic 7:16); his tears were his meat day and night while they said it. The Chief priests and scribes and elders fulfilled a prophecy by venturing so to blaspheme our Lord, “He trusted in God; let Him, deliver Him now, if He will have Him” (Mat 27:43, from Psa 22:8).
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Altar of holocausts. They turned towards the holy place,…
Altar of holocausts. They turned towards the holy place, lying prostrate, 1 Esdras x. 1., and 2 Machabees x. 26. (Calmet) --- Hither the victim of expiation was brought, and the high priest confessed. (Maimonides) --- Over them, as they might easily have done during the famine.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain between the porch and . . . altar--the porch…
between the porch and . . . altar--the porch of Solomon's temple on the east (Kg1 6:3); the altar of burnt offerings in the court of the priests, before the porch (Ch2 8:12; compare Eze 8:16; Mat 23:35). The suppliants thus were to stand with their backs to the altar on which they had nothing to offer, their faces towards the place of the Shekinah presence.
heathen should rule over them--This shows that not locusts, but human foes, are intended. The Margin translation, "use a byword against them," is not supported by the Hebrew.
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wherefore should they say . . . Where is their God?--that is, do not for thine own honor's sake, let the heathen sneer at the God of Israel, as unable to save His people (Psa 79:10; Psa 115:2).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 17. weep] in grief and contrition: cf. Jdg_2:4; and…
17. weep] in grief and contrition: cf. Jdg_2:4; and on Joe_2:12.
between the porch and the altar] between the porch on the E. end of the Temple (1Ki_6:3), and the great altar of burnt-offering in front of it (1Ki_8:64; 2Ch_8:12) in the ‘inner court’ (1Ki_6:36), also called ‘the court of the priests,’ in contradistinction to the ‘great court’ (ib.) outside, into which alone the laity were admitted. The same expression occurs in Eze_8:16. The priests are pictured as engaged there in supplication, with their faces (unlike those of the idolaters in Eze_8:16) turned towards the sanctuary.
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give not thine inheritance to reproach] cf. Eze_22:4; Eze_36:30 (“the reproach of famine among the nations”); Psa_44:13; Psa_79:4; Psa_89:41. The fact of Judah’s being Jehovah’s people and inheritance, is made the basis of the appeal, as Deu_9:26; Deu_9:29.
that the nations should rule over them] This translation is perfectly legitimate grammatically; but in the context there has been no mention of Judah being dominated by foreign nations, but only of the country having been devastated by locusts and drought; hence the rendering make proverbs of (i.e. use their name as a by-word) is more probable (cf. R.V. marg.); comp. Jer_24:9 (“to be a reproach and a proverb … in all places whither I shall drive them”), Psa_44:13 a, 14a. The country suffering as it did, the heathen would be tempted to mock Israel, to declare that they were abandoned by their God, and that He lacked either the power or the will to save them. Comp. Exo_32:12; Num_14:13-16; Deu_9:28.
wherefore should they say among the peoples, Where is their God?] Such is the taunt which the peoples of the earth would address to them, when they saw their distress. Comp. Mic_7:10; Psa_42:10; Psa_79:10; Psa_115:2,—in Psa_79:10, as here, a motive for God’s intervention.
With the general picture of the nation, small and great alike, assembled as suppliants in the Temple, with the priests leading their devotions, comp. Jdt_4:9-15.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (17) That the heathen should rule over them.—All mention…
(17) That the heathen should rule over them.—All mention of the locusts is dropped. The lesser calamity is swallowed up in the apprehension of the greater.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Priestly entreaty.
Priestly entreaty.
The priests of the old covenant occupied a position, relatively to religion and to the Church, very different from that occupied by Christian ministers of any special order. Their office was partly fulfilled and superseded by the ministrations of" the great High Priest of our profession," and partly taken up by the whole body of the faithful, who are "priests unto God.
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I THE PRIESTLY OFFICE. Priests were:
1. Ministers of the Lord, appointed by him to serve in the offices of religion.
2. Representatives of the people, from amongst whom they were selected by Divine wisdom.
3. Mediators between the laity whom they represented, and the Eternal whom they served in his temple.
II THE PRIESTLY GRIEF. In time of calamity it was the function of the priests to mourn. They were men, and representative men. They were touched with a feeling of the people"s infirmities. They bore the burden of the nation on their hearts. Between the porch and the altar, it was their sacred function, clad in dark sackcloth, to lift up their voices and to weep.
III THE PRIESTLY ENTREATY. The simple and touching language, in which the Hebrew priests appealed on behalf of the nation to the mercy of high Heaven, has passed into the Litany of the Christian Church. The supplication for pity and deliverance is urged by the united appeal of the holy assembly in the words, "Spare us, good Lord!
IV THE PRIESTLY PLEA. The text does not urge the necessities and sorrows of the people as a motive for Divine interposition, so much as the reputation, the honour, of the God of Israel. If God"s chosen people perish, then Jehovah will no longer be worshipped, and the heathen will triumph over the downfall of the true faith. This lesson we may learn from this plea, that to a rightly judging mind the glory of God himself is the highest, noblest aim that can be sought and striven and prayed for. T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 do not make your inheritance into an object of…
do not make your inheritance into an object of scorn
"do not allow your inheritance to become people whom the other nations regard as worthless"
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your inheritance
Here the people of Israel are spoken of as God's inheritance. AT: "your special people" (See: Metaphor)
Why should they say among the nations, 'Where is their God?'
This can be translated as a statement. AT: "Other nations should not be able to say, 'Their God does not help them.'" or "Other nations should not be able to say that the God of Israel has abandoned his people." (See: Rhetorical Question)
translationWords
priest
servant
Yahweh
altar
people group
inherit
shame
nation
God
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:17 Spare your people, Lord! Assembled at the Temple,…
2:17 Spare your people, Lord! Assembled at the Temple, the religious leaders and all the people were to do the only thing possible in their desperate situation: seek the mercy and compassion of God.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.