Joel 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?

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
priests	הַכֹּ֣הֲנִ֔ים ha.Ko.ha.Nim	H3548	literally one officiating · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
ministers	מְשָׁרְתֵ֖י me.sha.re.Tei	H8334	to attend as a menial or worshipper · verb, piel active participle, masculine plural construct
LORD	יְהוָ֑ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
weep	יִבְכּוּ֙ yiv.Ku	H1058	to weep · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
porch	הָאוּלָם֙ ha.'u.Lam	H197	a vestibule (as bound to the building) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
altar	וְלַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ ve.la.miz.Be.ach	H4196	an altar · conjunction + preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
say	וְֽיֹאמְר֞וּ ve.yo.me.Ru	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal, 3rd person masculine plural
Spare	ח֧וּסָה Chu.sah	H2347	properly · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular + paragogic he
people	עַמֶּ֗ךָ 'a.Me.kha	H5971	a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
LORD	יְהוָ֣ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
give	תִּתֵּ֨ן ti.Ten	H5414	to give · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine singular
heritage	נַחֲלָתְךָ֤ na.cha.la.te.Kha	H5159	properly · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
reproach	לְחֶרְפָּה֙ le.cher.Pah	H2781	contumely · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
heathen	גּוֹיִ֔ם go.Yim	H1471	a foreign nation · noun, common masculine plural absolute
over	לִמְשָׁל lim.shol-	H4910	to rule · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
say	יֹאמְר֣וּ yo.me.Ru	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
people	בָֽעַמִּ֔ים va.'a.Mim	H5971	a people (as a congregated unit) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
God	אֱלֹהֵיהֶֽם 'e.lo.hei.Hem	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Psalms 115:2 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?
Psalms 79:10 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy s…
Ezekiel 8:16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the al…
Exodus 34:9 And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pard…
1 Kings 6:3 And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits wa…
Daniel 9:18-19 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not…
Hosea 14:2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of…
Joel 1:9 The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD’s ministers, mourn.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Joel 2:12-17

We have here an earnest exhortation to repentance, inferred from that desolating judgment described and threatened in the foregoing verses: 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 progress of the judgment. Things are bad with you, but thus you may prevent their growing worse; nay, if you take this course, they will soon grow better." Here is a gracious invitation, I. To a perso…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Joel 2:17

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. 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 Hi…

Read the whole note in the console

John Gill on Joel 2:17

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, Matthew 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…

The Church Fathers

Who will cry aloud, "Spare your people, O Lord, and do not give your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them"? Noah, Job and Daniel stood together as men of prayer. Who will pray for us, that we might have a slight respite from warfare and recover ourselves?
— Gregory of Nazianzus, IN DEFENSE OF HIS FLIGHT TO PONTUS, ORATION 2:89

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Minister, Christian · .OF THE LORD — .OF THE LORD
Ministers · Are bound to: Pray for their people — Are bound to: Pray for their people
Sins, National · Ministers should: Mourn over — Ministers should: Mourn over

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Joel 2:17

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Joel 2:12-17

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Joel 2:17

John Gill on Joel 2:17

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Joel 2:17

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Joel 2:12-17

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Joel 2:17

John Gill on Joel 2:17

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Joel 2:15-17

Keil & Delitzsch on Joel 2:15-17

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Joel 2:17