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COMMENTARY ON JOEL, CHAPTER THREE Because, lo, in those days and at that time, when I shall cancel the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I shall gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and enter into judgment with them there on behalf of my people and my inheritance, Israel, who were scattered among the nations. They divided my land, cast lots for my people, gave the boys to prostitutes, sold the girls for wine, and drank it (vv.1–3). HEN THE TEN tribes were plucked from the kingdom of Rehoboam and they were separated from Israel as a whole, the blessed prophets were sent to Ephraim and Judah. They spoke of the fate of both, since their kingship as a whole extended to the time of the captivity.1 After the return from there to Jerusalem, however, and the eventual restoration, Haggai, Zechariah, and also Malachi prophesied to Israel; and it emerges that Ezra also foretold some few things happening at that time and in his own time. The text at hand, therefore, mentions events happening not at the time of the earlier prophets, but when the Lord finally allowed the people to return to Judea. The memorable character of what actually happened we shall describe as far as we can, drawing on the historical account given by Ezra for support.2 When the people of Israel had just returned to Judea, therefore , and recovered from paying tribute and the hardships of 302 1. The lemma begins chapter 4 in the Heb. text. There are different readings and punctuation in the Pusey and PG texts of the first two sentences of the commentary, affecting the meaning. 2. Again the apocalyptic nature of the material in this chapter is a challenge to the commentators. While Theodore typically wants to find a reference to history , and turns to the (equally apocalyptic) figure of Gog in Ezek 38–39, and Theodoret follows him, Cyril turns to canonical and apocryphal works attributed to Ezra, nuancing his original view that Joel’s ministry was contemporary with that of Hosea and Amos. slavery, they fell into indifference, and were not careful (346) to pursue and observe the oracles given through Moses. The Law in fact forbade sharing a bed with the daughters of foreigners; but they cared little for the decrees sent them by God, and they had relations with foreign women. Extremely angry at this, Ezra tore his garments, mourned for the people of Israel, and urged them to be rid of foreign women. Some were persuaded to do so, perhaps afraid of the effects of wrath and the future consequences if they did not decide to respect the Law, and took experience of the past as their teacher.3 When the large number of foreign women were expelled and left Jerusalem, inevitably the neighboring nations were then moved to anger by the considerable insult involved, and in addition they gave thought to the effect of this on themselves. Since [the Jews] were fortifying Jerusalem, you see, and were enthusiastically engaged in rebuilding the divine Temple itself, their rage was inflamed with the shafts of envy, and they took steps to be obstructive, probably pondering the thought that, if once again Israel enjoyed its former prominence, and had cities that were fortified and the God of all to assist it by reason of his being worshiped in a temple in the old ways, it would once again dominate and be intolerable to people everywhere and impose taxes on some of its neighbors, and they all would be captured and their land devastated if some of them chose even at this late stage to cast a hostile glance. For this reason they caused some people to hinder the work on the Temple itself and on the walls. Because their efforts were fruitless, however, since God was guiding the progress of the enterprise for the people of Israel, they then took up arms and decided to attack; but they were beaten and killed, (347) thanks to God’s assistance. Now, there was an assembly of those gathered for this purpose in the valley of Jehoshaphat, a place not many miles from Jerusalem in an easterly direction; they say it is bare and suited to cavalry. The fact that some very influential people were illdisposed to those Israelites building the divine Temple, but had no effect, the blessed Ezra conveys: “In the time of Artaxerxes COMMENTARY ON JOEL 3 303 3...

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