The Pulpit Commentary — Joel — Section 53

orticlo, it impliea, " W}1Rt a w11.r I how great muBt then 1lgnHy " the mighty onoA of lho and tcrn'blc ! " Let all themnof war 4raw enemy." Thi.I, though 1upporlcil by the near ; Jet them oome up. The term1 bore Ohaldee, Byrla.o, Vulgate, n.nd .Joromc, la nRro Rrc tOllhuical milit11.ry tenns,1ummoning lea1 simple 11.nd obvious, neoeuill\li11g nlao thf' watTinn, to a,lv11.noo and march onv.·11.rd a CO!Tceponding change of the verbnl form in ho.t1te to the plooo of conftict. int.o nr,ir:, or n'Dl:".1- The LXX. rendering Ver. 10.-Beat your plo'llghlharea into aword1, and your pruning-hook■ into 1pean. aa is Jl('cuiiar, n.nd become a warrior." follows : "Let tho meek Th<' wcoponH of war are to be provi,lcd; Ver, 12.-This verAe pointa out the plac6 und the Hprrdicst woy in which the manu- where the great &lll!emhlngo of the heathen f•clurc of thoM weapons could ho c1fect.ed ia to hold, And the flnR.l decision In onswer w,u; by turning their implement,, of hue- to the prophet's pmycr ia to toko place. lm11dry into them. The figure may, pcrhape, Let the heathen be wakoned, and oome up h,m, ·hccn wggcstod by the interest King to the valley of .Jehollhaphat. All the l Jzziah took in, and the encouragement ho n11.tione that hllvo opposed the kingdom of cmw,qucntly gave to, bmbandry and viuc- God, as well as thoso hostile nations from culturo, if we may presume Joel to hllvo rouud o.bout Israel and Jucle.h, in their more hccn in part contemporary with that 1.ing, immcdiolo neighbourhood; though these, nf whom we nre informed that" be had much no doubt., ore primarily meont. The ex- cattle, both in the low country, and In the preaaion, "be wakened,'' of thia verse cor- plains: husbandmcn also, and vincdrcssers responds to " waken up" of ver. 9. Tho in the mounta.iDB, and in Carmel : for he force of oominr, up is explained by some (1) loved husbandry." It is also a familiar aa i111plyi.l,lg the ascent to Polestine in ord~r fact that Isaiah and Micah reverse the ex- to rca.ch tbe volley of Jehoshaphot. It 111 pre■sion in their description of Messianic rather (2) to be understood in the general times; while well-Jmown parallels a.re quoted senso of ~!laMi11!J or marahing on ; other- from the Latin cl8.88ica. Let the weak AY, wise "t!) cotile into the presence of the I am strong; or, a hsro. The approaching Most High God" mny well be called " e. wa.r WliB to be one in which no release, no coming up." The decision takes the form excuse and no exemption from any cause of a judicial process conducted by Jehovah, would 'be allowed, ne.y, the excitement of who ea Judge takes bis aeot on e. throne of the occasion should warm the cold blood judg:ment. of the weakling into some degree of warlike Ver. 13.-Tbe just decision being come enthusi.e.sm. The addresa, it will be ob- to, and tbo righteous sentence passed, the served, of the previoll8 verse is to the heroic execution follows. Jehovah's mighty ones chiefs; that of this vel"BC, to the rank-and- 4re suD1I11011ed to execute it. Dy the mighty file of the army. ones or heroes of Jehovah are meant his Ver. 11.-Thi!! verse exprcs8C8 the pre- heavenly . boats or angels ; thus Kimchi cipitancy with which the procession of the says, " Thy mighty ones are th!l angels;'.' hostile nations is b urried on in order to so also Aben Ezro. (1) The execution of meet their doom, ae also the prophet's Jehovah'& command is represented under a prayer for the descent of Jehovah'■ mighty double figure, the.t of rooping grain in har- ones to the slaughter. Aaemble your1elve1, vest or treading grapes in the· vintage. and come. It is rather, luUten, and come; Similarly in Rev. xiv. 15, 18, we find the two the word 1:?"1J:', only occurring here, being figures-that of reaping the ripe ~ain, 011d equivalent to ,m, eqnivolent to "hesten of gothering the gropes e.nd tree.cling them. vc." The LXX. and Chaldee, indeed, favour 'fhe ripenOIIII of the grain and of the grapes the sense of "ll8semble; " the former bas ia here perhaps, the prominent idee.. '' He truva.flpo,e,,rlJ,. Bnt that idca. is expressed oompa:es," se.ya Kimchi, "those nations to afterwards by the verb '1%~P, , which is an the produce which is ripe, and its time for anomalous form of the imperntive Nipb. for hanellting has approachad, tha~ m11n sho1;1ld ~=w::, though some take it for the perf~ tbruet in the sickle to reap 1t. So with with ,,a,, ccmaee. The wort! ltanchath 18 resp~ct to these nations, their season to die wrna.Jly and properly taken as the impera- by the sword in thla valley has arrived." tive Hiph., from nachath, to come d.ow11, (2) Hitzig conceives that the twofold com- the patJ.ach ta.king the pl.&ce of tzere on mand of Jehovuh is to cut off the gmpes account of the guttural a.nd the nun re- and tht,'ll tread them in the wine-press. He tait:u,d without assimilation, as the nun proceeds on the wrong e.ssUIDption thot rarely falls away in verbs that have a qatair, harvest, is employed in the scnao of 1,,uttural for their second fem-letter. 'I'hc bat.air, vintage ; that maggal (f~om nar,al, W""-ning (I) then, is, "A.uemblc your- unullOd to cu~ pierce, wound) ia for mazme- M,]vt:11." The 1I11Lrgin. (2) however, hea, ralt the hook of the vinedrel!SCr; whila ·' 'fl,e Lord 11he.ll bring down," i.e. cause to ba,iuil ripe, which he re1trict11 to gmpoa, ~uu:UlllL, del!troy, "thy mighty one11," which a.pplie; to grapts and cora alike. 'J.'he Oil, Ill, 1-2l.] THE BOOK OF ,JOF,T,. 51